The Indian Navy received a third Visakhapatnam-class destroyer.
The press service of the Indian Navy reported this.
The Imphal destroyer was built at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited shipyard. Vessels of the same project, the INS Visakhapatnam and INS Mormugao, were commissioned over the past two years.
The Warship Design Bureau (WDB) of the Indian Navy designed the Visakhapatnam-class destroyers that are the hallmark of the local shipbuilding industry.
The project is positioned as a powerful and versatile platform equipped with the most modern weapons, consisting of anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles and torpedoes.
The main propulsion of the vessels consists of two Ukrainian М36Е gas turbine units manufactured by SE NPKG Zorya-Mashproekt and two Bergen/GRSE KVM diesel engines manufactured under license in India.
This equipment allows the vessel to reach a maximum speed of up to 30 knots.
The P15B project’s vessels are armed with a 76 mm naval gun, four АК-630 30mm CIWS, and two 8-cell VLS for launching BrahMos cruise missiles.
The vessels also have four vertical launchers with 8 cells for launching Barak-8ER anti-aircraft missiles and two RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launchers.
Indian destroyers can carry two helicopters of the Westland Sea King or HAL Dhruv type on board.
The vessels are 163.9 meters long, 17.7 meters wide, and have a displacement of 7,400 tons. The range is 4,500 nautical miles at a speed of 18 knots. The crew consists of 360 sailors, including 50 officers.
Procurement history
The Cabinet Committee on Security of the Government of India approved a project to build four stealth destroyers as part of the P15B project program in December 2010.
The contract for their supply to the Indian Navy was signed on January 28, 2011. The order value was $4.89 billion.
The launching ceremony of the series’ lead ship, named Visakhapatnam, took place on April 20, 2015.
The keel of the Mormugao, the second destroyer of the series, was laid in June 2015, and the launching ceremony took place on September 17, 2016.
INS Imphal, the third ship of the series, was launched on April 20, 2019, and the fourth, INS Sura, was launched on May 17, 2022.