“ I OBLITERATE those who dare to fight me”. There couldnt be a more fitting motto for a warship that is now half- a- century old — one that is the worlds oldest aircraft carrier still in full service.

The Indian Navys 28,700- tonne INS Viraat has steamed on without any major hitch for decades.

On November 18 this year, the iconic warship will mark 50 years since she was commissioned in the Royal Navy as the HMS Hermes . Now in Kochi undergoing her third refit ( she previously underwent refits in 1986 and 1999), the INS Viraat is being given an extensive overhaul of systems and structures, for what will, in all likelihood, be the final lap of a remarkable service life.

Wedged snugly in the repair dock of the Kochi shipyard, engineers and technicians work on the Viraats twin steam turbine engines, re- welding swathes of her reinforced plate metal hull, and providing a comprehensive maintenance routine on her hydraulic and mechanical systems — most of them as old as the ship herself.

“ Shes still in terrific shape. The maintenance programme will continue till July, after which the ship will be back at sea,” said Captain Anil Chawla, the Viraats commanding officer.

In January 2007, when this correspondent spent a day onboard Viraat , Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta had said, “ We are confident she is in good condition for seven more years of service.” The Navy will certainly be hoping thats true. With Indias indigenous aircraft carrier likely to be inducted no sooner than 2014, the Navy does not want to be confronted with the possibility of having no aircraft carrier even for a few months in the intervening period. But the Viraats obdurate toughness through half- a- century of operations, including a war in the South Atlantic, has brightened prospects of at least five more years of service without a hitch.

A senior engineering supervisor working on the ships refit said: “ The Viraat is still in commendable condition. I have heard people say she is in better shape now than she was when purchased from the British.” Thats no exaggeration. A team from the ships original builders Vickers- Armstrong ( now a part of British Aerospaces shipbuilding division) had a chance to visit the vessel two years ago along with a Royal Navy delegation. They concluded the ship was in far better condition than they had expected — and that the Indian Navy had done a phenomenal job stretching her longevity beyond anything the builders had envisaged when they flooded her drydock for the first time in 1953.

As a fitting tribute to the ship in the twilight of her life, the Navy is processing an application from a well- known UK agency to produce a historic documentary on the INS Viraat, one that will include rare and previously unseen archival footage of her performance in the Falkland War.