The
INS Viraat is the second
aircraft carrier commissioned into the
navy of
India. It was built in
1944 for the
British Royal Navy, a
Centaur-class
light fleet carrier christened
HMS Hermes. In
1971, the Royal Navy refitted the ship for
commando duties, and then turned it into a
V/STOL carrier in time for the
Falklands War, when it was the centerpiece of the British
task force. India purchased the carrier in 1986 as a replacement for the aging
Vikrant: when the
Vikrant was decommissioned in 1997, the
Viraat became India's only aircraft carrier. It is now based in
Mumbai.
227 m long and 49 m wide, the Viraat cruises at around 28 knots, powered by eighty thousand horsepower of steam turbines. It is outfitted with two SAM launchers, eight torpedoes, and six 30mm AA guns. 43 officers and 1,300 enlisted personnel operate the ship, its thirty Sea Harriers, and its seven Sea King helicopters.
It was refitted at Cochin in 1997 with new radar, communications, and other systems that will extend its operating life to around 2010. At that point, it will have to be replaced: the Indian Navy has been negotiating with Russia to buy one of their carriers, the Kiev-class Gorshkov, modified to accommodate modern fighters like the MiG-29. They are also planning to build their own carrier, called the Air Defense Ship.