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’.
Expansion of warships
The speeding up of the construction process is especially important as the Navy looks to expand its fleet of capital warships in line with its growing commitments and engagements in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and the larger Indo-Pacific as also against the backdrop of a sharp increase in Chinese naval presence in the IOR. “We are on track to be a 170-180 [ship] Navy by 2028. 66 out of 68 ships presently under construction are also being built at Indian Shipyards. Further, 24 ships under contract conclusion, will similarly be indigenous — our aim is for the Navy to be fully Aatmanirbhar by 2047,” Navy chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar told The Hindu recently.
Mr. Singh also defined INS Imphal as a “conglomeration” of different strengths of the nation. BrahMos cruise missiles have been installed on the ship by Brahmos Aerospace; torpedo tube launchers by Larsen & Toubro (L&T), rapid gun mount by BHEL, and medium-range missiles by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). In addition, many start-ups and Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises are involved in its construction. The ship boasts a high level of indigenisation, about 75%, which includes indigenous equipment/systems, combat management systems, rocket launchers, torpedo launchers and integrated platform management systems.
The contract for construction of four ships under Project-15B was signed in January 2011 at a cost of about ₹29,643.74 crore. The ships have been designed in-house by the Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, Mumbai. The P-15B class are a follow-on to the P-15A Kolkata class destroyers and named after major cities from all four corners of the country — Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal and Surat. The first two ships, INS Visakhapatnam and INS Mormugao, were commissioned in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The last of the class, Surat, is expected to be commissioned in 2024.
The design of Project 15B has largely maintained the hull form, propulsion machinery, many platform equipment, major weapons and sensors as the Kolkata class to benefit from series production. However, these ships have enhanced stealth features over the earlier class resulting in a reduced radar cross section through shaping of hull, plated masts and use of radar transparent deck fittings, which make these ships difficult to detect.
INS Imphal measures 163 m in length and 17 m in breadth and has a displacement of 7,400 tonnes. The ship is propelled by four gas turbines, in a combined gas and gas configuration, and is capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots. The ship has a total complement of 315 personnel, and is commanded by Captain K.K. Choudhury, a gunnery and missiles specialist.
