Naval Evolution
From INS Viraat to INS Vikrant - India's Naval Journey
The Indian Navy's journey from the aging INS Viraat to the indigenously-built INS Vikrant. The submarine service, the Sea Harrier era, and the modern blue-water navy. Heroes who guard India's maritime interests in the Indian Ocean and beyond.
Guardians of the Blue Frontier
India has 7,517 kilometers of coastline. Two million square kilometers of Exclusive Economic Zone. Some of the world's busiest shipping lanes pass through the Indian Ocean - lanes that carry 80% of the world's seaborne oil trade. The Indian Navy guards this vast domain, projecting power from the Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of Malacca.
This is the story of how India's Navy evolved from a small coastal force to a true blue-water navy - a force capable of operating anywhere in the world's oceans. It is a story of ships, submarines, and aircraft, but more importantly, of the sailors who made it possible.
The Aircraft Carrier Journey
India's journey with aircraft carriers began in 1961, when INS Vikrant - India's first carrier - was commissioned. A British-built ship, originally HMS Hercules, Vikrant served through the 1971 war, where its aircraft helped enforce the blockade of East Pakistan that led to Bangladesh's liberation.
But carriers age. By the 1980s, Vikrant was showing her years. India needed a replacement.
INS Viraat - The Last of the Line
In 1987, India commissioned INS Viraat - formerly HMS Hermes, which had served as the flagship of the British task force during the Falklands War just five years earlier. Viraat gave India a modern carrier capability, equipped with Sea Harrier jump jets that could take off from her ski-jump deck.
For 30 years, Viraat was the pride of the Indian Navy. She participated in every major naval exercise, showed the flag in ports around the Indian Ocean, and trained a generation of naval aviators. Her Sea Harriers - though small and limited compared to conventional carrier aircraft - gave India a unique capability that few navies possessed.
Viraat was decommissioned in 2017, having served longer than any aircraft carrier in history - 57 years between the Royal Navy and Indian Navy. She had earned her rest.