Commissioning of India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier by Narendra Modi

The first indigenous aircraft carrier built in India, INS Vikrant, was commissioned into the Indian Navy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, capping a 13-year journey. It is a floating airfield outfitted with its very own battle group.

The largest ship ever planned and built by India, Vikrant, which means “victorious” and “gallant,” has a displacement of 42,800 tonnes, making it the sixth nation to prove its ability to construct its own aircraft carrier.

The INS Vikrant is the biggest ship India has ever built, having cost Rs 20,000 crore to construct.

The preceding ship with the same name, which was instrumental in the war against Pakistan in 1971, inspired the naming of the current ship, the INS Vikrant. In 1997, it was decommissioned.