Indian Navy launches guided missile destroyer
Mumbai, Apr 21: The Indian Navy has launched guided missile destroyer Imphal at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders here.
Imphal, the third ship under Project 15B, successfully slipped into the waters at 12:20 pm, eliciting huge cheers and slogans of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and Vande Mataram from the huge crowd of staffers and officials that had assembled.
In keeping with naval tradition, Reena Lanba, wife of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba and president of Navy Wives Welfare Association (NWWA), broke a coconut on the ship's bow to launch the ship.
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Speaking on the occasion, Admiral Sunil Lanba said, "The synergic partnership of MDL, Indian Navy, DRDO, OFB, BEL, other public sector enterprises and the private industry is ensuring that force levels are made available to meet India's national strategic objectives."
He congratulated the entire team involved in the building of the ship and said the team at the Directorate of Naval Design, by designing such state-of-art vessels, was contributing to achieving the Navy's dream of transforming from a "buyers" to a "builders" Navy.
"The
Indian
Navy
stands
fully
committed
and
we
are
extremely
proud
of
the
fact
that
all
of
our
warships
and
submarines
on
order
today
are
being
constructed
within
the
country,"
the
admiral
said.
Warships
built
under
Project
15Bravo,
with
a
length
of
163
metres
and
17.4
metres
at
the
beam
and
a
displacement
of
7.300
tonnes,
are
propelled
by
four
gas
turbines
to
achieve
speeds
in
excess
of
30
knots.
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Ships under this project can carry and operate two multiple role helicopters.
Enhanced stealth features have been achieved through the shaping of hull and use of radar transparent deck fittings which make these ships difficult to detect, a Navy statement said.
The first ship of Project 15B, a guided missile destroyer christened 'Visakhapatnam', was launched on April 20, 2015.