The largest ship in the Indian Navy and India’s only aircraft carrier Indian Naval Ship (INS) Vikramaditya was affiliated to The Bihar Regiment a highly decorated Unit of the Indian Army and No 6 squadron of the Indian Air Force.

The event held in the Karwar Naval Base onboard INS Vikramaditya located amongst the Western Ghats was graced by Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command and Lieutenant General Amarjeet Singh, AVSM, SM, Military Secretary and Colonel of the Bihar Regiment as the Guests of Honour.

INS Vikramaditya was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 16th November 2013 at a ceremony held at Severodvinsk, Russia. Vikramaditya means ‘Brave as the Sun’ in Sanskrit. INS Vikramaditya is a modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier which is operated by the Indian Navy. The naval ship was named after the legendary emperor Vikramaditya of Ujjain, India. Ordered on 20th January 2004 the ship was built by Black Sea Shipyard, USSR and Sevmash, Russia. The estimated cost of building this ship was $2.35 billion. Launched on 4th December 2008 the ship was completed on 19th April 2012. INS Vikramaditya is in service from 14th June 2014. The homeport of INS Vikramaditya is INS Kadamba, Karwar. The aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya can be identified with the Pennant number R33 and MMSI number 419000033.

Earlier commissioned in 1987 the carrier was built as Baku and it served with the Soviet Navy and later with the Russian Navy. The carrier was decommissioned in 1996 before being purchased by India in 2004. The Prime Minister of India Mr Narendra Modi dedicated INS Vikramaditya to the nation on 14th June 2014 and formally inducted into the Indian Navy after the ship completed the sea trials and the aviation trials. The motto of INS Vikramaditya is ‘Strike Far, Strike Sure’.