MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands' war carrier, under Indian flag, returns to Atlantic

Transferred from the UK in 1986, the aircraft carrier INS Viraat has recently been refitted for a further 10 years of active service

The Indian Navy only aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, the former Falkland Islands war veteran HMS Hermes and a flotilla of other men-o-war are scheduled to participate for the first time ever in war games with the British and French navies in the Atlantic Ocean early next year.

According to the Indian press this underlines the increasing strategic prowess of the country's navy and is also an opportunity to gain a foothold in the region and work towards interoperability. "We will be participating in the naval exercises at the beginning of the next year at the invitation of Britain and France" a senior naval officer is quoted, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The Indian Navy is working out the itinerary for the exercises in the Atlantic Ocean. We need to test our sonar and other equipment in different environmental conditions and the exercises would provide the right opportunity for this" the officer added. During the exercise all the three components of naval operations - under the sea, on the sea, and in the air - will come into play. "The Indian Navy would like to deploy all three components during the exercise to gauge their effectiveness," the officer added. However, it was not immediately known which warships and other vessels will form the Indian Navy's flotilla for the exercises. The participation of the Indian Navy's lone aircraft career INS Viraat was first considered uncertain because she is currently undergoing a refit but "she is expected to put to sea by the beginning of next year". Royal Navy HMS Hermes and was about to be decommissioned in 1982 following a defense review from the British government, but when the Falklands War broke out she became a central piece of the British Task Force that sailed for the South Atlantic to recover the Islands.