Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) on Friday delivered to the Indian Navy INS Imphal, the third ship of the Project 15B Class of stealth guided missile destroyers, four months ahead of schedule.
Imphal was the first naval warship commissioned with accommodation for women officers and sailors. “It can accommodate a crew of 312 persons, has an endurance of 4,000 nautical miles, and can carry out a 42-day mission with extended mission time in an out-of-area operation,” the MDL said in a release said.
The ship is equipped with two helicopters onboard to further extend its reach.
The ‘Acceptance Document’ was signed by MDL Chairman-Managing Director Sanjeev Singhal and Rear Admiral Sanjay Sadhu.
The ship was constructed using indigenous steel “DMR 249A” and is among the largest destroyers built in India, with an overall length of 164 metres and a displacement of over 7,500 tonnes.
It is a potent platform capable of undertaking a variety of tasks and missions, spanning the full spectrum of maritime warfare, the MDL added.
“It is armed with supersonic Surface-to-Surface Brahmos missiles and Barak-8 Medium Range Surface-to-Air missiles... The destroyer is fitted with indigenously developed anti-submarine weapons and sensors, prominently the hull-mounted Sonar Humsa NG, heavyweight torpedo tube launchers, and ASW rocket launchers,” it said.
It is more versatile than previous Classes of destroyers and frigates in the naval inventory and its all-round capability against enemy submarines, surface warships, anti-ship missiles, and fighter aircraft would enable it to operate independently without supporting vessels, and also to function as the flagship of a Naval Task Force, the MDL said.
“Imphal has been delivered to the Indian Navy more than four months ahead of the contractual time as the most combat-worthy platform to date. This reaffirms MDL’s commitment towards continuous improvement and mostly exceeding global benchmarks,” it said.
This ship has completed three Contractor’s Sea Trials (CSTs) including firing of major critical weapons in the very first CST and will be the first among all P15B ships to be fitted with upgraded Brahmos missiles having dual-role capability of “long range and land attack”.
The ship is propelled by a powerful Combined Gas and Gas Propulsion Plant (COGAG), consisting of four reversible gas turbines, which enables her to achieve a speed of over 30 knots (approximately 55 kmph).
The ship boasts of a very high level of automation with sophisticated digital networks such as Gigabyte Ethernet-based Ship Data Network (GESDN), Combat Management System (CMS), Automatic Power Management System (APMS) and Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS).
The indigenous content in P15B-Class destroyers is 72%, which is a notch above the P15A (59%) and P15 (42%) Classes, reaffirming the government’s focus on Atmanirbhar Bharat programme along with development of a large ecosystem of sub-vendors, it said.
The first ship of P15B Class, INS Visakhapatnam, was commissioned on November 21, 2021, while the second ship INS Mormugao was commissioned on December 18, 2022. The fourth, INS Surat, was launched on May 17 last year and is at an advanced stage of outfitting, the MDL said.
