From the archive record
Model of India's first the Vikrant-class aircraft carrier being displayed at Maritime Exhibition during International Fleet Review in Andhra Pradesh. Work on the ship's design began in 1999, and the keel was laid in February 2009. The carrier was floated out of its dry dock on 29 December 2011 and was launched in 2013. Construction is expected to be completed by 2016 and the ship is due to be commissioned in late 2018. The project cost has escalated dramatically to ₹19341 crore (US$2.9 billion) as of 2014. t is 262 metres (860 ft) long and 60 metres (200 ft) wide, and displaces about 40,000 metric tons (39,000 long tons). It features a Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) configuration with a ski-jump. The deck is designed to enable aircraft such as the MiG-29K to operate from the