"Befitting Tribute To People Of Manipur": Navy Unveils INS Imphal's Crest

The crest of the Indian Navy's latest home-grown warship INS Imphal was unveiled today. The crest has the word "Imphal" embossed on it in Hindi, and the design shows the Kangla Palace on the left and the 'Kangla-Sa' on the right.

Kangla Palace is an important historical and archaeological site in Manipur, and was the traditional seat of the past kingdom. The 'Kangla-Sa', with a dragon's head and a lion's body, is a mythical being from Manipur's history and is symbolic as the guardian of its people. The 'Kangla-Sa' is also the state emblem of Manipur.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh unveiled the crest in the presence of General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff, and Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of Naval Staff, at a ceremony in Delhi today.

"... The Indian Navy is immensely proud of naming its latest and technologically most advanced warship after the historic city of Imphal. This is the first capital warship to be named after a city in the northeast region, the approval for which was accorded by the President on April 16, 2019," the Navy said in a statement today.

"The unveiling of Imphal's crest, adorned with the Kangla Palace and 'Kangla-Sa' is a befitting tribute to the sacrifice made by the people of Manipur towards India's independence, sovereignty, and security," the Navy said in the statement.

INS Imphal is the third of the four 'Project 15B' stealth guided missile destroyers being built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL). It delivered this warship to the Indian Navy on October 20.

As part of the pre-commissioning trials recently, the warship successfully fired an Extended Range BrahMos missile.

INS Imphal was designed by the Indian Navy's Warship Design Bureau (WDB).

This ship is a hallmark of indigenous shipbuilding and is among the most technologically advanced warships in the world, the Navy said in the statement. The guided missile destroyer has a displacement of 7,400 tonnes and an 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, the Navy said. The ship is capable of achieving speeds in excess of 30 knots, or 56 kmph.

The Navy said the ship has a high indigenous content of approximately 75 per cent that includes medium range surface-to-air missiles (BEL, Bengaluru), BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles (BrahMos Aerospace, Delhi), indigenous torpedo tube launchers (Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai), anti-submarine indigenous rocket launchers (Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai), and 76 mm super rapid gun mount (BHEL, Haridwar).

INS Imphal's keel was laid on May 19, 2017 and the ship was launched into water on April 20, 2019. She sailed out on her first sea trials on April 28 this year. She has undergone a comprehensive schedule of trials in harbour and at sea, leading up to its Delivery on October 20 within a record timeframe of six months.

The time taken to build INS Imphal and for her trials is the shortest for any indigenous destroyer. The delivery of the ship is an affirmation of the impetus towards 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', the Navy said.