Vikrant 1961 vs Viraat vs Vikrant 2022 – Indian Navy

Vikrant 1961 vs Viraat vs Vikrant 2022: Carriers Compared

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What happens when India’s first aircraft carrier, its longest-serving carrier and its first home-built carrier meet on one page? You get Vikrant 1961 vs Viraat vs Vikrant 2022: INS Vikrant (1961), INS Viraat and INS Vikrant (2022). Two came from British shipyards. The third was designed and built in Kochi, and she carries the same proud name as the first.

This guide compares all three on size, displacement, speed, range, crew, aircraft, launch method, builder, years of service, reported cost and operations. Then we explain the differences simply, decide who was better at what, and trace how Indian carrier power grew from imported ships to a made-in-India giant. Great material for NDA, CDS and AFCAT GK and for SSB group discussions.

Vikrant 1961 vs Viraat vs Vikrant 2022: What Sets Them Apart

The biggest difference is origin. Vikrant (1961) was the British HMS Hercules, finished in Belfast and handed to India. Viraat was the British HMS Hermes, a Falklands War flagship. Vikrant (2022) was born in India, in Cochin Shipyard’s dry dock, from Indian-designed plans. Going from buying old ships to building a new one is the real headline.

Size grew sharply too. The first Vikrant was about 19,500 tonnes fully loaded, Viraat about 28,700 tonnes and the new Vikrant a reported 43,000 to 45,000 tonnes. In other words, the new Vikrant is more than twice as heavy as the old one that shares her name.

Vikrant 1961 vs Viraat vs Vikrant 2022: Side-by-Side Comparison

	INS Vikrant (1961)	INS Viraat	INS Vikrant (2022)
Origin / builder	UK: Vickers-Armstrongs, finished by Harland and Wolff	UK: Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow	India: Cochin Shipyard, Kochi
Original identity	HMS Hercules (Majestic class)	HMS Hermes (Centaur class)	Brand new (IAC-1)
Service with India	1961 to 1997	1987 to 2017	2022 to present
Displacement (full load)	About 19,500 t	About 28,700 t	About 43,000 to 45,000 t
Length	About 213 m	About 226.5 m	About 262 m
Width (beam)	About 39 m	About 49 m	About 62 m
Engines	Steam turbines, 2 shafts	Steam turbines, 2 shafts	4 GE LM2500 gas turbines
Top speed	About 25 knots	About 28 knots	About 28 knots
Range / endurance	About 12,000 nm at 14 kn	About 10,500 km at 14 kn	About 7,500 nm
Crew	About 1,100	About 1,350 incl. air crew	About 1,600
Aircraft carried	About 21 to 23	Up to about 26	Around 30
Main fighter	Sea Hawk, later Sea Harrier	Sea Harrier	MiG-29K (Rafale M ordered)
Launch method	Steam catapult, later ski-jump	Ski-jump (STOVL)	14 deg ski-jump plus wires (STOBAR)
Reported cost	Not clearly reported	Not clearly reported	Nearly Rs 20,000 crore (2022)
Key operations	1961 Goa blockade; 1971 war	Falklands 1982 (as Hermes); Gulf of Aden 2009	Op Sindoor deployment 2025
Fate / status	Museum, scrapped 2014 to 2015	Retired 2017, broken up at Alang	In service

Vikrant 1961 vs Viraat vs Vikrant 2022 comparison table — Vikrant 1961 vs Viraat vs Vikrant 2022 – head-to-head comparison

Carrier Jargon Made Easy

Displacement: the weight of water a ship pushes aside when it floats. In simple words, how heavy the ship is. One tonne is about the weight of a small car.
Knot: one nautical mile per hour, about 1.85 km per hour. So 28 knots is about 52 km per hour.
Catapult launch (CATOBAR): a powerful catapult flings a plane off the deck, and wires catch it on landing.
STOVL: Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing. Jump jets like the Sea Harrier take off from a short run and can land almost straight down.
STOBAR: Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery. Normal fighters run up a ski-jump ramp to take off and catch a steel wire with a tail hook to land.
Ski-jump: a curved ramp at the bow that throws a jet upward, like a skier leaving a slope, so it needs a shorter run.

Meet the Three Ships

INS Vikrant (1961): India’s First Carrier

India bought the unfinished British carrier HMS Hercules in January 1957. She had been laid down during the Second World War but was never completed for the Royal Navy. Harland and Wolff in Belfast finished her with an angled deck and a steam catapult, and she was commissioned as INS Vikrant on 4 March 1961. The name means courageous or mighty.

At about 19,500 tonnes fully loaded and about 213 metres long, she was a light carrier. Her early air wing had Hawker Sea Hawk fighter-bombers and French Breguet Alize anti-submarine planes. Her finest hour came in the 1971 war, when her Sea Hawks struck Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Khulna and Mongla, helping choke East Pakistan from the sea. Her crew earned two Maha Vir Chakras and twelve Vir Chakras. Later refits added a ski-jump and Sea Harrier jump jets, and she retired on 31 January 1997.

INS Viraat: The Grand Old Lady

INS Viraat started life as the British carrier HMS Hermes, commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1959. She was the flagship of the British task force in the 1982 Falklands War. India bought her in the mid-1980s and, after a refit in Britain, she was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 12 May 1987. Her name means giant.

Viraat was about 226.5 metres long and about 28,700 tonnes fully loaded, with a top speed of about 28 knots. She flew Sea Harrier jump jets and Sea King anti-submarine helicopters, using a ski-jump at the bow. She served India for about 30 years and was decommissioned on 6 March 2017. Counting her British years, she spent close to six decades in naval service, which makes her one of the longest-serving carriers in history. She was later broken up at Alang in Gujarat.

INS Vikrant (2022): Made in India

INS Vikrant (2022), also called IAC-1 (Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1), was designed by the Indian Navy’s own designers and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi. Her keel was laid in 2009, she was floated out on 12 August 2013 and she was commissioned on 2 September 2022. She proudly carries the name of India’s first carrier.

She is about 262 metres long and 62 metres wide, with a reported full-load displacement of about 43,000 to 45,000 tonnes. Four gas turbines give her an official top speed of about 28 knots. She operates around 30 aircraft, including MiG-29K fighters and MH-60R helicopters, and 26 French Rafale M jets have been ordered for her. Official statements in 2022 put her cost at nearly Rs 20,000 crore.

Aircraft, Weapons and Sensors

Hawker Sea Hawk fighter-bombers (Vikrant 1961)
Breguet Alize anti-submarine and patrol planes (Vikrant 1961)
Sea Harrier jump jets after the 1980s refits (Vikrant 1961)
40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns (Vikrant 1961)
Sea Harrier FRS51 jump jets (Viraat)
Sea King anti-submarine helicopters (Viraat)
Chetak and Dhruv utility helicopters (Viraat)
Barak surface-to-air missiles (Viraat)
MiG-29K fighters (Vikrant 2022)
MH-60R multi-role helicopters (Vikrant 2022)

Speed, Range and Engines

The two older carriers both ran on steam turbines. Boilers burned fuel oil to make high-pressure steam, which spun turbines connected to the propeller shafts. Vikrant (1961) could reach about 25 knots and Viraat about 28 knots.

Vikrant (2022) uses four General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, basically ship versions of jet engines, producing about 100 megawatts in total. Her official top speed is about 28 knots, the same as Viraat, but gas turbines start quickly, need fewer people in the engine rooms and are easier to maintain than old boilers. Her reported endurance is about 7,500 nautical miles.

Crew and Comfort

Vikrant (1961) had about 1,100 crew, and Viraat about 1,350 including air crew. Vikrant (2022) has about 1,600 people aboard and about 2,300 compartments, including modern cabins, galleys and a full medical complex. For sailors, life on the new carrier is far more comfortable than on the cramped older ships.

Aircraft and Launch Methods

Here the three ships tell three different stories. The first Vikrant (1961) used a steam catapult to fling Sea Hawk fighters and Alize patrol planes into the air. After a 1980s refit she lost her catapult and gained a ski-jump to fly Sea Harrier jump jets.

Viraat was a STOVL carrier from the start of her Indian career. Her Sea Harriers rolled a short distance up the ski-jump to take off and could land almost vertically. She carried up to about 26 aircraft including Sea King helicopters.

Vikrant (2022) is a STOBAR carrier. Her MiG-29K fighters use a 14-degree ski-jump to take off and catch steel arrestor wires with a tail hook to land. She can carry around 30 aircraft, including MH-60R helicopters and Ka-31 early-warning helicopters, and India has ordered 26 Rafale M fighters for future operations.

Cost: Then and Now

Reliable purchase prices for Vikrant (1961) and Viraat are not clearly reported in public sources, so we leave them out rather than guess. For Vikrant (2022), official statements at her 2022 commissioning put the cost at nearly Rs 20,000 crore. A big share of that money went to Indian firms, which built skills and jobs at home.

Operations and Missions

1961 – Goa liberation (Vikrant 1961): Helped enforce a sea blockade during Operation Vijay; no combat.
1971 – Strikes on East Pakistan (Vikrant 1961): Sea Hawks hit Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Khulna and Mongla in the Bay of Bengal.
1982 – Falklands War, as HMS Hermes (Viraat): Flagship of the British task force before India bought her.
2009 – Gulf of Aden deployment (Viraat): Sent to the anti-piracy zone after a refit.
2016 – International Fleet Review (Viraat): Took part in the review at Visakhapatnam in her final year.
2023 – First fighter landings (Vikrant 2022): MiG-29K and naval LCA landed on deck in February.
2025 – Operation Sindoor (Vikrant 2022): Carrier group forward-deployed in the Arabian Sea.

Operations and Legacy

Vikrant (1961) is India’s carrier war hero. In December 1971 her aircraft struck Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Khulna and Mongla, supporting the blockade of East Pakistan. Viraat, as HMS Hermes, had led the British fleet in the 1982 Falklands War, and in India she became the backbone of naval aviation for three decades, including a 2009 deployment to the Gulf of Aden.

Vikrant (2022) is writing her own story. In February 2023 the MiG-29K and the naval LCA made their first landings on her deck. In 2025, during Operation Sindoor, her carrier group was forward-deployed in the Arabian Sea, a clear signal of India’s reach at sea.

Which Was Better at What?

War record: Vikrant (1961), for her role in 1971.
Long service: Viraat, which spent close to six decades in two navies.
Size and aircraft: Vikrant (2022), the biggest and most capable of the three.
Engines: Vikrant (2022), with modern gas turbines instead of boilers.
Fighter quality: Vikrant (2022), whose MiG-29K outclasses the Sea Hawk and Sea Harrier.
National self-reliance: Vikrant (2022), India’s first home-designed and home-built carrier.

How Carrier Technology Evolved

In 1961 carriers were still adapting to jet planes. Catapults and angled decks were the cutting edge. By the 1980s, jump jets and ski-jumps let smaller carriers like Viraat carry fast fighters without catapults. The new Vikrant combines a large hull, a ski-jump and arrestor wires to fly full-size fighters, plus gas turbines, modern radars and automated machinery control.

The bigger shift is industrial. Building a carrier needs special steel, huge welding work, thousands of kilometres of cables and the skill to fit it all together. With Vikrant (2022), Indian industry proved it can do this, which is why her commissioning was celebrated as a national milestone.

Vikrant 1961 vs Viraat vs Vikrant 2022 Timeline

1957 – India buys HMS Hercules: Unfinished British carrier bought for the Indian Navy.
1959 – HMS Hermes joins Royal Navy: The future Viraat starts her British career.
1961 – Vikrant (1961) commissioned: Commissioned on 4 March 1961 in Belfast.
1971 – Vikrant (1961) in battle: Air strikes on East Pakistan help win the war.
1987 – Viraat commissioned: Joins the Indian Navy on 12 May 1987.
1989 – Ski-jump fitted on Vikrant: Refit gives the old carrier a ramp for Sea Harriers.
1997 – Vikrant (1961) retires: Decommissioned on 31 January 1997.
2009 – IAC-1 keel laid: Work on India’s first home-built carrier begins at Kochi.
2017 – Viraat retires: Decommissioned on 6 March 2017 after about 30 years in India.
2022 – Vikrant (2022) commissioned: Commissioned on 2 September 2022 at Cochin Shipyard.

Who Commands a Carrier?

An Indian aircraft carrier is commanded by an officer of Captain rank. Below the captain are heads of departments for navigation, engineering, electrical systems, weapons, logistics, medical care and aviation. More than a thousand sailors and officers live aboard, along with pilots and aircraft technicians. Every carrier is effectively a floating town with kitchens, a hospital, workshops and its own power station.

The Verdict: Vikrant 1961 vs Viraat vs Vikrant 2022

Picture a relay race. Vikrant (1961) ran the first lap and won a medal in 1971. Viraat ran the longest lap, keeping India’s carrier flame alive for 30 years. Vikrant (2022) is running the final lap faster than anyone before. On technology, size and air power, Vikrant (2022) wins clearly. But she would not exist without the lessons learned on the two veterans before her.

Exam tip: both Vikrants share a name, but only the 2022 ship was built in India. Viraat links them, bridging the old Vikrant’s retirement in 1997 and the new Vikrant’s arrival in 2022.

Did You Know?

INS Vikrant (1961) was commissioned in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 4 March 1961.
Vikrant (1961) became a museum ship in Mumbai, then was scrapped in 2014 to 2015.
A Bajaj motorcycle called the Bajaj V was made partly from her metal.
Viraat was laid down in 1944, during the Second World War, and launched in 1953.
Vikrant (2022) has 14 decks and stands about 59 metres tall.
Vikrant (2022) has a flight deck of about 12,500 square metres, close to two football fields.
Vikrant (2022)’s keel was laid in 2009 and she was floated out in 2013.