Baku's conversion to Vikramaditya revealed the hull's carrier potential

Baku, later Admiral Gorshkov, tested systems for the next Soviet carrier generation before Russia sold her to India. Conversion to INS Vikramaditya replaced the mixed cruiser-carrier arrangement with a flight deck and air group centered on MiG-29K fighters and larger Kamov helicopters. The comparison moves from twelve Yak-38s and twenty helicopters in Soviet service to twenty-six MiG-29 fighters and ten Ka-31 or Ka-28 helicopters in Indian service. The total rises from thirty-two to thirty-six aircraft even though the replacement fighters and helicopters are larger. This suited India's need for a fleet carrier to control the Indian Ocean. Together with the indigenous Vikrant, the converted ship replaced India's older British-built light-carrier generation and anchored a new carrier force.