Complete List Of Aircraft Carriers Of India: Check here

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Greetings and warm regards to all readers!

Ever wanted to have a detailed info put-together on Aircraft Carriers?

Here we are with an article, that might interest you to the peak and make you anxious to know about aircraft carriers in general and also about the ‘Aircraft Carriers Of India’. Ever thought what is an aircraft carrier? What does it do? What are its basic functionalities and roles in any Navy? What are its types? How important is it?

An aircraft carrier is indeed an elite and unique asset any country can ever possess. An aircraft carrier can carry aircrafts, viz. fixed-wing and rotary-wing. It is similar to an airport, that is crunched with its runway, ATC (Air Traffic Control), hangars and many other places and equipment. Its basic functionalities are to support and assist operations of aircraft from its flight deck. Moreover, for any Navy, an aircraft carrier is many times considered to be a Flagship, due to its far-reaching range and capacity to secure a great radius on its own.

Aircraft Carriers can be of various types. And with the latest modern technologies, there have been lot of types of classifications. A few, popularly used ones are:

1. Fixed-wing aircraft carrier (usually called as an aircraft carrier)
2. Rotary wing aircraft carrier (chopper or helicopter carrier)
3. Super-carrier.,

An aircraft carrier is extremely essential part-cum-equipment for any force. If extended to its full capabilities, it can solely carry out all operations, on land, at sea and in air, making it, an ultimate 3- dimensional capable machine.

In and around the globe, there are currently (Mar 2020) 44 aircraft carriers, operating in 13 different countries.

Coming to India’s history, present and future of aircraft carriers, India has operated 3 aircraft carriers till date, with the 3^rd carrier currently in service, with those of the first 2, decommissioned. The 4^th one, which is also going to be the first-ever indigenously built aircraft carrier, is under construction and is planned to join the service of the prestigious Indian Navy, in 2022. It is also named as IAC-1, viz., Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-1. The 5^th one, is named as INS Vishal (IAC-2), whose design is planned and is expected to be commissioned in the 2030s

       

        

Indian Aircraft Carriers In Action

 

Many of us being hardcore Indian defence aspirants and followers, it becomes quite essential to know more about our aircraft carriers in the first place. Reading and learning about this info, would ultimately give a great amount of confidence and knowledge, in SSB and also in many other places. Also, as the Indian Navy is a technology-intensive and essential force, knowing technical stuff also becomes vital and in fact a great value adder. Hence, let us get into details to know more about the Aircraft Carriers Of India.

Complete List of Aircraft Carriers Of India

Parameter↓/Carrier Name→	INS Vikrant	INS Viraat	INS Vikramaditya	INS Vikrant (IAC-1)
Built by, on, in	Vickers-Armstrong & Harland and Wolff on 22 Sept 1945 in United Kingdom.	Vickers-Armstrong on 16 Feb 1953 in the United Kingdom.	Chernomorskiy Yard on 1 Apr 1982 in Russia.	Under construction by Cochin Shipyard Ltd., India. Expected to be completed by 2021.
Name	HMS Hercules	HMS Hermes	Admiral Gorshkov	INS Vikrant or IAC-1
Bought or Taken on lease or Built indigenously	Bought from UK in 1957	Bought from UK in 1986	Bought from Russia in 2004	Being Built Indigenously
Commissioned in Indian Navy	4 Mar1961	12 May 1987	16 Nov 2013	Expected to be commissioned in 2022
Motto	Sanskrit:Jayema Sam Yudhi Sprdhah English:I completely defeat those who dare to fight with me	Sanskrit: Jalameva Yasya, Balameva Tasya English:He who rules over the seas is all-powerful	Strike Far Strike Sure	Sanskrit:Jayema Sam Yudhi Sprdhah English:I completely defeat those who dare to fight with me
Pennant Number	R11	R22	R33	TBD
Homeport	Bombay	Mumbai	INS Kadamba, Karwar	–
Class of Ship	Majestic Class Light Carrier	Centaur Class	Modified Kiev Class	Vikrant Class
Length of Ship	210 metres	226.5 metres	283.5 metres	262 metres
Beam of Ship	39 metres	48.78 metres	59.8 metres	62 metres
Displacement by Ship	Min. 16000 Tons, Loaded: 19500 Tons	Min. 23900 Tons, Loaded: 28700 Tons	Loaded: 45400 Tons	40000 Tons
Propulsion	2 Shafts. 2 Parsons geared steam turbines	2 Parsons geared steam turbines, 4 boilers with 400 psi, 57000 kW	8 turbo pressurized boilers, 4 shafts, 4 geared steam turbines, 134226 kW	2 Shafts
Speed	25 knots/46 kmph	28 knots/52kmph	30 knots/56 kmph	28 knots/52 kmph
Range	12000 nmi at 14 knots or 6200 nmi at 23 knots	5648 nmi at 14 knots	13500 nmi at 18 knots	8000 nmi
Crew complement	1100 members	Max. 2100 members	110 Officers and 1500 Sailors	196 Officers and 1449 Sailors
Processing equipment and sensors	Radars	Radars and Sonar	Radars and Sonar	Radars
Number of Aircrafts carried	21 to 23	26	36	30 to 40
Squadrons operated	INAS 300-White Tigers, INAS 310- Cobras, INAS 321- Angels, INAS 330- Harpoons	INAS 300-White Tigers, INAS 552-Braves, INAS 321-Angels, INAS330-Harpoons	INAS 300-White Tigers, INAS 303-Black Panthers, INAS 321-Angels, INAS 322-Guardians, INAS 330- Harpoons, INAS 339- Falcons	–
Aircrafts operated/to be operated	Hawker Sea Hawk, BAE Sea Harrier, Breguet Alize, Alouette III/HAL Chetak, Westland Sea King	BAE Sea Harrier, Alouette III, HAL Chetak, Westland Sea King	MiG29KUB, MiG29K, HAL Chetak, HAL Dhruv, Sea King, Kamov Ka-31	MiG29K, Kamov Ka-31, Westland Sea King, HAL Dhruv, LCA Tejas
Take-off facility	Catapult assisted take- off with Ski- Jump of 9.75 degrees	Catapult assisted take-off with Ski-jump of 14 degrees	Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) with ski-jump of 14 degrees	Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) with ski-jump

 

Armaments	16×40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft (AA) Guns	2×40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft (AA) Guns, 16×Barak SAM VL Cells, 2×Twin AK-230 CIWS	4×AK-630 CIWS, Barak 1 and Barak 8 SAMs	4×Otobreda 76mm cannons, Barak 1 and Barak 8 SAMs (2×32 cells VLS), AK-630 CIWS
Wars participated in	Indo-Pak war of 1971	–	–	–
Commanders who became Chief of Naval Staff	Capt Pritam Singh Mahindroo, Capt N Krishnan, Capt J Cursetji, Capt R H Tahiliani.	Capt Madhvendra Singh, Capt Arun Prakash, Capt Nirmal Kumar Verma, Capt Devendra Kumar Joshi	–	–
Last/Current Commanding Officer	Cdr H S Rawat	Capt Puneet Chadha	Capt Puruvir Das	–
Decommissioned on, at	On 31 Jan 1997 at Mumbai	On 6 Mar 2017 at Mumbai	Currently In Service	–
Fate	Museum till 2012. Scrapped in 2013. Later, the ship’s metal was bought by Bajaj Auto Ltd and it was used for making motorbikes, in 2016, with the name ‘Vikrant’.	Museum in Mumbai till date.	Currently In Service	–

 

 

 

 

 

Special Mentions:

-INS Vikrant (R11) (earlier known as HMS Hercules) is a ship, that belongs to the very first classes of aircraft carriers made in the world.

-INS Vikrant is the only Aircraft Carrier of India, that has participated in war.

-The crew of INS Vikrant has earned 2 Maha Vir Chakras and 12 Vir Chakras for their part in the 1971 war.

-The metal of INS Vikrant was used by Bajaj Auto Ltd., an automobile company, to use it in manufacturing motorbikes, with the name, ‘Vikrant’.

-INS Viraat’s nickname is ‘Grand Old Lady’.

-INS Viraat is featured in a Bollywood movie, ‘ABCD 2’.

-INS Viraat is the aircraft carrier that took part and represented India, along with other ships, in the International Fleet Review 2016, held at Visakhapatnam, India.

-INS Vikramaditya is currently the only serving aircraft carrier in Indian Navy.

-INS Vikramaditya is affiliated with Bihar Regiment of the Indian Army and No. 6 Squadron of the Indian Air Force.

 

When it comes to an aircraft carrier, it is often felt and referred to ‘Floating City’, ‘Floating Airfield’, but most importantly, it is referred to ‘Mother’. The same has been expressed in the below given video by a few elite retired naval officers, who were vital members of the crew of INS Vikrant, during the 1971 war. Almost everyone amongst them are the pilots, who flew from Vikrant and bombed the enemy in the war. When we see the video, we can hear the word ‘Mother’ coming from them in the very first minute. It is indeed a very emotional video, also showing utmost dedication, confidence, hard work, and emotions attached with the ship, by the soldiers who served on it.

Indian Navy Emotional Ad Featuring Retired Officers

Also, here is another short video, showing the transformation of the Indian Navy, which also shows and explains how well our Navy has grown over the last 50-60 years. It majorly showcases few activities taking onboard an aircraft carrier.

Indian Navy – Then and Now

It was then, it is now. It is ‘Ever-ready’, what everyone is looking out for.
It is growing more, and hence it wants more. The one who dreams to don the white, has to be extremely bright.

With this, hoping this was a good knowledge providing and inspiring article.

As such, there is no limit of acquiring knowledge and hence, we will continue to help, motivate and provide knowledge, the same way ahead.

Keep Learning! Godspeed! Jai Hind!