Name:	Admiral Gorshkov
Namesake:	Sergey Gorshkov
Builder:	Chernomorskiy Yard, Nikolayev
Laid down:	17 February 1978[5]
Launched:	1 April 1982[5]
Commissioned:	11 December 1987[5]
Decommissioned:	1996
Fate:	Sold to India on 20 January 2004
General characteristics
Class and type:	Modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:	45,400 tons of loaded displacement[6][7]
Length:	283.5 metres (930 ft) (overall)
Beam:	59.8 metres (196 ft)[8]
Draught:	10.2 metres (33 ft)
Decks:	22[9]
Installed power:	6 turbo alternators and 6 diesel alternators which generate 18 MWe[9]
Propulsion:	8 turbo-pressurised boilers, 4 shafts, 4 geared steam turbines, generating 180,000 horsepower (134,226 kW)[9][10]
Speed:	+30 knots (56 km/h)[10]
Range:	13,500 nautical miles (25,000 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)[11]
Endurance:	45 days[9]
Complement:	110 officers and 1500 sailors[10]
Sensors and processing systems:	Long range Air Surveillance Radars, LESORUB-E, Resistor-E radar complex, CCS MK II communication complex and Link II tactical data system[9]
Armament:	4 × AK-630 CIWS Barak 1 ex INS Godavari[12] Barak 8 (LRSAM)[13][14][15]
Aircraft carried:	Maximum of 36 aircraft including[10] 26 × Mikoyan MiG-29K multi-role fighters[16] 10 × Kamov Ka-31 AEW&C and Kamov Ka-28 ASW helicopters[16]
Aviation facilities:	14 degree ski-jump Three 30 m wide arrester gears and three restraining gears.[9]

The ship was laid down in 1978 at Nikolayev South (Shipyard No.444) in Ukraine, launched in 1982, and commissioned in December 1987. The delay in commissioning was largely caused by software bugs in the new command and control system. The ship was renamed Admiral Gorshkov after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, as the city of Baku was now in independent Azerbaijan. Sergey Gorshkov was responsible for the expansion of the Soviet Navy during the Cold War.

In 1994, following a boiler room explosion, the ship was docked for a year of repairs. Although she returned to service in 1995, she was finally withdrawn in 1996 and offered for sale.

On 20 January 2004, Russia agreed to sell Admiral Gorshkov to India after an extensive upgrade at Sevmash Enterprise.^[2][3] In December 2009, it was reported that India had agreed to pay a price of US$ 2.3 billion.^[4][5][6] The carrier, now christened INS Vikramaditya was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 16 November 2013.^[7]