INS Kirch (P62)

INS Kirch is a Kora-class corvette, currently in active service with the Indian Navy.

Service history
In early 2011, the ship was part of a fleet of warships from the Eastern Fleet which went on an operational deployment in South East Asia and the Western Pacific. The flotilla was composed of the INS Delhi (D61), INS Ranvijay, INS Ranvir, INS Jyoti and INS Kirch, and carried 1,400 naval personnel on board. They were commanded by Rear Admiral Harish Chandra Singh Bisht. The flotilla, along with an Indian Navy maritime reconnaissance aircraft took part in a five-day exercise SIMBEX 2011 with the Singapore Navy in the South China Sea. Four naval ships including a submarine of the Singapore Navy were commanded by Rear Admiral Joseph Leong, Fleet Commander of the Republic of Singapore Navy. The Indian fleet then proceeded on its forward deployment, and made port calls at Alava pier in Subic Bay (Philippines), Vlapostok (Russia), Manila (Philippines), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei), Kota Kina Balu (Malaysia) and Jakarta (Indonesia). The ships also visited China, Japan and South Korea. After exercising with the U.S. Navy, the fleet conducted drills at Vladivostok with the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet. This was the second time the Indian Navy had made a port call at Vladivostok.