The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. It currently has approximately 56,000 personnel on active duty, including 5,000 members of the naval aviation branch, 1,200 marine commandos and 1,000 Sagar Prahari Bal soldiers, making it the world's fifth largest navy in terms of personnel. The Indian Navy currently operates around 170 vessels, including the aircraft carrier INS Viraat, along with operational jet fighters.

Though the primary objective of the navy is to secure national maritime borders, India also uses its navy to enhance its international relations through joint exercises, port visits and humanitarian missions, including disaster relief. In recent years, the Indian Navy has undergone extensive modernisation and expansion meaning there is now a much more overt military and political readiness to establisha "Blue Water" capability.

The Navy has been involved in two wars between India and Pakistan. Its activity in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 largely involved patrolling of the coast. The Pakistani Navy attacked the Indian coastal city of Dwarka and returned to their home port, although they did not achieve any strategic objective. However, the Navy did play a significant role in Operation Trident: the bombing of Karachi harbour in the 1971 war, on 4 December 1971. The attack was a success, and the 4th of December has been celebrated as Navy Day ever since INS Vikrant was docked inside the Karachi harbour as a symbol of ultimate victory. The attack was followed by Operation Python before the center of conflict shifted to the eastern India-Pakistan border and the Bay of Bengal. To show solidarity with its ally Pakistan, the United States sent Task Force 74 led by the USS Enterprise into the Bay of Bengal. The Indian task force led by INS Vikrant was also stationed in the Bay of Bengal to counter the Enterprise task force; Soviet Navy submarines also trailed the U.S. task force. A confrontation was averted when the U.S. task force moved towards South East Asia, away from the Indian Ocean.

The sinking of the Pakistani Navy's lone long-range submarine PNS Ghazi after an attack by the destroyer INS Rajput., enabled an easy Indian blockade of East Pakistan. The missile boats INS Nirghat and INS Nipat each sank a destroyer; the INS Veer destroyed a minesweeper. The naval aircraft, Sea Hawks and Alizés, operating from the Vikrant were also instrumental in sinking many gunboats and merchant navy vessels. There was one major casualty, the frigate Khukri (sunk by the PNS Hangor), while the Kirpan was damaged in the western sector of conflict. Ultimately, the naval blockade ofKarachi Port and the complete blockade of East Pakistan's ports were successful in cutting Pakistani troops off from reinforcements, supplies, and evacuation routes. These actions proved decisive in India's victory in the war.

In 2004, India bought the Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov for the equivalent of US$1.5 billion. It will cost an additional US$1.5 billion to refit, and is expected to join the Indian Navy in 2012 as INS Vikramaditya. A further US$700 million will be spent to purchase 12 single-seat MiG-29K and four dual-seat MiG-29KUB fighters, six Kamov-31 attack and reconnaissance anti-submarine helicopters; also included are training facilities for pilots and technical staff, delivery of simulators and spare parts, and establishment and maintenance of Indian Navy facilities. Upgrades include removing missiles from the carrier foredeck to make way for a 14.3-degree ski-jump. The Mig-29's will be delivered to the Indian Navy in 2009.

In April 2007, India began construction of a 40,000 tonne Vikrant class aircraft carrier at a cost of US$800 million and scheduled to operate 30 aircraft, including Naval LCA, MiG-29K, and Sea Harrier combat aircraft, as well as HAL Dhruv, Ka-31, and Sea King Mk.42 helicopters. Four turbine engines will power the ship. The carrier is being constructed by state-run Cochin Shipyard Limited. and will be commissioned by 2012-13. The Indian Minister of State for Defence, Pallam Raju, went on record in September 2006 stating that the aircraft carrier is likely to be commissioned by 2011. There are plans to build more aircraft carriers domestically.

The Indian Navy is currently undergoing rapid expansion and modernisation. Yantar, a plant in Kaliningrad, Russia, was awarded a US$1.56 billion contract to build three additional 1135.6 frigates. The increased price is due to more sophisticated armaments such as BrahMos cruise missiles. The Navy has government approval for an additional eight warships.

The Indian Navy has signed a deal with Boeing to supply eight P-8 Poseidon Anti Submarine Warfare/Maritime Surveillance Aircraft. The first aircraft will be delivered 4 years after the signing of the contract, that is 2012. Also there are plans to induct four AEW&C aircraft's that will be based on super carriers.

India is expected to spend about US$40 billion on military modernisation from 2008 to 2013. A major chunk of those purchases were made for the Indian Navy. Design of a third 65,000 ton aircraft carrier called Indigenous Aircraft Carrier II (IAC-II) is ongoing and will be inducted into the Indian Navy by 2017. Order has been placed for seven Project 17A class frigates. India is currently focusing on expanding it's submarine fleet. Also newer technology like the Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) is being developed for the Indian Navy.

After ordering six Scorpene submarines as part of Project 75, Indian Navy is now on the look out for six next-generation submarines in a project worth over 50,000 crore (US$10.9 billion). These six diesel-electric submarines built in India under Project-75I, will be equipped with air-independent propulsion boosting their operational capabilities and will have high degree of stealth, land-attack capability and ability to incorporate futuristic technologies. While according to the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), three of the six submarines will be constructed at the Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL) in Mumbai and one atHindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL) in Visakhapatnam, the two remaining submarines will either be imported or constructed at a private shipyard in India. RFI has been issued to Rosoboronexport, French (Armaris), HDW and other firms, two rounds of discussions have already taken place.

The RFP (request for proposal) for six MRMR aircraft with anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities was issued on 11 July 2008 to Italian Alenia Aeronautica's ATR-72-500MP aircraft, BrazilianEmbraer P-99 , French Dassault's Falcon 900DX and Russian Antonov-72P. The contract is expected to be signed in 2011 and deliveries to begin by 2012/2013. The contract is estimated to cost 1,600 crore (US$347.2 million). The Navy is also planning to induct more UAVs. The India-Israel joint venture to convert the Chetak helicopters into unmanned UAV's that can operate from ships is progressing steadily. All these will be linked with space-based reconnaissance systems. On 13 January 2009, India has issued a request for proposals (RFPs) for six Medium Range Maritime Reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft. The new aircraft, which will replace the ageing fleet of 10 Islander aircraft in service, are to be equipped with an Airborne Early Warning system. The Indian Coast Guard has an additional requirement for six MRMRs without an Airborne Early Warning system. The MRMR is required to have a range of 500 nautical miles (930 km) and an endurance of 6 hours. Aircraft competing for the order include a variant of Boeing's P-8I, and possibly the turboprop ATR-72MP, EADS C-295, Dassault's Falcon 900MPA and Embraer P-99A platforms. For the Coast Guard RFP, contenders could be the ATR-42MP, C-295 or CN-235MP.

In August 2009, the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman briefed the Indian Navy on the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye. This covered potential use of this platform to satisfy its current shore-based and future carrier-based Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) requirements. The Indian Navy reportedly expressed interest in acquiring up to six Hawkeyes.

Indian Navy has issued a tender for procurement of 16 advanced, multi-role naval helicopters to Agusta Westland, EADS and Sikorsky. The order is likely to be expanded to 60 helicopters. The helicopters will be equipped with anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare equipment including cruise missiles and torpedoes, and also be capable of being refuelled in flight. The type will operate from both naval vessels and land bases.

Global bids has been floated to acquire eight mine countermeasure vessels (MCMVs), to replace the twelve Pondicherry class ocean minesweepers in service. France's DCN International, Fincantieri of Italy, Izar of Spain, Kangnam Shipbuilding Co. of South Korea and Northrop Grumman of the U.S have been invited to participate in the bidding process. Six of the craft will be produced at Goa shipyard under transfer of technology.

With the recent and ongoing upgrades and inductions, independent analysts expect that the Indian Navy may soon become a blue-water navy.  India's navy is already the most powerful in the region, and with further upgrades in the future, the Navy aims to control the entire Indian Ocean Region, from the coast of East Africa to Australia. India is also the only Asian navy to regularly operate aircraft carriers. The aim is to have a total of three Aircraft carriers resulting in two fully operational Carrier battle groups and an additional Aircraft carrier eventually in refit making India an operating Blue-water navy.

The ambitious long term plan that was recently revealed shows a road-map to blue water navy with India operating atleast six aircraft carrier battle groups.