On December 27, the third of four P-15B ‘Visakhapatnam’ class stealth guided missile destroyer was commissioned into the Indian Navy as INS Imphal at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. Imphal has the unique distinction of being the first warship to be named after a city in the Northeast. In addition, the time taken to build Imphal and for her trials is the shortest for any indigenous destroyer, according to the Navy.
Describing the ship as a shining example of ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said at the induction ceremony: “INS Imphal is a symbol of India’s growing maritime power and it will strengthen it further. It will bolster our principle of ‘Jalmev Yasya, Balmev Tasya’ (One who controls the sea is all powerful) in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Imphal’s keel was laid on May 19, 2017 and the ship was launched into water on April 20, 2019. Imphal sailed out for her maiden sea trials on April 28, 2023 and has completed a comprehensive schedule of trials, both in the harbour and at sea, and was delivered to the Navy on October 20, within a record time frame of six months — the “fastest for a ship of its size”. The ship successfully completed the first-ever test-firing of the extended range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile prior to its commissioning, making it ‘weapon-ready’.
