NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy will commission its latest Stealth Guided Missile Destroyer INS Imphal, being constructed under the Project 15-B, at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on Tuesday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest for the commissioning ceremony.
“The time taken to build Imphal and for her trials is the shortest for any indigenous destroyer,” the Navy said. Imphal’s keel was laid on May 19, 2017 and the ship was launched into water on 20 April 2019. Imphal sailed out for her maiden sea trials on 28 April 2023 and completed a comprehensive schedule of trials, both in the harbour and at sea, leading up to its Delivery on 20 October 2023, within a record time frame of six months - the fastest for a ship of its size.”
It is the first warship to have been named after a city from the North East, the approval for which was accorded by the President on April 16, 2019, Indian Navy PRO Commander Vivek Madhwal said. On November 28, Rajnath Singh unveiled the ship’s crest at New Delhi, in the presence of the Manipur Chief Minister, N Biren Singh, CDS Gen Anil Chauhan and Indian Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and other senior dignitaries.
The ship once commissioned will join the Western Naval Command. Imphal is a state-of-the-art warship, designed by the Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau and built by MDL, with significant contributions from the public and private sectors, including MSMEs, and the Defence Research and Development Organisation.
Measuring 163 metres in length, displacing 7,400 tons and with 75% indigenous content, Imphal can rightfully be regarded as one of the most potent warships to have been constructed in India. The ship is equipped to fight under Nuclear, Biological and Chemical warfare conditions and has a high degree of automation and stealth features.