Indian Navy's Indigenous Warship INS Imphal Commissioned | All You Need to Know

The indigenously-built stealth guided missile destroyer, INS Imphal, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on Tuesday. The warship’s induction is aimed at boosting India’s maritime capability amid China’s increasing forays into the Indian Ocean.

The commission ceremony was held at the naval dockyard in Mumbai in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, officials said. They noted that the name of the ship — after Manipur’s capital city — denotes the importance of Northeast regions in national security and prosperity.

Here’s All You Need to Know:

1. INS Imphal is the first warship to be named after a city from the Northeastern region, which was approved by the President in April 2019. Officials said that the name underlines the importance of Northeastern regions for national security and prosperity.
2. This will be the third of the four ‘Vishakhapatnam’ class destroyers, indigenously designed by Indian Navy’s in-house organisation, Warship Design Bureau.
3. Constructed by Mazagaon Dock Limited, the ship was delivered to the Indian Navy on October 20 after completion of a rigourous and comprehensive trial programme both in the harbour and at sea.
4. A guided missile destroyer with a displacement of 7,400 tonnes and overall length of 164 metres, INS Imphal is a potent and versatile platform equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, including surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes.
5. The ship boasts of having high indigenous content including BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles, medium range surface-to-air missiles, anti-submarine indigenous rocket launchers and 76mm super rapid gun mount.
6. The warship is powered by Combines Gas and Gas (COGAG) propulsion and is capable of achieving speeds in excess of 30 knots (56 km/hour).
7. INS Imphal is also equipped to fight under Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions and has a high degree of automation and stealth features further enhancing her combat capability and survivability.
8. According to the Indian Navy, Imphal can be rightfully regarded as one of the most potent warships to have been constructed in India — a testament to India’s growing shipbuilding prowess in pursuit of the national vision of ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’.
9. The ship is fitted with a modern surveillance radar which provides target data to the gunnery weapon systems of the ship.
10. INS Imphal’s built and trial time is the shortest for any indigenous destroyer. It’s keel was laid in May 2017 and the warship was launched into water in April 2019.
11. The warship also successfully test-fired the extended-range supersonic BrahMos missile last month, a first for any Indian-made warship before commissioning.
12. Following its commission into the navy, INS Imphal will join the Western Naval Command.

(With PTI inputs)