The commissioning of India’s first indigenously designed and manufactured aircraft carrier marks a defining moment in the history of the Indian Navy. INS Vikrant, the namesake and a successor to the nation’s beloved first aircraft carrier, will catapult India to a select club of the world’s great Naval powers. The commissioning of India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1) into the Navy as INS Vikrant marks a defining moment. The first ever aircraft carrier to be indigenously designed and constructed, INS Vikrant will strengthen the country’s standing as a ‘Blue Water Navy’ — a maritime force with global reach and capability to operate over deep seas. With it, India also joins the elite group of nations – the US, Russia, France, the UK and China – who are capable of designing and constructing aircraft carriers. Also, with a displacement of 43,000 tonnes when fully loaded, INS Vikrant is set to be the seventh largest among the carrier...