THE INDIAN Government has
defended its decision to scrap
the aircraft carrier, INS Viraat,
as criticism floods in from naval
veterans. Sadness is sure to be felt
in Britain, too, as Viraat – originally
HMS Hermes – was the Royal
Navy’s flagship during the 1982
Falklands Conflict.
Laid down as Elephant, in 1944,
construction works were soon
suspended, and the carrier was
not completed until 1957. She was
commissioned in a modernised
form as Hermes in 1959 and was
put forward for sale to Australiain the late 1960s. This proposal,
however, fell through, and she
was converted into a Commando
Carrier in the early 1970s. Between
1980-81, a ski jump and other
facilities were fitted to enable
Hermes to operate the iconic STOVL
multi-role dogfighter, Sea Harrier.
Plans to retire her – and reduce
the overall size of the Royal Navy- were curtailed by the Falklands
Conflict in which Hermes played
a crucial part. In the mid-1980s
the carrier was again offered to
Australia but was eventually sold to
India in 1987. On decommissioning
in 2017, she was the oldest aircraft
carrier in service and the last
British-built ship in the Indian Navy.
Originally slated for conversion to
a museum, the breaking up of the
ship will resonate with many Indian
veterans, who have bemoaned
what they perceive as a failure to
preserve military heritage. Attempts
to preserve the long-serving
warhorse fell through after no Indian
state authority was able to submit
a complete and viable proposal.
The most interest shown came
from Andhra Pradesh, which
appeared to have a practical plan,INS Viraat (formerly HMS Hermes)
to be Scrapped
Crowds wave off HMS Hermes as she sails south to the Falklands on April 5, 1982. (PA ARCHIVE)F-35B ZM147, 617 Sqn, takes off on its first sortie to Syria, June 16. (CROWN COPYRIGHT)14 http://www.britainatwar.comBRIEFING ROOM^ |^ News^ •^ Restoration^ •^ Discoveries • Events • Exhibitions from around the UK
Britain’s new F-35B multi-role
aircraft have had their combat
debut, marking a return to
operations for 617 Squadron.
The jets, of which Britain currently
operates 17, have completed at
least 14 ‘armed reconnaissance’
sorties over Iraq and Syria as part
of the ongoing campaign against
the remnants of so-called Islamic
State.
Flying from RAF Akrotiri, six
F-35Bs have been flying sorties
to support intelligence gathering,
as well as completing nearly 100
training flights. They have not, atthe time of writing, released any
weapons. The F-35Bs are the first
of up to 138 expected to be used
by the UK.
Their deployment on active
operations comes as one of the
prospective candidates for prime
minister, Foreign Secretary Jeremy
Hunt, promised to increase UK
defence spending to 2.5% of
GDP by FY2023/24 – if he gets
into office. This move, backed by
Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt
(who also supports Hunt for PM)
would equate to an additional
£15bn of defence spending. ∎Combat Debut for RAF F-35s
relying on the Indian Navy to stump
up half of the ₹1,000 crore (10bn
Rupees/£115,500,000) required.
However, the navy has already
incurred the cost of maintaining the
carrier in its decommissioned state
and was no doubt keen to avoid
repetition of the 17-year debacle
over preservation of India’s first
aircraft carrier – the British-built
INS Vikrant – which similarly failed.
Maharashtra state also put
forward welcome proposals for a
museum ship, but these also met
scepticism regarding costs. An
attempt by British entrepreneur
and Falklands/Hermes veteran,
Andy Trish, to repatriate the carrier,
also failed after it fell short of its
crowdfunding target.
With seemingly no options
remaining, and “in view of
considerations of safety, security...
a decision to scrap INS Viraat has
been taken in due consultation with
the Navy”, explained junior defence
minister Shripad Naik. The former
Harrier carrier, according to the
Times of India, has “clocked well
over five lakh [500,000] nautical
miles for the country with its proud
motto of “Jalamev Yasya, Balamev
Tasya” (He who controls the sea is
all powerful).
As we closed for press, we received
news of a possible late bid from the
UK. We'll update in due course. ∎