INS ''Kulish'' is a , currently in active service with the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

. She was ordered in October 1994 and was laid in October 1995. She was launched in August 1997 and was commissioned on 20 August 2001. ''Kulish'' is the third of the four ''Kora''-class corvettes designed under Project25A. She is armed with the

P-15 Termit The P-15 ''Termit'' (russian: П-15 "Термит"; en, termite) is an anti-ship missile developed by the Soviet Union's MKB Raduga, Raduga design bureau in the 1950s. Its GRAU designation was 4K40, its NATO reporting name was ''Styx'' or SS-N ...

anti-ship missiles and Strela-2 anti-air missiles.

Etymology

The word ''Kulish'' is of

sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

origin and translates to ''thunderbolt''. It is the name of a mythological weapon of

Lord Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> Ind ...

Design

Armament

INS ''Kulish'' is primarily designed as a surface combatant. It is armed with four quad launchers for sixteen Kh-35 Uran-E anti-ship missiles with a range of . The anti-air defence is provided by two mobile shoulder based

Strela-2 The 9K32 Strela-2 (russian: Cтрела, "arrow"; NATO reporting name SA-7 Grail) is a light-weight, shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile (or MANPADS) system. It is designed to target aircraft at low altitudes with passive infrared homing guid ...

SAM Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

systems. It is fitted with an Otobreda main gun while two

AK-630 The AK-630 is a Soviet and Russian fully automatic naval, rotary cannon, close-in weapon system. The "630" designation refers to the weapon's six gun barrels and their 30 mm caliber. The system is mounted in an enclosed automatic turret and dir ...

guns act as

CIWS A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of la ...

. In addition, the ship carries one

HAL Chetak HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fight ...

HAL Dhruv The HAL Dhruv is a utility helicopter designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in November 1984. The helicopter first flew in 1992; however, its development was prolonged due to multiple factors including the Indian Army ...

helicopter.

Construction

The Naval Design Bureau under Project 25A designed the ''Kora''-class corvettes. INS ''Kulish'' along with were ordered in October 1994 by the Indian Navy. Her keel was laid in October 1995 and she was launched in August 1997 before being commissioned on 20 August 2001 by the then Governor of West Bengal, Viren J. Shah at

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. During the commissioning ceremony, the Governor of West Bengal stressed the need for development of indigenous defence equipment. The Flag Officer Commander-in-Chief of the navy's

Eastern Naval Command The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocea ...

John C. DeSilva said "INS ''Kulish'', suited for picket duties, would act as an effective sentinel in the Eastern Command in the Indian Maritime zone".

Operational history

INS ''Kulish'' visited the Shanghai naval base in 2003 as part of a three-vessel fleet, for a five-day official visit. The fleet was commanded by flag officer Rear Admiral R. P. Suthan of India's

. It comprised a guided missile destroyer , a fleet tanker and ''Kulish''. The fleet held airborne and surface search and rescue exercises with China's

East Sea Fleet The Eastern Theater Command Navy (), or East Sea Fleet (ESF; ), is one of the three fleets of the People's Liberation Army Navy, operating in the East China Sea under the Eastern Theater Command. It was the first naval force formed by the Peopl ...

, which were code-named "Dolphin 0311". Before the joint exercise, the Chinese and Indian ships also conducted maritime communication and formation manoeuvres. These were the first joint naval exercises between China and India. The fleet left Shanghai on 14 November 2003. In May 2010, the navy's Eastern Fleet deployed INS ''Kulish'', along with guided-missile destroyers and INS ''Ranjit'' and fleet tanker INS ''Jyoti'' from Port Blair to

South East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

, where the fleet undertook passage exercises with the navies of Indonesia, Singapore and Australia. The fleet sailed under the command of Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Fleet, Rear Admiral P N Murugesan and made port calls at

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

(Indonesia),

Hai Phong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong wa ...

(Vietnam),

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

(Philippines), Muara (Brunei),

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

(Thailand),

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

(Australia), Singapore and

Port Kelang Port Klang ( ms, Pelabuhan Klang) is a town and the main gateway by sea into Malaysia. Known during colonial times as Port Swettenham ( ms, Pelabuhan Swettenham) but renamed Port Klang in July 1972, it is the largest port in the country. It is l ...

(Malaysia). At Port Kelang, the fleet conducted anti-piracy exercises with the

Royal Malaysian Navy The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN, ms, Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia; TLDM; Jawi: ) is the naval arm of the Malaysian Armed Forces. RMN is the main agency responsible for the country's maritime surveillance and defense operations. RMN's area of o ...

from 20 to 23 June, and left port on 23 June. INS ''Kulish'' participated in the Malabar 2012 exercise with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

along with destroyers , , frigate and replenishment oiler . The other ships which participated in the exercise included Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 of the US Navy, comprising , embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17, guided-missile cruiser and guided-missile destroyer .

Military Sealift Command Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

's fast combat support ship also provided support for the exercise. INS ''Kulish'' along with INS ''Rana'' participated in the Navy Day celebrations in December 2011 when it was commanded by

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

Rajneesh Dalal. Both the ships hosted more than 1,200 people who came to watch the programme in commemoration of Navy Day. ''Kulish'' was part of the seven ships that took part in the programme in commemoration of Navy Day 2013. The other ships included the amphibious transport dock , guided missile destroyer INS ''Ranvijay'', frigates , and corvettes , . ''Kulish'' was part of a seven-ship fleet which represented the Eastern Naval Command at Indian Navy's annual TROPEX exercise, which concluded on 1 March 2013. TROPEX 2013 was a month-long theatre level exercise which was conducted off India's west coast. The navy conducted manoeuvres, weapon firings and tactical evaluation. The other ships in the flotilla were the destroyer INS ''Rana'', amphibious dock INS ''Jalashwa'', corvettes and and fleet tanker INS ''Jyoti'', and it was led by INS ''Ranvijay'' under the command of Admiral Ajith Kumar P, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet. This flotilla made a port call at Kochi on 4 March 2013, en route to its forward deployment.

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kulish (P63) Kora-class corvettes Corvettes of the Indian Navy Naval ships of India 1997 ships Ships built in India