India has commissioned its first indigenously-built aircraft carrier, Vikrant, at a ceremony in the southern state of Kerala.
The 45,000-tonne Vikrant got the prefix INS (Indian Naval Ship) at a formal commissioning ceremony, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It is a moment that was 13 years in the making.
The vessel – 262m (860ft) long and almost 60m (197ft) tall – is the first aircraft carrier India has designed and built on its own. It has the capacity to hold 30 fighter planes and helicopters.
Modi called the carrier “a floating city” and the “symbol of indigenous potential”.
“With INS Vikrant, India has joined the list of countries which manufacture huge aircraft carriers with indigenous technology. It has filled the country with a new confidence,” he said at the commissioning ceremony.
India’s other aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, can carry more than 30 aircraft.
The UK Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth can carry about 40 and the US Navy’s Nimitz class carriers can accommodate more than 60 aircraft.
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