Thursday, June 18, 2015

Navy Modernization to Boost Pakistan Shipbuilding Industry

Pakistan is launching domestic construction of warships, submarines and missile boats as part of its ambitious naval modernization program in collaboration with China, according to media reports.

Karachi Shipyard 

Chinese media reports have described a building program involving six of eight S-20 AIP-equipped variants of the Type-039A/Type-041 submarine under negotiation; four "Improved F-22P" frigates equipped with enhanced sensors and weaponry (possibly including the HQ-17 surface-to-air missile developed from the Russian Tor 1/SA-N-9); and six Type-022 Houbei stealth catamaran missile boats, to be built by Pakistan's state-owned shipbuilder Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW), according to DefenseNews.

Pakistan is expanding and modernizing its underwater fleet with 8 additional AIP-equipped submarines jointly built with China.  Mansoor Ahmed of Quaid-e-Azam University told Defense News that AIP-equipped conventional submarines "provide reliable second strike platforms, [and] an assured capability resides with [nuclear-powered attack and nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines], which are technically very complex and challenging to construct and operate compared to SSKs, and also very capital intensive."

Expansion of KSEW in Karachi includes a new foundry, fabrication facilities to cover all aspects of ship construction, berthing facilities, and two graving docks of 26,000 and 18,000 dead weight tons, spread over 71 acres. A 7,881-ton ship lift transfer system will be completed next year. KSEW will expand to occupy facilities vacated by the Navy as it transfers from Karachi to Ormara. The Pakistan Navy Dockyard, which is adjacent to KSEW, already has facilities upgraded by the French during construction of Agosta-90B submarines.

The Pakistan Navy modernization efforts further expands existing China-Pakistan military manufacturing collaboration at Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) which has resulted in design and manufacturing of JF-17 fighter jets for Pakistan Air Force.

JF-17 Fighter Jet
In addition to designing and building military hardware together, Pakistan and China are also increasingly collaborating on manufacturing consumer appliances and products. The Pakistan-China economic corridor project includes setting up of several special economic zones for this purpose. A good example of this cooperation is Haier-Ruba special economic zone in Lahore.  Haier-Ruba joint venture in Pakistan has announced plans to start manufacturing laptops and smartphones in Lahore this year, according to the JV chairman Shah Faisal Afridi. The Haier-Ruba group is one of the largest manufacturers of polyester yarn and home appliances in the country.

The growth of both military and civilian manufacturing industries is helping to develop Pakistan's human capital and creating job opportunities for engineers, technicians and other workers.

Pakistan has taken a page from China's industrialization playbook which shows that the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) led the nation's industrial growth, first with military hardware and then expanding into consumer and industrial product manufacturing.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pakistan to Deploy AIP Subs For 2nd Strike

Pakistani Military Pushing Industrialization

IDEAS 2014: Pakistan's Arms Bazar

Pakistan-China Industrial Corridor to Boost FDI, Manufacturing and Exports

Haier Pakistan to Expand to Consumer Electronics

India's Israel Envy: What If Modi Attacks Pakistan?

Pakistan's Human Capital

94 comments:

Arsalan said...

currently we have two dry docks at the KSEW that need to be increased to AT LEAST four so that it enables us to at least be able to work on two new construction and one dock for maintenance while the fourth one spared as back up/emergency or in case there is increased need so a third project can be started there. If we want to MODERNIZE our navy building one ship at a time than God help us!

S. Afridi said...

success will be linked to two much bigger problems not being addressed, inland navigable waterways & domestic vessel ownership

Unknown said...

The development of Gwadar as a ship repair port is extremely important,whether that happens is another question since it would cut into business of Nawaz Sharifs freinds the Dubai Sheiks.

Riaz Haq said...

Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar said on Thursday the shipbuilding industry has a huge potential due to long deep-sea shores of the country.

Chairing a meeting to discuss a proposal for building new shipyards along Pakistan’s coasts, he said in line with the true potential and ideal location, the shipbuilding industry could contribute to national economic development and poverty alleviation.

He said in the last eight months the industrial sector had performed well and it was the vision of the PML-N government to make Pakistan a country that could prosper and develop as per its potential.

He said it was the responsibility of the government to attract investment in key industrial projects like shipyards as major triggers for further industrial growth.

He assured full support of the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Defence Production for the projects, which could help generate economic activity and attract foreign expertise and investments.

He stressed the need of training and utilising the human resource, which would contribute to employment opportunities and increased per capita income.

Chairman Ship Building Association Vice Admiral (R) Iftikhar Ahmad Rao gave a presentation on the global shipyard industry and emphasised that nations which realised the importance of their seas benefitted and became great powers.

He said the maritime sector was a prime source of growth, employment and social cohesion in developing countries. According to him, the world GDP grew at an average of 3.6% per annum whereas sea trade grew 4.3% per annum in the last 50 years.

In other words, world’s GDP grew eight times whereas sea trade grew 13 times in the last half century.

He said China started shipbuilding in the 1990s and today it was the global leader with a 41% share, followed by South Korea and Japan with 33% and 20% share respectively.

There are over 1,000 shipyards in China and even India has over 100 shipyards. In comparison, Pakistan has only one shipyard, the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works with two small dry docks.

He underlined the deep-sea shores, abundance of labour force and strategic location as Pakistan’s advantages in comparison to other regional countries.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/685318/proposal-to-build-new-shipyards-under-study/

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan's tool of war: #PAF's rolling thunder #JF17 Fighter Jet http://www.dawn.com/news/1226734

Pakistan Air Force’s thunder
JF-17 is a single-engine multi-role fighter,capable of performing interception roles, ground attack and aerial reconnaissance. The fighter was inducted as a replacement for the ageing fleet A-5C, F-7P, Mirage 3 and Mirage 5 aircraft that were due to be replaced.

The initial Block 1 JF-17s were received in 2007, with production of the upgraded Block 2 JF-17s started in 2013. The upgraded models have upgraded avionics, air-to-air refuelling capability, data link, enhanced electronic warfare capability and enhanced load carrying ability.

The JF-17 is powered by a Russian RD-93 afterburning turbofan, which has a top speed for Mach 1.6. The engine is a derivative of the engine that powers the MIG-29 Fulcrum. With the recent improvement in Pakistan-Russia relations, it might be possible to source the engines directly from Russia, rather than through China. In November it was reported that PAF will stick with using the RD-93, and not opt for a Chinese-made engine.

It was also reported recently that PAF is interested in joint engine development with Russia. The air force for years has wanted to expand its technical capabilities in engine development, as they have lacked the capability in this highly-technical field.

Splash one bandit
The JF-17 can be equipped with air-to-air and air-to-ground ordinance, and has a 23 mm GSh-23-2 twin-barrel cannon mounted under the port side air intake.

The aircraft can carry 8,000lbs of ordinance on seven external hardpoints, which is an adequate amount of ordinance for any mission profile. The JF-17 enhances the much needed capability of the air force in beyond visual range (BVR) engagements.

JF-17 mounts both short-range infra-red air to air missiles along with longer ranged radar-guided BVR missiles, an essential capability for a frontline interceptor. Missiles used on the aircraft come from a variety of different nations.

Apart from a capable air-to-air mix, the aircraft can be fitted with laser-guided, satellite-guided and dumb iron bombs. The precision-guided weapons are paired with a targeting pod, mounted on the centreline hardpoint. JF-17's are also capable of carrying anti-runway munitions, specifically the Durandal, which crater a runway, denying its use to enemy aircraft.

The JF-17 Thunder, when equipped for an anti-maritime mission profile, can be equipped with the C-802 anti-ship missile (ASM) and the hypersonic CM-400AKG, often referred to as a ‘carrier-killer’ ASM. It hits the target at Mach 4 or above and its kinetic impact alone is enough to destroy any high-value target.

For Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) missions, the Thunder can be equipped with anti-radiation missiles for neutralising the enemy's air defence radars, allowing the PAF to operate in a less restrictive airspace.

Overall, the varying ordinance carried by the JF-17 makes it a capable aircraft for multiple mission profiles.

The JF-17 fighter incorporates a fly-by-wire system, through which the aircraft’s pitch axis is controlled, with leading edge slats/flaps and trailing edge flaps automatically adjusted during maneuvering to increase turning performance. The performance of the jet reportedly is similar to the F-16.

Incorporating a defensive aids system (DAS), sensors such as radar warning receivers (RWR) and missile approach warning (MAW) enable the pilot to have a clear picture of the threats in an operational area. The electronic warfare (EW) suite of the aircraft is mounted in the tail of the JF-17.

It is reported that the pilots can be equipped helmet mounted sights, which gives the pilots a distinct advantage in visual-range air combat, as they can simply look at and guide the missile onto their intended target.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistani Naval Modernization Appears Stalled

Pakistan's naval modernization program appears stalled, with no discernible progress being made on efforts to modernize and expand the surface and sub-surface fleet. This comes amid moves ensure the security of the deepwater port of Gwadar, and fears of mass obsolescence vis-a-vis arch rival India.

Gwadar is the start of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to link western China to the Middle East and Africa through Pakistan. It will carry commercial goods and energy resources, slashing the time to ship goods to China via the Malacca Straits and South China Sea.

For Pakistan, ensuring maritime security has been of increased concern. Earlier this month, a newly raised battalion of Marines began protecting Gwadar. Author, analyst, and former Australian defense attache to Islamabad Brian Cloughley says this was probably through extra enlistments due to the Marines "already being stretched in commitments."

Ensuring Gwadar's defense has been the theme of recent exercises. A domestic series of drills, Seapark, was held in November and December.

A series of recent bilateral exercises with China's Navy have also been held, the third of which concluded on Tuesday off the Pakistani coast.

It aimed to protect sea lines of communication and the CPEC by improving coordination and interoperability at operational and tactical levels. Chinese ships consisted of two Type-054A frigates (Liuzhou and Sanya) and a replenishment ship (Qinghaihu).

Pakistan participated with warships, helicopters, patrol and fighter aircraft, plus special forces. Air defense, boarding, communication, and joint maneuver drills were carried out.

However, the need to ensure seaward defense of Gwadar has exposed the apparent lack of progress in the Navy's modernization program. The frontline fleet currently consists of three Agosta-90B/Khalid and two Agosta-70 submarines, plus four F-22P/Zulfiquar, one Oliver Hazard Perry, and five ex-British Type-21/Amazon class frigates.

Pakistan has negotiated the purchase of eight AIP-equipped submarines from China, finalizing the deal in October. This was reportedly followed by a domestic frigate and fast attack boat-building program with Chinese assistance.

This latter program was also to include upgrades to the current F-22P class frigates, Pakistan's most modern and capable surface ships even though they are only marginally better than the remaining frigates in being able to protect themselves from missile attack.

Cloughley believes time is running out.

"It seems that the emphasis for the moment is on developing the submarine arm of the Navy, but it is essential for Pakistan's security that it acquire more surface ships, and that a decision on number and type be made this year."

Nothing has as of yet been signed however and despite request for clarification by Defense News there has been no official word on any progress or the programs' status.

This pales in comparison to India, which is fast modernizing and expanding its naval power.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/international/asia-pacific/2016/01/15/pakistani-naval-modernization-appears-stalled/78825702/

Riaz Haq said...


This pales in comparison to India, which is fast modernizing and expanding its naval power.

Sam Bateman, an adviser for the Maritime Security Programme at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said, "Pakistan has already fallen far behind India in terms of maintaining a level of conventional deterrent/operational effectiveness, and is at risk of falling even further behind."

Bateman, who previously served in Australia's Navy outlines a course of action similar to the stalled modernization program.

"In broad terms, the [Pakistan Navy] has three requirements: frigates, submarines and fast attack craft," he said.

"Looking at its current force structure, my priority for force development would be submarines," he said. "The existing submarine fleet is far short of being an adequate or credible deterrent force. The deterrent value of submarines, as well as their utility for covert surveillance and intelligence collection operations, points to the importance of the [Pakistan Navy] building a credible force."

Therefore Pakistan's "top priority" must be to finalize the submarine deal with China.

Though much emphasis by analysts has been on the state of Pakistan's frigate force Bateman believes the next priority should lie with fast attack craft.

"In a conflict situation, these would be the major surface assets of the [Pakistan Navy]."

Pakistan is currently building further examples of the Azmat class stealthy fast attack craft, but has is believed to be considering something more potent.

News of Pakistan's interest in the Chinese Type-022 'Houbei' was first reported in June. Speaking at the time, Tom Waldwyn of the International Institute for Strategic Studies expressed surprise.

"It would be surprising if Pakistan, or indeed any country, signed a deal to purchase new Type-022s as China stopped production of these vessels several years ago. So any purchase of Type-022s would almost certainly be secondhand vessels," he said.

Adding, "These types of vessels are more suited to littoral environments where they can attack opposing ships at high speed and fire off a barrage of anti-ship missiles. If Pakistan were to acquire these ships that is likely to be how they would be employed."

The state of the frigates has attracted most attention however.

"The current frigate force is just adequate for the [Pakistan Navy's] peacetime requirements, notably sovereignty protection and participation in international coalition and peacekeeping missions, such as the counter-piracy task forces in the Gulf region", said Bateman.

Ideally, he believes two to three further Perry class frigates would help matters "to build up its frigate force to about eight vessels, if the updated F-22P vessels can't be acquired quickly."

However, entrenched hostility toward Pakistan in the US Congress essentially rules this out, and Cloughley believes Pakistan has no real alternatives.

"China is the obvious supplier, as it is unlikely that the US Congress would approve transfer of any surplus vessels, and in any event the US and European countries are concentrating on India as regards provision of military material."

As for the Type-21 class frigates they are essentially obsolete and Bateman says they "should be scrapped."

Modernization of Pakistan's airpower however could help mitigate some of the Navy's shortcomings, especially with the JF-17 Thunder now entering service.

"The JF-17 can carry anti-ship missiles, and it is probable that when the present aircraft of 8 Squadron at Masroor are retired, then they will be replaced by a maritime strike version of the JF-17", said Cloughley.

The JF-17 already equips No. 2 Squadron also based at Masroor, and can carry a brace of C-802A/CSS-N-8 Saccade anti-ship missiles.

Riaz Haq said...

#Karachi Shipyard cuts steel on first of 6 MPVs of 600 tons each for #Pakistan #Navy. #China | IHS Jane's 360 http://www.janes.com/article/59973/ksew-cuts-steel-on-pakistan-s-first-mpv-as-new-details-emerge#.VyoBf5NDKoM.twitter …

Key Points
KSEW has begun building the first of six MPVs for the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency
The vessels will replace the Barkat-class patrol boats that have been in service since the late 1980s
Pakistan's state-owned shipbuilder Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW) has held a steel-cutting ceremony for the first of six maritime patrol vessels (MPVs) on order for the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA).

New details on Pakistan's capability requirements for the vessels have also emerged.

The steel-cutting ceremony was held on 3 May and was attended by senior officials from the Pakistan Navy, KSEW, and China Shipbuilding Trading Company (CSTC).

The MPVs, each displacing 600 tonnes at full load, are being constructed under a transfer-of-technology arrangement signed between KSEW and CSTC in June 2015. KSEW will construct two vessels in Pakistan while the remaining four will be built by CSTC in China.

No further details on the vessels were provided by KSEW in its media release for the ceremony; the company also declined an interview request from IHS Jane's on 4 May, citing confidentiality issues.

However, a tender document on the MPV programme, published by the Pakistani government's planning commission, revealed a requirement for a platform that can attain a maximum speed of 30 kt and a cruising speed of between 12-16 kt. The vessel should also have a standard range of 4,500 n miles at cruising speed, and have an endurance of 21 days at sea without replenishment.

Armament to be fitted onboard includes either a 37 mm or a 30 mm gun as a primary weapon, in addition to mountings for two 12.7 mm machine guns.

An artist's illustration of the MPV, shown at the ceremony, suggests that the PMSA has opted for an automatic stabilised naval gun system as the platform's main weapon.

The illustration also suggests that the platform can accommodate a single helicopter on its flight deck on top of two rigid-hull inflatable boats at the stern section.

Riaz Haq said...

#French #India #submarine #ScorpeneLeak Lets Vital Stats Are Out In Open: 10 Facts http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/more-scorpene-leaks-tonight-says-australian-newspaper-10-facts-1450394 … via @ndtv

The sonar system, including the frequencies used by its key components, the Flank Array, the Sonar Intercept Receiver, the Distributed Array and the Active Array have been compromised. All these systems work together to allow the submarine to detect enemy warships and submarines and attack them using torpedoes.

The latest tranche of data appears to contradict the Ministry of Defence statement earlier today that there was no immediate security risk from the leak of secret documents detailing the capabilities of the Scorpene.

The Australian newspaper, which reported on the leak two days ago, posted new details this evening on its website but with sensitive info redacted.

So though the documents prove that the classified information had been compromised, it is not in the public domain.
The documents posted earlier have been examined and do not pose any security compromise as the vital parameters have been blacked out," the defence ministry said in a statement earlier. However, it is The Australian which has redacted sensitive data. It is possible that these documents are also available to others.

Six Scorpenes designed by French shipmaker DCNS are being built in Mumbai. The first is expected to join service before the end of this year.

On Tuesday night, the Australian said it had 22,000 pages of details that exposed the combat capability of the submarines, being built at a cost of $3.5 billion.

The documents were stolen from DCNS and not leaked, an unnamed French government source said to news agency Reuters, adding that the information published so far shows only operational aspects of the submarines.

The source said the documents appeared to have been stolen in 2011 by a former French employee that had been fired while providing training in India on the use of the submarines.

India and France have opened investigations with Delhi asking for a detailed report.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan prepares to launch third Azmat-class missile boat at #Karachi Shipyard | IHS Jane's 360 http://www.janes.com/article/63808/pakistan-prepares-to-launch-third-azmat-class-patrol-vessel#.V9qwZHCA198.twitter …

State-owned Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Limited (KSEW) will launch an Azmat-class missile-capable patrol craft for the Pakistan Navy on 17 September.

The platform, which was laid down in August 2015, will be the country's third Azmat-class boat. First-of-class PNS Azmat (1013) was commissioned in June 2012, while second ship PNS Deshat (1014) was inducted in June 2014.

Contracts to acquire a third and fourth vessel were signed in June 2013 and June 2014 respectively. Construction of these platforms is being undertaken in collaboration with China's shipbuilding industry under an arrangement aimed at transferring technology to KSEW.

The Azmat class is based on the People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN's) Houjian (Type 037/2)-class missile boat design. The 63 m vessel has a top speed of 30 kt, and a range of 1,000 n miles at 18 kt, according to IHS Jane's Fighting Ships.

The platform's offensive capabilities are provided by eight (two quad) launchers that are capable of deploying the C-802A surface-to-surface missile, a twin 37 mm gun mounting in the forward section, and a Type 630 30 mm close-in weapon system (CIWS) for defence against aerial threats.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan Unveils VLF Submarine Communications Facility for #Nuclear Armed Subs Under Naval Strategic Forces Command http://www.defensenews.com/articles/pakistan-unveils-vlf-submarine-communications-facility …

Pakistan on Tuesday unveiled a very low frequency (VLF) communication facility that will enable it to communicate with deployed submarines.

Mansoor Ahmed, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center and expert on Pakistan’s nuclear program and delivery systems, said the facility is vital for command and control of submarines carrying a nuclear deterrent patrol, and the announcement essentially confirms Pakistan has established a preliminary, sea-based arm of its nuclear deterrent.

"The Naval Strategic Force Command inaugurated in 2012 is now closer to being the custodian of the country's second-strike capability," he said.

According to an official news release by the military’s Inter Services Public Relations media branch, the VLF facility is at a new base, PNS Hameed, near Pakistan’s main port of Karachi, and is the first of its
kind in the country.

“The secure military communication link in the VLF spectrum will add new dimensions by enhancing the flexibility and reach of submarine operations," the news release said.

-----

Ahmed said Pakistan likely will deploy a nuclear-armed, sub-launched variant of Babur “during the next decade.”

The Babur is similar to the United States' BGM-109 Tomahawk and has long been speculated to be modified for launch by Pakistan’s three French-designed Agosta 90B submarines, thereby offering the shortest route to a second-strike capability.

A dedicated nuclear role places an additional burden on the submarines, however, with the two Agosta 70 subs near obsolete.

Author, analyst and former Australian defense attaché to Islamabad, Brian Cloughley, said Pakistan’s submarines are the “only means that Pakistan will have to seriously counter the Indian Navy. No matter
how professional the surface fleet might be — and it's very impressive — it's tiny and would be the target of concentrated Indian strikes.”

Therefore, a continuous at-sea deterrent capability may only be realized once the eight Chinese-designed, AIP-equipped submarines on order begin to commission from 2022 onward.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan Builds New Missile Boat to Protect Key Trade Routes #CPEC #Gwadar http://www.defensenews.com/articles/pakistan-builds-new-missile-boat-to-protect-key-trade-routes …

Pakistan has commenced construction of a new type of missile boat as part of efforts to modernize its navy to ensure security for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a trade route linking western China to the Arabian Sea via Pakistan’s deep water port of Gwadar.

Pakistan hopes the CPEC will revive its economy, whereas China’s trade and energy resources will be bypassing the Malacca Strait.

First steel for the boat was cut Dec. 29. Images from the ceremony revealed it to be a development of the Azmat-class missile boat designed for Pakistan by China. Three Azmat boats have been built, one in China and two in Pakistan by state-owned Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW).

A statement by the military’s Inter Service Public Relations media arm revealed that the boat, which is considered the first indigenously designed missile boat, was developed by Maritime Technologies Complex and would have the “latest weapons and sensors.”

Though released images from the ceremony leave some questions unanswered about the new vessels' exact features, notable differences from the base model include new missiles, a redesigned forward superstructure and a possible replacement of the twin 25mm cannon.

The navy declined to provide further details regarding the changes.

Defense News first learned of the new missile boat during IDEAS 2016, Pakistan’s biennial defense exhibition held in November, when spokesmen for the shipyard KSEW and the sea service separately revealed the existence of the program.

Though unwilling to go into detail, they said the new design would feature new weaponry, sensors and materials. Future plans include an indigenous combat management system, anti-ship missiles and possibly air-defense missiles, the lack of which is presently a notable weakness.

The Azmat missile boats are armed with eight C-802A/CSS-N-8 Saccade anti-ship missiles, but the new design is clearly armed with six larger missiles. Speculation is that the weapons are the C-602, an export development of China’s YJ-62, which is in Pakistani service as a coastal defense missile named "Zarb."

The subsonic C-602 has a reported range of 280 kilometers and carries a 300-kilogram warhead. It packs a bigger punch and has longer reach than the C-802A.

However, last year, a Ministry of Defence Production report revealed a ship-board launcher for a land-attack cruise missile was under development.

Pakistan’s only surface-launched, land-attack missile is the indigenous Babur. Thus far there have been no reports of an anti-ship variant, but fitting the C-602 seeker to the missile would certainly expedite development.

News of the new missile boat comes amid Chinese reluctance to establish a permanent presence in the area, forcing Pakistan to forge ahead with efforts to improve its maritime security, albeit with Chinese help.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan Test-Fires #Submarine-Launched #Missile for "2nd strike" to complete #nuke triad - ABC News - http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pakistan-test-fired-submarine-launched-missile-44650839 … via @ABC

Pakistan's military says it has successfully test-fired a submarine-launched cruise missile for the first time, giving it a "credible second strike capability."

A statement Monday said the missile was fired from the Indian Ocean and hit its target. It said the Babur Cruise-3 missile has a range of 450 kilometers (280 miles) and can fly low to evade radar and air defenses.

It added that the missile "is capable of delivering various types of payloads and will provide Pakistan with a Credible Second Strike Capability, augmenting deterrence." It appeared to be referring to a strategy in which the ability to strike back after a nuclear attack deters adversaries from launching one.

Pakistan became a nuclear power in 1998, developing the capability to match that of neighbor and archrival India.

Riaz Haq said...

SharpEye #radar for #Pakistan #submarines - News - Shephard https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/digital-battlespace/pakistans-agosta-90b-gets-sharpeye-radar-systems/#.WK6AzEDudmU.twitter …

Kelvin Hughes will supply the I-band SharpEye Doppler submarine radar system as part of a mid-life upgrade programme for the Pakistan Navy's Agosta 90B class submarines. The company announced the contract on 21 February.

Kelvin Hughes will work with lead contractor STM on the programme, with the first system set for delivery in 2018.

Traditionally, submarines only tend to use radar for navigation when entering or leaving port, because high-power RF transmissions can compromise their ability to remain undetected when used in more open waters. However, with its low power, pulse Doppler transmission technology, SharpEye can provide a reduced probability of intercept which significantly lowers the risk of the submarine being detected but without compromising the target detection performance of the radar.

The SharpEye transceiver can be located within the pressure hull, making use of the existing bulkhead infrastructure, antenna rotational drive and waveguide connections.

The radar uses Doppler processing to detect targets at long range, including small, low radar cross section targets in adverse weather conditions. A series of electronic filters enables the radar to distinguish between targets of interest and unwanted sea and rain clutter.

Barry Jones, regional sales manager for Kelvin Hughes, said: 'We are delighted that the Pakistan Navy, a respected and long-standing customer of Kelvin Hughes, has chosen to take advantage of the performance and reliability benefits that our innovative SharpEye radar technology can now bring to submarine platforms. We're looking forward to working with our project partner STM to jointly deliver SharpEye capability to the Navy and [Agosta 90B] class submarines.'

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan #Navy successfully tests land-based, anti-ship #missile
https://www.dawn.com/news/1320864

Pakistan Navy on Thursday conducted a successful test of a land-based, anti-ship missile, APP reported.

A press release from the Navy said that the trial was conducted from the coastal region and the missile secured a hit on a target placed at sea.

The missile is equipped with advanced technology and avionics, which enable engagement of targets at sea with a high degree of accuracy.

The event was witnessed by Vice Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Khan Hasham Bin Saddique and senior officers of Pakistan Navy.

Admiral Saddique commended the successful accomplishment of the objectives of the trial and lauded the hard work and efforts of all those who were involved, specifically appreciating the crew of the missile unit.

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah in his message said that the weapon system has added a new dimension to the operational reach of Pakistan Navy, allowing it to bolster seaward defences by giving the Navy the capability to launch long-range, anti-ship missiles from land.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan conducts anti-ship missile test
By: Usman Ansari, March 16, 2017
http://www.defensenews.com/articles/pakistan-conducts-anti-ship-missile-test

Pakistan successfully test launched a land-based anti-ship missile on Thursday, but the did not reveal its identity, possibly indicating it is a new development of its Babur land-attack cruise missile.

The military’s media branch, ISPR, said the “land-based anti-ship missile” featured “advanced technology and avionics, which enable engagement of targets at sea with high accuracy.”

The trial, witnessed by Vice Chief of Naval Staff Adm. Khan Hasham Bin Saddique and other senior officers, was undertaken in the coastal region. A warning to shipping regarding missile tests was issued for March 16-17.

Siddique congratulated the technical team, saying the test would help improve Pakistan’s defenses and operational reach of the Navy by enabling the launch of long-range, anti-ship missiles from land.

No performance details or even the name of the missile were provided, however.

Though an image released by the government’s Press Information Department appeared to show a Babur missile, its resolution was insufficient to accurately determine the missile’s identity.

In April last year, a shore-based anti-ship missile dubbed Zarb was test fired. It was speculated by analysts to be the Chinese C-602/YJ-62.

However, a naval industry official told Defense News at Pakistan’s biennial defense exhibition IDEAS 2016 in November that Pakistan was working on indigenous anti-ship missiles. This followed an earlier revelation buried in a Ministry of Defence Production report of development of a shipboard anti-ship missile launcher.

In December, steel was cut for the first indigenous Azmat Block II missile boat, which in can be determined from the images released at the time will carry a larger anti-ship missile than the C-802A/CSS-N-8 Saccade that arms the Block I boats.

No confirmation of this missile’s identity has been forthcoming since then, but it sparked speculation that Pakistan’s indigenous anti-ship missile efforts were perhaps more advanced than realized.

The Babur offers the quickest route to an indigenous anti-ship missile, with a range exceeding the limitations of the Missile Technology Control Regime in the same vein as the United States' UGM/RGM-109B (TAS-M) Tomahawk.

It has already provided the basis of further developments. The updated Babur II was tested in December. The sub-launched Babur III, was successfully tested in January, enabling Pakistan to establish a second-strike capability.

Though the C-602 reportedly cruises at a height of 30 meters, test-area altitude for today’s test was restricted to 1,500 meters — more akin to the higher cruise altitude of the Babur.

A Navy spokesman was asked to comment on the missile’s identity, but there was no reply by press time.

Riaz Haq said...

#UK hands over 7 Sea King MK-45 #helicopters to #Pakistan Navy for rescue, transport, anti-ship, anti-submarine war

http://quwa.org/2017/05/25/pakistan-takes-delivery-refurbished-sea-king-helicopters-uk/

The Pakistan Navy has taken delivery of seven refurbished Westland Sea King helicopters from the U.K on Thursday, May 25.

In an official press release by the Pakistani High Commission in London, the formal handing over ceremony was attended by Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK Syed Ibne Abbas, the U.K. Ministry of Defence’s representative Christopher Bob Richardson and Pakistan Navy officials.

Pakistan bought the helicopters in 2016 and contracted the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) firm Vector Aerospace to refurbish and prepare the aircraft for delivery in 2017.

Notes & Comments:

These will join the Pakistan Navy’s six Sea King Mk. 45 helicopters, which are shore-based assets used for multiple roles, among them search-and-rescue, troop transport, anti-submarine warfare and anti-ship warfare. The specific model of these additions is not known, nor is it clear if this recent batch will supplant the Pakistan Navy’s existing Sea King fleet.

Riaz Haq said...

Chinese Warships Visit Pakistan
Three Chinese warships arrived in the port city of Karachi on June 10 for a four-day goodwill and training visit.

http://thediplomat.com/2017/06/chinese-warships-visit-pakistan/

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has dispatched three surface warships on a four-day goodwill and training visit to the Pakistani port of Karachi, Chinese state-owned media reported on June 11.

The ships arrived in the port city on June 10 and were welcomed by Chief of Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah. The small PLAN fleet is commanded by Rear Admiral Shen Hao, the deputy commander of the PLAN’s East Sea Fleet.

The Pakistan Navy and PLAN will conduct a so-called passage exercise to enhance interoperability between the two navies, according to Pakistani military officials. The PLAN fleet consists of three ships, the Type 052C Luyang II –class guided missile destroyer Changchun, the Type 054A Jiangkai II-class guided missile frigate Jingzhou, and the Type 903 Quiandaohu-class replenishment ship Chaohu.

The Luyang II-class, equipped with a four array AESA multi-function phased array radar system and armed with up to 48 vertically launched HQ-9 naval air defense missiles, was the first PLAN class of warships capable of long-range fleet air defense. The class is succeeded by the Type 052D Luyang III-class–dubbed the “Chinese Aegis.” As I explained elsewhere (See: “China Launches Yet Another ‘Carrier Killer’ Destroyer”):

A Type 052D Luyang III-class destroyer is equipped with 64 vertical launch cells, each capable of carrying one to four missiles. The ship carries one of the PLAN’s deadliest anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM), the vertically-launched YJ-18 ASCM. Next to its YJ-18 arsenal, Type 052D guided-missile destroyers are also equipped with modern HQ-9 surface-to-air-missiles.

The Type 054A Jiangkai II-class guided missile frigate Jingzhou is the 21st ship of the class currently in service with the PLAN and was commissioned in January 2016. Type 054A Jiangkai II-class frigates are multirole warships and have been deployed overseas on multiple occasions including anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. Around 25 Type 054A Jiangkai II-class frigates are currently in service with the PLAN. At least five more ships of the class are currently under construction. In December 2016, I elaborated on the Type 054A class’ capabilities:

The stealth frigate is armed with HQ-16 medium range air defense missiles and boosts a 32-cell vertical launching system (VLS) in the forward section, capable of firing anti-ship and air defense missiles as well as anti-submarine torpedoes. It also features a Russian-made AK-630 fully automatic naval close in weapon system and a Chinese variant of the AK-176 76 millimeter naval gun.

Some frigates of the class are also known to have been equipped with variable depth sonar and towed array sonar systems. In addition, the ship is equipped with a Type 382 phased-array radar system and Type 344 and Type 345 multifunctional fire control radar systems, capable of over the horizon targeting.

Type 054A frigates also feature a hangar capable of accommodation Kamov K-27 and Harbin Z-9 helicopters or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). (…) The ship has a standard range of about 3,800 nautical miles—7,037 kilometers–at a speed of 18 knots, and a maximum un-refueled radius is 12,000 kilometers or 8,000 miles.

The small PLAN fleet departed Shanghai in April. The three ships are expected to visit 20 countries around the world in the coming months. “This voyage is an innovative way to promote harmonious ideals, peace and friendship,” said Admiral Miao Hua, political commissar of the PLAN, in April, according to China Daily. “It is also a good platform to deepen military-military dialogue and cooperation, and showcase our Navy’s positive image.”

Riaz Haq said...

The Risks of Pakistan's Sea-Based Nuclear Weapons
The Babur-3 opens a dangerous era for Pakistan’s nuclear forces.


By Ankit Panda
October 13, 2017

https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/the-risks-of-pakistans-sea-based-nuclear-weapons/

Nine days into 2017, Pakistan carried out the first-ever flight test of the Babur-3, it’s new nuclear-capable submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM). A variant of the Babur-3 ground-launched cruise missile (GLCM), this SLCM will see Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent head to sea—probably initially aboard its Agosta 90B and Agosta 70 submarines, but eventually, perhaps even on board new Type 041 Yuan-class submarines Pakistan is expected to procure from China.

In a new article in the Fall 2017 issue of the Washington Quarterly, Christopher Clary and I examine some of the novel security challenges Pakistan may experience with its sea-based deterrent. It is already well known that Pakistan has outpaced it’s primary rival, India, in terms of its nuclear stockpile growth.

On land, low-yield systems, like the Nasr, have also raised concerns of a lower nuclear-use threshold in South Asia. The move to sea can have some positive effects on overall strategic stability; indeed, the perceived survivability of a sea-based deterrent can abate so-called “use-it-or-lose-it” pressures for Pakistan’s land-based forces. But the story doesn’t stop there.

Sea-based weapons can aggravate crisis stability concerns in the India-Pakistan dyad and present unique command-and-control challenges for Pakistan, which may be required to place these weapons at a higher level of readiness during peacetime. Finally, Pakistan’s internal security environment will remain a concern with a submarine-based deterrent. The threat of theft and sabotage may be greater in the case of Pakistan’s sea-based weapons than it is for its land-based forces. In aggregate, we argue that the sea-based deterrent may, on balance, prove detrimental to Pakistan’s security.

Pakistan, like other nuclear states, employs a range of physical and procedural safeguards to ensure that its nuclear weapons are only used in a crisis and a with a valid order from the country’s National Command Authority (NCA). The introduction of a nuclear-capable SLCM aboard its Agosta submarines would necessitate the erosion of some of these safeguards.

For instance, some physical safeguards that Pakistan is known to use for its land-based weapons — including partially dissembled storage, separation of triggers and pits, and de-mated storage — would be impractical at sea. Meanwhile, the experience of other nuclear states, like the United Kingdom, with sea-based deterrents suggests that sea-based nuclear weapons generally see fewer use impediments. Pakistan has long asserted that its nuclear command-and-control is highly centralized, but it remains doubtful that this would remain true for its small nuclear-capable submarine force in wartime or a crisis. The temptation to pre-delegate use authorization may be too great.

---
Similarly, Indian forces, unable to discriminate whether a detected Pakistani submarine in a crisis was fielding nuclear or conventional capabilities, would have to presume nuclear capability should the Babur-3 see deployment. All of this in turn not only would make Pakistan’s submarine force a prime early-crisis target for Indian forces, but also aggravate use-or-lose pressures for land-based forces.

Ultimately, even if India resisted attacking Pakistani submarines to avoid unintended escalatory pressures, it would at least see value in targeting the Very Low Frequency (VLF) radar facility established at Karachi in November 2016 that would allow Pakistan’s NCA to communicate with its at-sea deterrent in a crisis. This would require some confidence in New Delhi that Pakistan had not pre-delegated use authorization and that Islamabad’s sea-based weapons would still require the transmission of a use-authorization code from the NCA.

Riaz Haq said...

Now CEO of Swiftships selling Corvettes to Pakistan Navy

In an interview with Mönch, Swiftships CEO Shehraze Shah stated that the Pakistan Navy placed an order for two 75m corvettes from the Louisana-based shipbuilding company. Shah also stated that the Pakistan Navy (PN) is a customer of the Swiftships’ 11m Special Operation Craft Riverine (SOC-R), which the PN has deployed for counterinsurgency (COIN) and drug-interdiction missions.

In its August 2017 issue, Marine News was told that Pakistan ordered two 75 Swift Corvettes with an option for two more in 2020. “Swiftships has partnered with Lockheed Martin to offer these 1,500-to 2,000-ton ships to the client,” said Shah, adding that the corvettes will be equipped with Lockheed Martin’s Combat Management System. Pakistan is expected to use these ships in its Combined Task Force 150/151 deployments.

Notes & Comments:

The 75m Swift Corvette is a multi-purpose platform for addressing both conventional and asymmetrical security threats. According to Swiftships, the Swift Corvette can also deploy rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIB) for special operation forces (SOF) missions and VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure) operations. At a speed of 15 knots, the Swift Corvette has a range of 4,000 nm and endurance of 25 days. It has a top speed of 30 knots. The corvette can operate in sea conditions of up to Sea State 6. If built with steel, the Swift Corvette would reportedly have a displacement of 1,640 tons, while an aluminium superstructure would enable for a displacement of under 1,000 tons and speed of over 30 knots.

In June, the Pakistan Navy signed an order for two offshore patrol vessels (OPV) from Damen Shipyards. The previous Chief of Naval Staff Admiral (retired) Muhammad Zakaullah stated that one of the OPVs will be built at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW). The intended role for the Damen OPVs is “anti surface [and] anti air operations, maritime security operations, day [and] night helicopter operations, combat search and rescue, and surveillance and intelligence gathering operations.” Based on the technical specifications provided by the PN, it appears that the Damen OPV is a variant of the OPV 1800.

Based on Swiftships’ description of the Swift Corvette, it appears that the PN is acquiring the corvette to augment the Damen OPVs in the aforementioned roles. In fact, the Swift Corvette is configurable with a 76mm main gun, two 30mm guns, anti-ship missiles (AShM), Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) for very short-range air defence (VSHORAD) coverage, decoy launchers and two Mk93 50 calibre mounts with Mk16 tripods. It also has an aft deck and hangar sufficient for a utility helicopter. It can also deploy ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which are also in service with the PN.

It appears that the Pakistan Navy intends for a tiered surface fleet.

http://quwa.org/2017/10/31/pakistan-orders-two-corvettes-us-based-swiftships/

Today Shehraze Shah is a veteran of the federal contract space in IT, telecommunications, logistics, and more, as President and CEO of ICS, the Vienna-based, certified 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business. However, it didn’t start off this way. He and his twin brother, Khurram, who co-owns ICS today, were born in Pakistan in 1978, and later moved to the States with their parents and two older sisters in 1994. “In retrospect, it has been quite a journey. We have come far, but we’re still growing,” Shehraze explains. “ICS wasn't just our idea; rather, it was my family, mentors and friends that supported the idea, and eventually contributed to where we are today.”
http://bernhardtwealth.com/Profiles/ShahShehraze.pdf

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan’s KSEW launches 600-tonne patrol vessel for PMSA

http://www.janes.com/article/76206/pakistan-s-ksew-launches-600-tonne-patrol-vessel-for-pmsa

Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited (KSEW) has launched a 600-tonne maritime patrol vessel (MPV) on order for the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA), according to a statement by the state-owned shipyard.

The 68.5 m-long multi-mission ship, which was launched on 5 December in Karachi in a ceremony attended by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, is being built with technical collaboration from the China Shipbuilding Trading Company (CSTC).

The platform, which has a maximum beam of 8.7 m, a reported top speed of 27 kt, and a standard range of 2,600 n miles (4,815 km) at 15 kt, is currently scheduled for delivery in April 2018 and is expected to be deployed in maritime security operations as well as search-and-rescue missions in Pakistan’s exclusive economic zone, said KSEW.

Riaz Haq said...

India's Lone Arihant-class SSBN Has Been out of Service for Months
The Indian Navy has a serious submarine operations problem.

https://thediplomat.com/2018/01/indias-lone-arihant-class-ssbn-has-been-out-of-service-for-months/

We need to talk about the Indian Navy’s handling of its submarines. A report published this week in The Hindu reveals an astonishing fact: India’s sole operational indigenous nuclear-propulsion ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), INS Arihant, has suffered major damage and has been out of commission for more than nine months, during which time it has not left port. (Arihant is the lead ship of the Arihant-class of Indian SSBNs; the Indian Navy recently began outfitting the second ship of the class, INS Arighat.)

The cause of the damage, according to one source who spoke to The Hindu, was that “water rushed in because a hatch on the rear side was left open by mistake.” Human error, it seems, has done massive damage to the third leg of India’s burgeoning nuclear triad, leaving the Arihant, the result of a top secret $2.9 billion project, dead in the water for now.

For those readers who follow Indian defense affairs, the Arihant‘s fate might not seem all that surprising. The Indian Navy has not demonstrated a particularly good record in recent years in managing its conventional and nuclear-powered submarine forces.


On one hand, there are the human tragedies, like the August 2013 sinking of INS Sindhurakshak after the Kilo-class submarine suffered a major explosion while berthed in Mumbai. Eighteen sailors died in the incident, which was caused by human error, a navy investigation later found.

Less dramatic, but nearly as serious, incidents have occurred since then. In February 2014, INS Sindhuratna, an Indian Kilo-class submarine, saw a fire break out on board, leading to the death of two sailors by suffocation. While that incident was not found to have been caused by human error, it was likely due to poor maintenance and upkeep of the vessel. (India’s then-chief of naval staff, Admiral D.K. Joshi, resigned following the Sindhurakshak and Sindhuratna incidents, taking responsibility for both accidents.)

Meanwhile, more recently, India’s leased nuclear attack submarine (SSN) INS Chakra, a Russian Akula II-class, saw its sonar domes damaged late last year. Taken together with the incidents involving the two Kilo-class vessels and the Arihant now, it’s hard not to come to the conclusion that the Indian Navy’s submarine operations and maintenance could be greatly improved. Even aside from submarines, since 2010, the Indian Navy has seen a series of accidents and malfunctions across its surface warfare fleet as well.

As an aside, The Hindu‘s reporting on the Arihant‘s circumstances includes an astonishing tidbit that’s darkly illustrative of a troubling divide between the country’s political leadership and the armed forces insofar as nuclear assets are concerned. Consider this:

The absence of Arihant from operations came to the political leadership’s attention during the India-China military stand-off at Doklam. Whenever such a stand-off takes place, countries carry out precautionary advance deployment of submarine assets.

Setting aside the fascinating detail that the Doklam standoff with China in 2017 rose to the level that it merited higher SSBN readiness, it’s disturbing that India’s political leaders would learn about one leg of the country’s nuclear triad being out of commission only after they requested a precautionary advance deployment.

Riaz Haq said...

Turkey to Upgrade Pakistan Navy Attack Sub
A Turkish defense contractor will upgrade the second of three Agosta 90B submarines in service with the Pakistan Navy.


By Franz-Stefan Gady
March 06, 2018

https://thediplomat.com/2018/03/turkey-to-upgrade-pakistan-navy-attack-sub/

Turkish state-owned defense contractor Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret A.Ş. (STM) has won a contract for the mid-life upgrade of the second of three Agosta 90B-class (aka Khalid-class) diesel-electric attack submarines equipped with air-independent propulsion systems, currently in service with the Pakistan Navy.

The contract was signed in Pakistan by senior representatives of the Pakistan Ministry of Defense Production and STM last month, according to a company statement. Pakistan selected STM over French shipbuilder Direction des Constructions Navales Services (DCNS), the original designer and producer of the Agosta 90B-class, in a competitive bidding process in June 2016.

“At the conclusion of the bidding process, STM’s offer was found to be commercially and technically superior, and the company was consequently selected as the prime contractor by Pakistan’s Ministry of Defense Production,” the company statement reads. The original June 2016 contract only covered the retrofitting of the first Agosta 90B sub, the PNS Khalid, slated for delivery in 2020.


The second Agosta 90B boat, like the first-of-class PNS Khalid, will be upgraded at the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) in Karachi. “The modernization works will include the replacement of the submarine’s entire sonar suite, periscope systems, command and control system, radar and electronic support systems. HAVELSAN- [Turkey’s state-controlled military software company] and ASELSAN [Turkish defense contractor]-made systems will also be exported as part of the project,” according to STM.

Among other things, the upgrade includes the installation of a SharpEye low probability-of-intercept (LPI) radar system aboard the PNS Saad. Additionally, “[u]nder the project, STM will make modifications on the pressure hull, the most critical structure in a submarine, by carrying out system-to-system and platform-to-system integrations for various systems, to be provided by local and foreign companies.”

The PNS Saad is expected to be returned to service within 12 months following the delivery of the PNS Khalid. The upgrade of all three subs–should a third contract between the Ministry of Defense Production and STM be signed—will likely be finished by the end of 2022.

The three Agosta 90B attack submarines were inducted into service with the Pakistan Navy between 1999 and 2008. The first-of-class PNS Khalid was built by DCNS in France, while the second boat of the class, PNS Saad, was assembled by KSEW from submarine modules delivery by DCNS. The third attack submarine, PNS Hamza, was built locally in Karachi.

Next to French-built Exocet anti-ship missiles, the upgraded Agosta 90B boats will purportedly also be armed with the nuclear-capable Babur-3 submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM), currently under development.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan launches naval exercise as it aims to counter India, protect economy
By: Usman Ansari

https://www.defensenews.com/training-sim/2018/02/27/pakistan-launches-naval-exercise-as-it-aims-to-counter-india-protect-economy/

Regarding what more could be done to improve capabilities in this respect, whether simply acquiring more patrol assets or also leveraging technology such as unmanned aerial and surface vehicles, Cloughley believes the Navy is “certainly concentrating on inshore patrol vessels.” However, he wondered about further planned developments for the Pakistan Coast Guards.

He believes unmanned technology is important, but does not think the government would “publicize intentions.”

Commercial satellite imagery has revealed China’s Wing Loong medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV undergoing testing in Pakistan, but nothing further is yet known except capabilities in marketing literature.

Pakistan from an Indian viewpoint

Conventionally vis-a-vis India, Pakistan’s Navy is in desperate need of modernization and expansion.

Kamal Alam, visiting fellow and Pakistan analyst at the British think tank Royal United Services Institute, said that during past conflicts the Navy played a “very minimal role against India,” historically being the “weakest of the three services.”

“However, over the last five years this is changing as China ramps up its support with the largest defense deal in their history in the shape of submarines” and as the Navy transitions from a “defensive force into an offensive one.”

Nevertheless, air support “is key to any naval operations against India,” he added.

Warships aside, India boasts numerous anti-ship missile-equipped aircraft including Harpoon-equipped Jaguars and supersonic Brahmos-equipped Su-30MKI Flankers that have enormous range. Pakistan’s Navy has limited defenses against Brahmos.


Improvements have been made as C-802A/CSS-N-8 Saccade-armed JF-17 Thunder jets have augmented the dated Exocet-equipped Mirages that will soon retire.

Nevertheless, author and analyst Kaiser Tufail, who commanded an anti-shipping strike Mirage squadron during his Air Force career, says more needs to be done.

The JF-17 “must have the supersonic CM-400AKG missile for the medium-term retrofit plans, possibly integrated with the Block III,” Tufail said.

“The days of subsonic anti-ship missiles are numbered. Even a mix of the C-802 and CM-400AKG can force a significant change in adversary operational employment of its naval resources,” he added.

The JF-17 is, however, comparably short-legged, necessitating “a long-range twin-engine fighter for maritime air superiority, escort of maritime patrol aircraft, air cover to surface, high-value vessels bringing in vital supplies, etc.,” he noted; hence, Exercise Ribat’s testing of “joint operability at greater ranges and a wider scope than in the past.”

Riaz Haq said...

Govt approves setting up new shipyard at Gwadar

https://nation.com.pk/22-Mar-2018/govt-approves-setting-up-new-shipyard-at-gwadar

The government has approved a plan to set up a new shipyard at Gwadar with the capacity to build very large and ultra large crude carriers, sources told The Nation.

Sources in the Defence Ministry said the plan approved by the federal cabinet would be implemented within three to five years. The plan also includes dry docking facilities for repairing and maintenance of commercial ships including oil and gas tankers.

Pakistan Navy especially the incumbent Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi from the very outset has been strongly supporting plans to set up Gwadar shipyard.

Pakistan Navy was of the view that since technical know-how and basic industrial infrastructure to support research and development (R&D) is available in the country, it was about time to integrate and optimise these facilities to further strengthen the process of self reliance.

The government believes that the shipbuilding industry will provide a good avenue for generating employment and supporting economic growth in the country.

As per the initial framework unveiled in 2008, Gwadar shipyard would initially offer ship repair and maintenance services at two dry docks with the capacity to handle 600,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage).

It would eventually lead to shipbuilding with capacity of constructing up to VLCC and ULCC.

At present, the state-owned Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW) is the lone facility available in Pakistan for shipbuilding, maintenance and repair work.

But this facility is largely catering to the needs of Pakistan Navy whose responsibilities have increased to meet the defence needs of the country in the wake of multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that connects the deep sea Gwadar port with China.

The government is also upgrading the facilities at the KSEW by enhancing its capacity by installing Syncrolift ship-lift-and-transfer system.

Nevertheless, this facility would remain dedicated to meet the future needs of Pakistan Navy.

Experts believe Gwadar shipyard would become a very viable commercial venture because of the lack of adequate shipbuilding facilities in the region.

Iran, which operates the largest commercial shipping fleet, has also developed basic know how, yet it will take a long time to become a viable shipbuilding nation.

None of the Gulf Arab countries have a proper shipbuilding facility except offering limited dry docking facilities including Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (ASRY) in Bahrain and in the UAE.

Since these are very limited facility for repair and maintenance, most of the commercial ships move to Singapore for this service.

Analysts are of the view that Gwadar shipyard because of its close proximity to the Persian Gulf through which nearly 38 per cent of the world’s precious goods largely oil and gas are carried, could attract many commercial vessels looking for maintenance and repair works.

Riaz Haq said...

This Makes War in Syria Look Small: If India and Pakistan Fight Millions Will Die in a Nuclear Fire

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/makes-war-syria-look-small-if-india-pakistan-fight-millions-25321

The sea component of Pakistan’s nuclear force consists of the Babur class of cruise missiles. The latest version, Babur-2, looks like most modern cruise missiles, with a bullet-like shape, a cluster of four tiny tail wings and two stubby main wings, all powered by a turbofan or turbojet engine. The cruise missile has a range of 434 miles. Instead of GPS guidance, which could be disabled regionally by the U.S. government, Babur-2 uses older Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) and Digital Scene Matching and Area Co-relation (DSMAC) navigation technology. Babur-2 is deployed on both land and at sea on ships, where they would be more difficult to neutralize. A submarine-launched version, Babur-3, was tested in January and would be the most survivable of all Pakistani nuclear delivery systems.

Sandwiched between Iran, China, India and Afghanistan, Pakistan lives in a complicated neighborhood with a variety of security issues. One of the nine known states known to have nuclear weapons, Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and doctrine are continually evolving to match perceived threats. A nuclear power for decades, Pakistan is now attempting to construct a nuclear triad of its own, making its nuclear arsenal resilient and capable of devastating retaliatory strikes.

Pakistan’s nuclear program goes back to the 1950s, during the early days of its rivalry with India. President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto famously said in 1965, “If India builds the bomb, we will eat grass or leaves, even go hungry, but we will get one of our own.”

The program became a higher priority after the country’s 1971 defeat at the hands of India, which caused East Pakistan to break away and become Bangladesh. Experts believe the humiliating loss of territory, much more than reports that India was pursuing nuclear weapons, accelerated the Pakistani nuclear program. India tested its first bomb, codenamed “Smiling Buddha,” in May 1974, putting the subcontinent on the road to nuclearization.

Pakistan began the process of accumulating the necessary fuel for nuclear weapons, enriched uranium and plutonium. The country was particularly helped by one A. Q. Khan, a metallurgist working in the West who returned to his home country in 1975 with centrifuge designs and business contacts necessary to begin the enrichment process. Pakistan’s program was assisted by European countries and a clandestine equipment-acquisition program designed to do an end run on nonproliferation efforts. Outside countries eventually dropped out as the true purpose of the program became clear, but the clandestine effort continued.

(This first appeared last March.)

Exactly when Pakistan had completed its first nuclear device is murky. Former president Benazir Bhutto, Zulfikar Bhutto’s daughter, claimed that her father told her the first device was ready by 1977. A member of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission said design of the bomb was completed in 1978 and the bomb was “cold tested”—stopping short of an actual explosion—in 1983.

Benazir Bhutto later claimed that Pakistan’s bombs were stored disassembled until 1998, when India tested six bombs in a span of three days. Nearly three weeks later, Pakistan conducted a similar rapid-fire testing schedule, setting off five bombs in a single day and a sixth bomb three days later. The first device, estimated at twenty-five to thirty kilotons, may have been a boosted uranium device. The second was estimated at twelve kilotons, and the next three as sub-kiloton devices.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan on Wednesday (in June 2017) became a full signatory of the Washington Accord that facilitates mobility of engineering graduates and professionals at the international level.

Pakistan became the full signatory of Washington Accord on June 21, reported Dunya News.


As a result of the new agreement, the engineers from Pakistan would no further have to take exams for getting new jobs and admission abroad.

In the first stage, graduates from UET Lahore, UET Taxila, GIK and NUST would benefit from the new agreement.

Pakistan was granted provisional membership of the Washington Accord in the year 2010.

The Washington Accord, signed in 1989, is an international agreement among bodies responsible for accrediting engineering degree programmes.

It recognises the substantial equivalency of programs accredited by those bodies and recommends that graduates of programs accredited by any of the signatory bodies be recognised by the other bodies as having met the academic requirements for the entry to the practice of engineering.

At present, the Washington Accord member countries include Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Pakistan, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.



https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/pakistan-becomes-full-signatory-of-washington-accord-117062201418_1.html

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan inks naval shipbuilding, technology transfer deal with Turkey

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/07/05/pakistan-inks-naval-shipbuilding-technology-transfer-deal-with-turkey/


Pakistan has signed a contract for the construction of four Milgem/Ada-class corvettes with the Turkish state-controlled shipyard M/s ASFAT A.S. The deal, inked July 5, is part of Pakistan’s efforts to replace aged warships featuring systems nearing the end of manufacturer support, boost its conventional deterrent vis-a-vis India, and better safeguard its maritime economy and trade links.

According to a Navy news release, the contract includes “complete transfer of technology and the transfer of intellectual proprietary rights for the design of these ships to Pakistan.”

Four ships will be built ― the first two in Turkey at Istanbul Naval Shipyard, and the third and fourth in Pakistan by state-owned shipyard KSEW ― as part of the technology transfer package.

Indigenous construction of the second pair is intended to help Pakistan’s shipbuilding industry grow and increase its contribution to the nation’s economy.

Though the Ada design features considerable Turkish-developed systems and weaponry, much is still sourced from third parties including the U.S., with whom Pakistan’s relations are presently firmly at their nadir.

Under the present climate, it’s almost certain the U.S. won’t provide clearance for the onward supply of equipment (or direct purchase via Washington); this includes the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile, the Ada corvette’s primary air defense system.

When asked by Defense News about this situation, the Navy did not explain how it has managed to circumvent this, whether it still hopes to acquire the system, whether the service has replaced it with an alternative (possibly Chinese such as the FL-3000N/HQ-10), or whether the service will simply recycle the Phalanx CIWS from its ex-British frigates (possibly along with Harpoon anti-ship missiles if they still have shelf life remaining) until a better solution becomes available.

Author, analyst and former Australian defense attache to Islamabad Brian Cloughley says the Pakistan Navy “will avoid all U.S. equipment, if possible, on the grounds that they can have no guarantee of supply of spares, ammunition, etc. The attitude of [U.S. President Donald] Trump and Congress is such that it would be most unwise to waste time even applying for U.S. systems.

“The Chinese route seems to be the most practicable, with indigenous systems if possible.”

The use of indigenous technology appears to be firmly on the cards, as the news release says the fourth corvette “will be designed jointly by Pakistan’s Maritime Technologies Complex (MTC) and will be the first indigenously designed and constructed frigate.”

Use of the term “frigate” may imply extensive redesign is planned, possibly enlargement that adds more capable systems and weaponry, similar to Turkey further developing the Ada design into the Istanbul-class frigate.

When asked, the Navy did not clarify if this was the case, but Cloughley says it could be possible, or merely a “misnomer.”

However, an “indigenously developed missile system” will be fitted to the corvettes, (probably a reference to Pakistan’s Harba anti-ship missile), and certainly to the fourth corvette if not the others, in which case Cloughley believes Pakistan will then have “time to look around for a new SAM [surface-to-air missile].”

Riaz Haq said...

PAKISTAN NAVY RECEIVES ITS FIRST ATR-72 MARITIME PATROL AIRCRAFT

https://quwa.org/2018/07/15/pakistan-navy-receives-its-first-atr-72-maritime-patrol-aircraft/


The Pakistan Navy received its first of two ATR-72 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) in the “second quarter” of 2018, announced Aerodata AG, one of the subcontractors involved in the program.

“This delivery represents a major milestone for Rheinland Air Service as prime contractor and Aerodata as the key project partner,” said Aerodata AG in an official news release dated for 02 July 2018.

Pakistan contracted Rheinland Air Service (RAS), an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) firm based on Germany, in 2015 to convert two refurbished ATR-72s into MPAs. As per Aerodata AG, the work began in January 2016, following the release of export permits by the German government.

Aerodata AG was contracted to supply its AeroMission mission management system, which will function in concert with the Leonardo Seaspray 7300E active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar, Elettronica electronic support measures (ESM) suite, FLIR Systems Star SAFIRE III electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) turret and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability through lightweight ASW torpedo compatibility.

In addition, the ATR-72 MPAs were also configured with a self-protection suite providing defensibility to infrared, radar and laser-guided munitions. It also has passive electronic intelligence (ELINT) capabilities.

In June 2017, Aerodata’s President and CEO, Hans J. Stahl, outlined that Pakistan will deploy its new MPAs for “maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and also search-and-rescue” operations.

In August 2016, the Pakistan Navy had received its third ATR-72, but it is unclear at this time if this unit is slated to receive the MPA upgrade. However, in 2015 the Pakistan Navy had reportedly requested $294 million US for the ATR-72 MPA program, potentially indicating that additional aircraft are intended.

If sought to replace its aging Fokker F-27s, the ATR-72 MPA offers a substantially improved capability-set, not least from the fact that it has ASW capabilities and an AESA surface-surveillance, search and targeting radar. Interestingly, Pakistan’s ATR-72 MPA appears to share many of the same subsystems as Leonardo’s ATR-72MP offering, i.e. Seaspray 7300E, Star SAFIRE EO/IR and Elettronica ESM. However, Pakistan opted for the AeroMission mission management system instead of Leonardo’s ATOS.

According to Aerodata, the AeroMission enables each human machine interface (HMI) console in the ATR-72 MPA to control all of the aircraft’s sensors. In addition, the AeroMission can compile feeds from each sensor to build a complete situational awareness picture for the crew and off-board assets (via network-enabled connectivity, e.g. tactical data-links). AeroMission includes a sensor fusion algorithm.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan, #Egypt naval forces conduct joint drills in #Mediterranean Sea. “The drills meant to exchange expertise in order to promote maritime security and stability in the region” #Navy #Military https://tribune.com.pk/story/1802490/1-pakistan-egypt-naval-forces-conduct-joint-drills-mediterranean-sea/

CAIRO: Egyptian and Pakistani naval forces conducted on Thursday drills in the Mediterranean Sea, official news agency MENA reported.

“The drills meant to exchange expertise in order to promote maritime security and stability in the region,” Egyptian armed forces said in a statement.

The giant Pakistani military ship SAIF PNS along with the Egyptian naval ships conducted exercises including inspection of ships and exchange of helicopter takeoff and landing, it added.
Egypt has also started joint military exercise with the Unites States known as “the Bright Star” on Saturday at a military base in Egypt’s seaside province of Alexandria.

Pakistan, India participate together in military exercise

Scheduled to be held from September 8 to September 20, the military manoeuvres include land, naval and air forces from Egypt, the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Greece, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, in addition to other 16 states that participate as observers.

Earlier in April this year, the Pakistan Navy held its maiden bilateral exercise Turgutries meaning ‘Drawn sword of Islam’ with Turkish naval forces in North Arabian Sea.

The exercise covered a wide range of maritime operations encompassing anti-surface, anti-air and anti-submarine warfare as well as maneuvering and communication exercises.

Riaz Haq said...

India's Aircraft Carriers: A Giant Waste of Time?
Can they really be used in a war against Pakistan?

by Robert Beckhusen

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/indias-aircraft-carriers-giant-waste-time-39672

Most likely, India would attempt to enforce a blockade of Pakistan and use its carriers to strike land-based targets. But Pakistan has several means to attack Indian carriers — with near-undetectable submarines and anti-ship missiles — which must also operate relatively far from India itself in the western and northern Arabian Sea. China does not have a similar disadvantage, as the PLAN would likely keep its carriers close and within the “first island chain” including Taiwan, closer to shore where supporting aircraft and ground-based missile launchers can help out.

Thus, Indian carriers would be relatively vulnerable and only one of them will have aircraft capable of launching with standard ordnance and fuel. And that is after Vishal sets sail in the next decade.

To directly threaten Pakistan, the small-deck carriers will have to maneuver nearer to shore — and thereby closer to “anti-access / area denial” weapons which could sink them. And even with a third carrier, the threat of land-based Pakistani aircraft will force the Indian Navy to dedicate a large proportion of its own air wings to defense — perhaps half of its available fighters, according to 2017 paper by Ben Wan Beng Ho for the Naval War College Review.

“Therefore, it is doubtful that any attack force launched from an Indian carrier would pack a significant punch,” Ho writes. “With aircraft available for strike duties barely numbering into the double digits, the Indian carrier simply cannot deliver a substantial ‘pulse’ of combat power against its adversary.”

Essentially, this makes Indian carriers’ self-defeating, with the flattops existing primarily to defend themselves from attack rather than taking the fight to their enemy. Carriers are also expensive symbols of national prestige, and it is unlikely the Indian Navy will want to risk losing one, two or all three. Under the circumstances, India’s investment in carriers makes more sense symbolically, and primarily as a way of keeping shipyards busy and shipyard workers employed.

However, this is not to entirely rule out a carrier-centric naval strategy. Ho notes that Indian carriers could be useful when operating far out at sea and in the western Arabian Sea, effectively as escort ships for commercial shipping and to harass Pakistani trade. Nevertheless, this strategy comes with a similar set of problems.

“In any attempt to impose sea control in the northern Arabian Sea and to interdict Pakistani seaborne commerce by enforcing a blockade of major Pakistani maritime nodes, Indian carrier forces would have to devote a portion of their already meager airpower to attacking Pakistani vessels, thereby exacerbating the conundrum alluded to earlier,” Ho added. “What is more, Pakistani ships are likely to operate relatively close to their nation’s coast, to be protected by Islamabad’s considerable access-denial barrier.”

Another possibility is India massing its carriers in the later stages of a war after the Army and Air Force pummel and degrade the Pakistani military.

But this raises the question as to whether India strictly needs carriers at all if it cannot use them during the decisive periods of a conflict — as opposed to, say, less-expensive warships, and more of them, equipped with long-range missiles.

Riaz Haq said...

Are #Aircraft #Carriers Still Relevant? In the 1971 Indo-#Pakistan War, #India’s carrier, the Vikrant, was sent to the permissive Bay of #Bengal and not to the more contested northern Arabian Sea. @Diplomat_APAC #EastPakistan #Bangladesh #IndianNavy http://thediplomat.com/2018/11/are-aircraft-carriers-still-relevant/

By Ben Ho Wan Beng

At this juncture, let us revisit the Pacific War. During this conflict, William Halsey of the U.S. Navy was the archetypal aggressive and offensive-minded carrier admiral. His polar opposite, Raymond Spruance, was restrained and more adverse to risk. Hence, the big question is: In a future conflict involving carriers, would the leadership be in the mold of Spruance, the “Quiet Warrior”? Or would a “Bull” Halsey hold sway? The risk of losing a capital asset could play on the minds of the leadership, and it might take an existential threat to the homeland for carriers to be sent into a nonpermissive environment. Hence, it is likely that leaders, whether military or political, would deploy the vessel in a manner more akin to Spruance than Halsey.

It is worth noting that there has not been a direct clash-of-arms between great powers since World War II. Moreover, there has not been a major campaign at sea for over 30 years since the Falklands War. With very few reference points, any future conventional maritime campaign is likely to be cautious, with the side having the more valuable assets taking more probing actions.

Deterrence favors the A2/AD-centric nation in such circumstances.

Though carriers have not been in a high-end fight since 1944, there is evidence of them being deployed more cautiously in combat during the Cold War. In the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, India’s carrier, the Vikrant, was sent to the permissive Bay of Bengal and not to the more contested northern Arabian Sea. Similarly, during the 1982 Falklands campaign, the Royal Navy kept its two carriers farther from the area of operations than usual for fear of reprisals from Argentine airpower. It also bears notice that these two episodes occurred before the coming of age of precision-guided munitions and what the Russians termed as the reconnaissance-strike complex.

Moreover, in this current age where the “battle of the narratives” predominates, the enemy need not sink the carrier to secure a major political victory; this could be attained by merely hitting it (which may or may not cause significant damage). That said, even limited damage to the carrier force could be spun into a political victory for the adversary. Think China or Russia and their far-reaching information warfare (IW) edifices. To illustrate, the adversary’s IW machinery could amplify on social and other mediums a hit on a destroyer escorting the flat-top. The invincibility of the much-vaulted carrier task group could then be downplayed

Riaz Haq said...

45 nations, including the #UnitedStates, #Britain, #China, #Russia and #Japan, attend 5-day #naval exercise #AMAN19 in #Pakistan https://fxn.ws/2SgQlsM #FoxNews

More than 40 countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China, Turkey, Japan, Russia, UK and US will take part in the 6th exercise of the naval series held every two years.

“Aman 2019 exercise with the resolve of ‘Unity for Peace’ aims at boosting the joint operational capabilities of the participating countries’ naval forces for peace and stability in the region,” according to a Pakistan Navy (PN) spokesperson. The international naval exercise is also a “manifestation of Pakistan’s commitment in promoting peace and stability in the region through harmony and collaboration.”

The idea behind exercise Aman (Urdu word for ‘peace’), which started in 2007, is to identify areas of common interest for participating countries and a shared understanding of maritime security operations, counter terrorism operations as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

The exercise, to be followed by an international maritime conference, aims to safeguard and promote regional peace, display united resolve against maritime terrorism and crimes as well as enhancing readiness and interoperability between allies.

Riaz Haq said...

#Aman19: #Pakistan #Navy’s expanding influence. The 46-nation naval exercise further cemented PN’s role as a leading and professional naval force not only in the #ArabiaSea region but also in the larger area of the #IndianOcean.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1908895/1-aman-19-pakistan-navys-expanding-influence/

KARACHI: PNS Aslat and Saif fire a volley from their main guns towards a target buoy 4,500 yards away as helicopters buzz overhead and warships maneuver in the Arabian Sea during the culminating phase of Aman-19, the largest multinational exercise ever hosted by the Pakistan Navy (PN).

With participation from 46 navies, the exercise further cemented PN’s role as a leading and professional naval force not only in the Arabia Sea region but also in the larger area of the Indian Ocean.
With geopolitics undergoing a major realignment phase, the navy has become a major tool to project force, create goodwill throughout the region and increase Pakistan’s influence in the region.

“Now, we match India in terms of presence. If the Indian Navy has been to an area in the Indian Ocean, the Pakistan Navy is present there too,” said a senior PN officer.

The focus on further bolstering the combat capability of the PN is evident with the recent agreement to purchase eight submarines and four 054AP class warships from China.

On the final day of Aman-19, warships of the PN and foreign participating navies, including the Royal Navy, US Navy and the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), came together to showcase the level of coordination achieved over days of drills at sea.

The drills kicked off by PN ships launching rocket depth charges at a simulated submarine target.

Pakistan-made PNS Moawin – the largest ship in the fleet – took centre stage during the second drill as it refueled ships while underway. PNS Aslat and PNS Saif took a position on either side of the fleet tanker the drill started. Underway refueling and replenishment is considered to be one of the most dangerous activities carried out at sea and extreme care was taken by PN personnel during the drill.

Gunnery demonstrations were also carried out by PN, Turkish Navy and (Chinese) PLAN (Navy) warships, and round after round from their main guns were thrown downrange towards target buoys with precision and speed.

As the drills ended, all participating ships presented a fleet review to the chief guest. Flying Pakistani colours – as a sign of respect – and their national flags, foreign and PN ships sailed past the chief guest during the phase.


Turkish frigate TCG Gokceada, PLAN’s Kunlun Shan and Luoma Hu, United Kingdom’s HMS Dragon, Royal Australia Navy’s Ballarat, American Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Decatur, Sri Lanka’s off-shore patrol vessel SLNS Sayurala, Royal Malaysian Navy’s support ship KD Mahawangsa and KD Kasturi, Italian Navy’s Carlo Margottini, Royal Navy of Oman’s Al Rahmani PNS Aslat, Saif, Shamsheer, Khyber, Azmat, Alamgir and Pakistan Maritime Security (PMSA) ships Kashmir, Zhob, Himmat and Basol were part of the fleet review.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan Navy’s Blue Water Ambitions
February 14, 2019

https://www.globalvillagespace.com/pakistan-navys-blue-water-ambitions/

Shahid Raza |

Pakistan Navy is the guardian of Pakistan’s maritime boundaries. An ever-increasing threat of terrorism at sea, piracy and fast-changing geo-security dynamics in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) have encouraged Pakistan Navy to embark on an ambitious modernization plan to commission new warfare assets to develop new capabilities which would enable the Navy to operate in blue waters by 2030. The list of assets being acquired or developed by them includes the following.

1: Type-54A/P Frigate
The advance Type-54A/P is a highly potent naval frigate which is currently the backbone of the Chinese naval fleet. This cutting-edge vessel has a displacement of over 4000 tons. It is equipped with an advanced radar and sensor suite, integrated mast assembly. The main weapon of this frigate is a 32x cell vertical launch system armed with HQ-16 Surface to Air Missiles along with anti-ship cruise missiles and a sophisticated self-protection system. Pakistan is acquiring 4 such vessels from China to replace its obsolete Amazon-class frigates, delivery is expected to start by 2021 and all are expected by 2025. When it joins service, it will be the most powerful warship in Pakistan Navy’s inventory enabling the force to operate in blue waters.

2: Hangor Class Submarine
Pakistan Navy’s submarine force is more than 50 years old. Pakistan was the first operator of submarines in South Asia. Currently Pakistan Navy fields French made Agosta class submarines, some of which – the Agosta 70s are reaching towards the end of their useful life. Therefore, Pakistan Navy has embarked upon a replacement and modernization program to overhaul the Agosta-90B submarines in Turkey to modern standards and acquire 8 new built Hangor class submarines from China, four of which will be built in Pakistan. They are expected to be delivered between 2021-28. Not much is known about these submarines – but they are believed to be highly advanced variant of mainstay Chinese diesel-electric submarines of unspecified class.

Read more: Pakistan’s Vision for Maritime Security

3: Jinnah Class Corvette
Pakistan Navy is acquiring 4 newly built Ada Class Corvettes from Turkey to boost its littoral defence capabilities. These are stealthy warships displacing 2400 tons each and are specifically designed for maintaining area sea denial. Delivery is expected by 2025. It is believed that Pakistan will seek to arm them with its domestically developed Harba anti-ship Cruise Missile system. According to details, two of these ships will be built in Pakistan and when they join service, they will be named the Jinnah Class in the honour of Pakistan’s founding father. In addition to Jinnah Class, the Navy is also planning to put its existing fleet of F-22P Frigates through a Mid Life Upgrade program to extend their life and capabilities.

4: Maritime Air Wing
In order to protect coastal installations and to attack enemy assets at sea, the Navy has started an ambitious program to develop state of the art maritime attack capability. This includes the induction of JF-17 Thunder fighters with anti-ship capabilities into the Minhas squadron based in Karachi. Another squadron with identical capabilities will also be coming up soon. The Navy has recently inducted an ATR aircraft which was specifically upgraded in Germany for maritime strike role. The Navy is also looking for a replacement for its P3C Orion maritime attack aircraft and to induct unmanned aircraft with similar capabilities.

Read more: Worldwide Maritime Awakening: Where does Pakistan Stand?


Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan Navy’s Blue Water Ambitions
February 14, 2019

https://www.globalvillagespace.com/pakistan-navys-blue-water-ambitions/

5: Offshore Patrol Vessel
An order has been placed for 2 OPV-1800 vessels from Netherlands based firm, Damen first of which is under construction in Romania, with expected delivery in 2022. The OPV displaces at 1900 tons each and as per the MoDP, the multi-mission OPV “is especially suited for anti-surface & anti-air operations, maritime security operations, day [and] night helicopter operations, combat search and rescue, and surveillance and intelligence gathering operations.”

6: Coastal Defense System
In a bid to boost its coastal defense capabilities, the Pakistan Navy has inducted the Zarb Coastal Defense System which is based on the Chinese C-602 anti-ship cruise missile system. Pakistan Navy is also believed to be interested in acquiring an anti-ship Ballistic Missile system to add more capability to its coastal defenses in the future, specifically to target the aircraft carriers being acquired by the Indian Navy.

7: Second Strike Capability
Ever since the induction of the Naval Strategic Forces Command and the successful tests of the Babur-III Submarine Launched Cruise Missile System, the Navy has been working to develop Pakistan’s second strike capability. It is believed that in addition to the induction of Nuclear armed Babur-III missile, there is keen interest in the indigenous development of a nuclear-armed, nuclear-propelled submarine to consolidate Pakistan’s long term Second Strike options.

Read more: Pakistan’s timely approach towards Maritime Domain

8: Intelligence Assets
Intelligence gathering is an indispensable part of modern warfare, thus Pakistan navy has been actively working to induct intelligence gathering assets including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), a 3000-ton survey ship and by levering Air Borne Early Warning (AWACS) assets of the Pakistan Air Force, as well as ground-based sensors.

9: Logistical Assets
Pakistan Navy requires advance logistical facilities to augment its acquisition of new warships, therefore the Navy recently commissioned a 17000 ton Fleet Tanker which was built in Karachi with help from Turkey to supply fuel, water and ammunition to Pakistan Navy’s combat and auxiliary units. It is also equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities to support the Pakistan Navy during war and disaster relief missions.

10: Gwadar Base
With an expansion in assets and capabilities, the Navy requires a large new base to accommodate these assets in a safer location, far from the reach of the Indian Navy. Gwadar is where the biggest ever naval base of the country, aptly named ‘Jinnah Naval Base’ is being constructed. This base will also be augmented by support facilities and a new ship manufacturing and servicing facility. This base will be capable of berthing most of Pakistan’s surface warships, submarines, and aircraft in the future.

Riaz Haq said...

Jinnah Naval Base – Navy expands strategic outreach to West Coast, Persian Gulf

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/01/13/jinnah-naval-base-navy-expands-strategic-outreach-to-west-coast-persian-gulf/

The base is situated 350 km west of Karachi and 285 km east of the Gwadar Port, and has been connected with China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

“With the development of this base, Pakistan has acquired the capacity to secure naval trade in these waters. Moreover, we have expanded Pakistan naval forces’ outreach towards the west coast into the Strait of Hormuz where all the oil traffic flows in and out,” an officer at the base told Pakistan Today during a recent visit to the base at Ormara which is otherwise restricted for media.

“Karachi would remain our focus for the foreseeable future. However, Jinnah base would reduce reaction time of Pakistan Navy to six to 8 hours in case of any adversity,” the officer said, adding that the base had a berthing facility “for anything from warships to submarines and from heavy ships to warplanes”.

Asked whether or not Gwadar would also act as a naval base for Pakistan, the officer said that Gwadar would act purely as a commercial base.

“Though Pakistan Navy has a small base at Gwadar, its main focus would be security of Gwadar. Jinnah base, on the other hand, would be a purely naval base which would help maritime forces monitor the entire coastal area from Ormara to the Gulf waters,” the officer said.

Rear Admiral (r) Pervez Asghar, an expert on naval defence, told Pakistan Today that Pakistan Navy had developed four bases along the coastal areas of Balochistan including Ormara, Pasni, Jewani and Gwadar which had helped expand its ‘strategic outreach’ towards the west coast.

“In the past, we only had one [naval] base at Karachi and our military installations were vulnerable to any Indian adventure. However, with the development of these new bases towards the west coast, not only do we have alternative options to defend our positions, our reaction time has also decreased significantly in case of any attack,” the retired naval admiral said.

He said that the navy now also had a submarine base at Ormara. “We have developed Pakistan marine corps to thwart enemy designs of amphibious landing around the coastal areas,” he added.

“Pakistan Navy is now well placed to secure all sea lines of communications (SLOCs) emanating from the Persian gulf towards Pakistan. Moreover, the naval infrastructure including Radars and communication gadgets, have now been able to overlap each other – a capability we had severely missed in the past,” he added.

He said that the new bases had also helped secure Gwadar Port as there was no military presence on the port due to its being commercial in nature.

“Now, navy’s special forces are better placed in Ormara to secure Gwadar Port and nearby sea routes. Moreover, Ormara base would also help neutralise the enemy’s narrative that they would be able to block Karachi’s harbour in case of a showdown,” he added.

Asghar said that Pakistan had also developed a jump-off base for Pakistan’s maritime aircraft at Pasni.

He said that Pakistan Navy had recently raised another naval station at Turbat, namely PNS Siddiq for P-3c Orion aircraft.

“These P-3cs are capable of flying over 14 hours nonstop without refueling. They have stealth technology and can fly below the radar and strike India’s Eastern coast. Pakistan Navy has also developed Naval Base Jewani, about 60 km from Iran to help expand its outreach into the Gulf waters,” he added.

Jinnah base would act as an alternative option for Pakistan Navy to Karachi where all the logistic and technical support for berthing navy’s ships and even submarines were available.

“We have developed the required facilities for technical repair of ships and submarines at the base. It is an alternative arrangement to the Karachi base and can easily meet our defence requirements. However, Karachi dockyard would still be the center for major overhaul or repair,” the Jinnah base officer said.

Riaz Haq said...

#Dutch shipbuilder Damen launches first of 2 corvettes for #Pakistan #Navy.
The 2,300-ton multirole corvettes are "state-of-the-art vessels" suited for anti-surface, anti-air, and #maritime #security operations. #pakistannavy #GwadarAttack | Jane's 360 https://www.janes.com/article/88644/damen-launches-first-of-two-corvettes-for-pakistan-navy#.XOVcNqfYAFA.twitter

The first of two corvettes on order for the Pakistan Navy (PN) has been launched at the facilities of Dutch shipbuilder Damen in Galati, Romania.

The service announced on its Facebook page that the 2,300-ton vessel, which had been previously described as an offshore patrol vessel (OPV), entered the water on 17 May in a ceremony held at the shipyard in Romania and attended by PN Vice Admiral Abdul Aleem, among others.

The contract for the two vessels was signed in June 2017, with the first corvette expected to enter service by the end of 2019, and the second one set to be delivered by mid-2020, according to the navy.

Vice Adm Aleem was quoted as saying during the ceremony that these platforms "will act as force multipliers in enhancing [the] navy's capability of safeguarding maritime frontiers and will offer more flexibility in the conduct of [the] Pakistan Navy's initiative of independent Regional Maritime Security Patrols in the Indian Ocean Region".

The multirole corvettes have been previously described by the PN as "state-of-the-art vessels" especially suited for anti-surface, anti-air, and maritime security operations.

Each of them features a helicopter pad to facilitate search-and-rescue missions, as well as surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations. No further details were provided about the systems or weapons set to be fitted onto the class.

Riaz Haq said...

Update: Turkey’s STM wins tender for Pakistani corvettes

https://www.janes.com/article/81568/update-turkey-s-stm-wins-tender-for-pakistani-corvettes

Defence engineering firm Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret (STM) and other Turkish companies have won a tender to provide four Ada (MILGEM)-class corvettes to the Pakistan Navy (PN).

“This will be largest single export [deal] in the history of the Turkish defence industry,” National Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli was quoted by Turkish state news service Anadolu Agency (AA) as saying during an official visit to Montenegro.

No details were provided about the value of the contract, which was signed on 5 July. The main contractor is the Military Plants and Shipyard Management Joint Stock Company (ASFAT AS), which is tied to the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.

Canikli said Ankara and Islamabad have agreed to build two of the warships at Turkey’s Istanbul Shipyard while the remaining two will be constructed in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi.

The Karachi-based newspaper The Express Tribune quoted the Pakistani Embassy in Ankara as saying in a statement that the contract includes a transfer of technology as well as a transfer of intellectual proprietary rights for the design of the Pakistani ships.

The announcement was made after Pakistan’s Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited (KSEW) signed a letter of intent (LOI) with STM in May 2017 for the construction of the vessels.

According to Jane's Fighting Ships , the Ada class has a fully-loaded displacement of 2,032 tonnes, a draught of 3.6 m, and a beam of 14.4 m.

Armament on the 99 m-long platforms includes a 76 mm naval gun, four (two twin) 324 mm torpedo tubes, eight (two quadruple) launchers for anti-ship missiles, and one RIM-116 close-in weapon system.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan wants to accelerate new #shipyard project in #Gwadar. It'll be focused on meeting the Pakistan Navy's requirements and #defense export opportunities, alongside pursuing commercial #shipbuilding contracts to strengthen revenue streams | Jane's 360 https://www.janes.com/article/88859/pakistan-wants-to-accelerate-shipyard-project#.XO7AUL_rCdw.twitter

Pakistan's Standing Committee on Defence Production has called for work to be accelerated on the country's long-delayed programme to develop a naval shipyard in Gwadar, a port city on Pakistan's southwestern coast.

A statement by Pakistan's Senate on 27 May said its defence production committee had "laid stress to expedite the completion [of the shipyard]", which was first proposed in 2008.

The Senate added that the construction project should be overseen by the country's Ministry of Defence Production, which should "supervise all work [including] conducting feasibility studies [and] infrastructure to [support] future load and density requirements".

The new shipyard would be focused on meeting the Pakistan Navy?s requirements and defence export opportunities, alongside pursuing commercial shipbuilding contracts to strengthen revenue streams, said the Senate.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan #Navy gets 2nd ATR-72 MPA, featuring acoustic processing system, sonobuoy launchers, broadband #satellite #communications system, electronic support measures suite, a self-protection suite, and 2 weapon hard-points, anti-#submarine warfare (ASW) https://www.janes.com/article/89795/pakistan-navy-receives-second-atr-72-mpa#.XTEImV0qwro.twitter

The Pakistan Navy (PN) has received the second of two ATR-72 twin-engine turboprops converted into maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) under a contract signed in 2015.

In a 10 July press release Germany-based company Rheinland Air Service (RAS) said that it handed over the second example of the type, which is now known as the RAS 72 Sea Eagle, during a ceremony held at RAS headquarters in Mönchengladbach shortly after the platform was introduced to the general public at the Paris Air Show 2019, which was held from 17 to 23 June.

The first aircraft, which was handed over by RAS in June 2018, re-entered service with the PN on 12 December 2018 in a ceremony held at naval air station PNS Mehran in Karachi (both ATR-72s had previously been in service with the PN as transports).

The RAS 72 Sea Eagle is equipped with a long-range, active electronically scanned array (AESA) multimode radar, as well as electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) sensors to deliver aerial, maritime, and ground surveillance, according to RAS.

The platform also features an acoustic processing system, sonobuoy launchers, a broadband satellite communications system, an electronic support measures suite, a self-protection suite, and two weapon hard-points, enabling anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and maritime patrol capabilities. The PN's two RAS 72 Sea Eagles also feature Aerodata's mission management system, called AeroMission, for ASW.

"The variety of state-of-the-art on-board sensors enable operators and decision makers to detect and identify sensitive targets above or below the surface of the ocean, while transmitting all the information captured on-board in real-time to the dedicated command centre," said the company, adding that the RAS 72 Sea Eagle offers operational flexibility as it can be used not only for ASW and maritime patrol missions but also for search-and-rescue and other humanitarian operations.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan and #China launch joint #naval drills for “augmenting interoperability and strategic cooperation.” Should #India be concerned? https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/surface-navy-association/2020/01/08/pakistan-and-china-launch-joint-naval-drills-should-india-be-concerned/#.XiZQIiqBX20.twitter

A nine-day Sino-Pakistani naval exercise commenced in Pakistan’s port of Karachi on Monday with the arrival of a Chinese naval task group from its South Sea Fleet. Sea Guardians 2020 is the sixth in the bilateral series, which, according to the Pakistan Navy, will focus on “augmenting interoperability and strategic cooperation.”

The exercise will include a range of drills to share “professional experiences on contemporary and non-traditional threats at sea” to improve regional security cooperation, plus promote a “safe and sustainable maritime environment.”

While stating the exercise aims to “enhance the capabilities of the two navies to jointly cope with maritime terrorism and crime,” China’s military media branch stressed it had “nothing to do with the regional situation and is not target[ing] at any third party.”

This was likely an attempt to reassure India that the drills were unrelated to the tension between rivals India and Pakistan.

However, India will certainly have noted that Sea Guardians included warlike air defense systems, anti-missile technology, anti-submarine warfare capabilities, and live-fire and joint marine training drills.

Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow specializing in sea power at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said “India has generally regarded Chinese exercises and naval activity in the Indian Ocean with apprehension.” Consequently, New Delhi has invested in countering China’s naval presence.

“The Indian Navy’s efforts over the past decade to improve its situational awareness in the region and to upgrade the capabilities of tri-service command in Andaman and Nicobar reflects a growing consensus that the [Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy] will be a challenger in the [Indian Ocean region] in the foreseeable future,” Kaushal said.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan Navy's #Submarine Fleet is #US Navy #SEALTeam’s Dream. Midget subs perfect for special ops & capable of firing standard 533 millimeter torpedoes in addition to carrying two Special Service Teams. #SSG https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/pakistan%E2%80%99s-submarine-fleet-navy-seal%E2%80%99s-dream-146472

Though small and non-nuclear, Pakistan’s submarine fleet would excel at coastal defense in Pakistan’s littoral waters—and inserting Special Service Teams, Pakistan’s Navy Seals.



Pakistan operates five French-designed Agosta-class submarines. The first of these hulls were initially built for the South African Navy, but were sold to Pakistan in the late 1970s and early 1980s after a United Nations arms embargo prevented their delivery. The Agosta-class is a relatively small diesel-electric submarine design with a crew complement of just 54 sailors and 5 officers.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, France revisited the Agosta-class design and built the “improved” Agosta-class, also known as Agosta 90B-class, in consultation with the Pakistani Navy. A high level of automation within the sub reduced the crew to just 36, despite the larger size and higher complexity of the design.

Stronger hull materials were used during the hull’s construction which increased the Agosta 90B-class’ maximum dive depth. Higher-capacity batteries were also installed, increasing the range of the sub, and acoustic improvements were also incorporated into the propulsion system, reducing the submarine’s acoustic signature.

Standard diesel-electric submarines use periscope-like snorkels to provide air to onboard diesel generators that recharge their batteries. Newer designs, including the Agosta 90B-class, are equipped with air-independent propulsion systems that can provide power without needing air from the surface.

The Agosta 90B-class’ AIP system provides auxiliary power to the sub that can be used for propulsion, onboard electrical systems, or recharging the sub’s batteries—allowing the Agosta 90B-class to be submerged three times longer than the preceding Agosta-class.

Both classes have four standard 533 millimeter torpedo tubes that provide anti-submarine and anti-surface capabilities. Additionally, both the Agosta- and Agosta 90B-class can fire French-developed Exocet anti-ship missiles via their torpedo tubes.

The Exocet has a range of around 70 kilometers, or about 45 miles, giving both classes a more discrete and stand-off anti-ship capability, as the missile is fired from depth in a watertight container that brings the missile to the surface.

In addition, Pakistan has several interesting submarines that are on the smaller side.

Pakistan also operates a small fleet of Italian-designed midget submarines, the Cosmos-class. The Cosmos are also diesel-electric and serve primarily as delivery vehicles for Pakistan’s Special Service Group, their Navy SEAL-equivalent.

Though not primarily intended for attacking surface vessels, the Cosmos-class is capable of firing standard 533 millimeter torpedoes in addition to carrying two Special Service Teams.

Pakistan’s newest submarine is also quite small, and likely intended for the Special Service Group in much the same role as the Cosmos-class..

The submarine, provisionally called the X-class, is about 55 feet long and 7 or 8 feet wide. Though it reportedly does not often leave its dock, satellite imagery shows that repair, maintenance, and construction is ongoing.

There had also been reports that Turkey was partnering with Pakistan to co-develop a midget submarine to replace the Cosmos-class, though if anything came to fruition from that project is unclear.

Though Pakistan’s navy is not particularly large, it may not matter. Pakistan doesn’t have a terribly large coast to defend. If their latest “X-class” sub ever comes to fruition, the Special Service Teams would likely be pleased.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan successfully test-fires anti-ship missiles. #PakistanNavy said in the statement that warships and airplanes fired anti-ship missiles at sea level which hit their targets accurately. #defense http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-04/25/c_139007483.htm

Pakistan successfully conducted a test firing of anti-ship missiles in the North Arabian Sea, said a statement from the Pakistan Navy on Saturday.

The spokesperson of the Pakistan Navy said in the statement that warships and airplanes fired anti-ship missiles at sea level which hit their targets accurately.

Pakistani Chief of the Naval Staff Zafar Mahmood Abbasi witnessed firing of the missiles and expressed satisfaction over operational preparedness of the Pakistan Navy, the spokesperson added.

The Naval chief said the Pakistan Navy is fully capable to give a befitting response to any aggression, adding that the successful test-fire of missiles is proof of the Pakistan Navy's operational preparedness, according to the statement.

In December last year, the Pakistan Navy also test-fired different anti-ship missiles in the North Arabian Sea, which were fired by warships and airplanes at sea level.

Riaz Haq said...

Sales to the United States of America continued. Encrypted APCO
radios were also delivered to the Pakistan Armed Forces. The
deliveries under the Technology Transfer Contract signed with the
Pakistan National Radio Telecommunications (NRTC) Company
continued gaining pace. ASELSAN’s communication solutions in
Saudi Arabia has expanded together with other export efforts of
ASELSAN APCO radio solutions.
--------------

The RWR/GPS antenna and SDU procurement contract was
signed with the Hensoldt Company, which won the tender for
the periscope modernization of the AGOSTA90E submarines in
Pakistan Navy’s inventory. The units to be produced for the two
platforms under the contract will be exported to Germany for
the end user, Pakistan
---------------

Naval Communication Systems
Work continued on the design, material
supply, manufacturing and testing activities
for the Integrated Communication Systems
of Underwater Rescue Mother Ship
(MOSHIP), Rescue and Towing Ships
(RATSHIP), Landing Ship Tank (LST),
MÄ°LGEM 3-4, Landing Helicopter Dock
(LHD), Logistic Support Vessel (LSV),
Pakistan Offshore Supply Vessel (POSV),
Testing and Training Ship (TTS) and New
Type Submarine (NTS).

---------
Mass manufacturing activities in the production line, prepared
within the scope of local manufacturing activities through
license transfer, and for which capacity acceptance work was
completed, is continuing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Local manufacturing activities related to the software based
VHF/UHF radio contract in Pakistan are ongoing. Deliveries
were realized pertaining to the supply contracts for the Digital
Intercommunication Systems to be used in the VHF/UHF radio
and tactical vehicles for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The third
contract was signed for the supply of the products within the
same scope.

--------------
ASELSAN provides the weapon (Stabilized Gun System - STOP)
and communication switching system within the scope of the
Offshore Supply Vessel Project aimed at the needs of the Pakistan
Naval Forces. Installation, commissioning and harbor acceptance
test activities were completed.

https://www.aselsan.com.tr/2017_ASELSAN_Annual_Report_6233.pdf

-----------------


National Radio Telecommunication Corporation the high tech industry engaged in manufacturing of telecommunication equipment in Pakistan. NRTC is the pioneer in Telecommunication Equipment in Pakistan and leader in the field of communication for the last three decades. NRTC is producing high quality ruggedized products to be used in harsh environment such as defense services, Para / Auxiliary security services. Commercial products and versions for use by civil Telecommunications operators and civil organizations / establishments since 1966.

https://www.nrtc.com.pk/

Riaz Haq said...

Given Islamabad’s intimate relationship with China and the economic problems currently gripping the country, acquiring the JH-7 heavy strike fighter can both provide its navy with much needed aerial strike capability as well as free up PAF’s core assets to engage with the IAF for supremacy over the battlefields of Kashmir and Punjab.

https://thediplomat.com/2020/05/is-the-chinese-jh-7-an-answer-to-the-pakistan-air-forces-deep-strike-needs/

The JH-7, while utilizing an old air frame, is a highly effective aircraft for deep strike operations. The jet first flew in 1988 and small numbers were delivered to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force during the 1990s. An improved version of the JH-7 fighter-bomber, also known by the NATO designation Flounder, began to be inducted in large numbers after 2004, after the Chinese aviation industry was able to indigenously manufacture a derivative of the Rolls Royce Spey engine. The Spey engine was designed specifically by the British for development of a low flying naval strike aircraft to counter the Soviet Navy in the Cold War.

Faced with cuts in defense expenditure and decreasing global influence after World War II, Britain could no longer afford to operate a sizable navy to deter the Soviet threat. Instead, the British opted for developing naval strike aircraft, such as the Blackburn Buccaneer, to extract a heavy toll on large Soviet Navy cruisers in a future conflict. The Spey engines were later utilized on the Royal Air Force’s fleet of F-4 Phantoms, giving the aircraft greater range and a shorter takeoff distance.

In addition to their low maintenance and impressive safety record, the Spey engine’s utility lies in the fact that it is designed specifically for sustained low altitude flight below the radar horizon of enemy naval vessels. Despite significant advances in jet engine development since the Cold War, the majority of engines today are designed for mid-to-high altitude flight. Flying at low altitude to avoid radar detection for longer periods thus decreases much of the engines’ range.

The JH-7 also complements the Pakistan Navy’s combat doctrine, which is based on the anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) blueprint. The PN’s three Khalid-class submarines form the linchpin of their A2/AD strategy, with the wartime objective of preventing an attempted blockade of the vital Karachi port by the Indian Navy. Acquisition of the JH -7 by Pakistan would provide Islamabad with lethal capability to considerably limit the maneuvering capacity of the Indian Navy in the proximity of Karachi port.

Also, the JH-7, with its longer combat range, heavy payload capacity, and ability to fly under enemy radar cover provides Islamabad with an offensive capacity targeted at India’s protracted western coastline. Hence, acquisition of the JH-7 by Pakistan serves both defensive and offensive purposes. The improved JH-7A variant currently in service with the PLA Air Force is capable to carry over seven tonnes of armament, including four KD-88/YJ-83 anti-ship missiles.

The capability to carry long range anti-ship missiles, which can be launched more than 100 miles away from their targets, means that the JH-7 is able to utilize an asymmetric “hit and run” strategy before enemy air defenses can effectively engage with it. This doctrine was perhaps most aptly demonstrated by the Argentine Air Force during the 1982 Falklands War, as French Super Etendard strike aircraft armed with Exocet missiles sank two British warships.

One alternative to the JH-7 for Pakistan is its existing arsenal of cruise missiles, but this option has its own pitfalls. First, cruise missiles follow a predictable trajectory and are vulnerable to interception by India’s air defense network and fighter aircraft such as the Sukhoi 30 MKI. Second, the use of cruise missiles, even in an all-out conflict, presents a significant leap in terms of escalation. As such, a cruise missile attack by either New Delhi or Islamabad can lead to an eventual nuclear exchange.

Riaz Haq said...

Why #Pakistan Risked Everything To Build #Nuclear Weapons? It became a high priority after #India defeated Pakistan in 1971 to create #Bangladesh. Pakistan now has a nuclear “triad” of delivery systems based on land, in the air and at sea. https://news.yahoo.com/why-pakistan-risked-everything-build-140000382.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=tw via @YahooNews


The sea component of Pakistan’s nuclear force consists of the Babur class of cruise missiles. The latest version, Babur-2, looks like most modern cruise missiles, with a bullet-like shape, a cluster of four tiny tail wings and two stubby main wings, all powered by a turbofan or turbojet engine. The cruise missile has a range of 434 miles. Instead of GPS guidance, which could be disabled regionally by the U.S. government, Babur-2 uses older Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) and Digital Scene Matching and Area Co-relation (DSMAC) navigation technology. Babur-2 is deployed on both land and at sea on ships, where they would be more difficult to neutralize. A submarine-launched version, Babur-3, was tested in January and would be the most survivable of all Pakistani nuclear delivery systems.

-------
Pakistan’s nuclear program goes back to the 1950s, during the early days of its rivalry with India. President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto famously said in 1965, “If India builds the bomb, we will eat grass or leaves, even go hungry, but we will get one of our own.”

The program became a higher priority after the country’s 1971 defeat at the hands of India, which caused East Pakistan to break away and become Bangladesh. Experts believe the humiliating loss of territory, much more than reports that India was pursuing nuclear weapons, accelerated the Pakistani nuclear program. India tested its first bomb, codenamed “Smiling Buddha,” in May 1974, putting the subcontinent on the road to nuclearization.

Pakistan began the process of accumulating the necessary fuel for nuclear weapons, enriched uranium and plutonium. The country was particularly helped by one A. Q. Khan, a metallurgist working in the West who returned to his home country in 1975 with centrifuge designs and business contacts necessary to begin the enrichment process. Pakistan’s program was assisted by European countries and a clandestine equipment-acquisition program designed to do an end run on nonproliferation efforts. Outside countries eventually dropped out as the true purpose of the program became clear, but the clandestine effort continued.

Exactly when Pakistan had completed its first nuclear device is murky. Former president Benazir Bhutto, Zulfikar Bhutto’s daughter, claimed that her father told her the first device was ready by 1977. A member of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission said design of the bomb was completed in 1978 and the bomb was “cold tested”—stopping short of an actual explosion—in 1983.

Benazir Bhutto later claimed that Pakistan’s bombs were stored disassembled until 1998, when India tested six bombs in a span of three days. Nearly three weeks later, Pakistan conducted a similar rapid-fire testing schedule, setting off five bombs in a single day and a sixth bomb three days later. The first device, estimated at twenty-five to thirty kilotons, may have been a boosted uranium device. The second was estimated at twelve kilotons, and the next three as sub-kiloton devices.

The sixth and final device appears to have also been a twelve-kiloton bomb that was detonated at a different testing range; a U.S. Air Force “Constant Phoenix” nuclear-detection aircraft reportedly detected plutonium afterward. Since Pakistan had been working on a uranium bomb and North Korea—which shared or purchased research with Pakistan through the A. Q. Khan network—had been working on a uranium bomb, some outside observers concluded the sixth test was actually a North Korean test, detonated elsewhere to conceal North Korea’s involvement although. There is no consensus on this conclusion.

Riaz Haq said...

HIGH-SPEED, SMALL NAVAL VESSEL
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PLAN (US Navy)

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a428141.pdf


The High-Speed, Small Naval Vessels Innovation Cell project was chartered by ONR to define
the near-term (available in 5 years) technology investments required to enable development of
500 to 3,000 mt, high-speed Naval ships needed for realistic mission requirements. Specific
technology investment selections should be based on detailed design studies, which were beyond
the scope of this project. Instead, the objective was to assess whole-ship implications of
technology in a generic fashion. The required mix of technologies depends on three mission
requirements: speed, range and payload. The design space can be thought of as a threedimensional box, as shown in Figure 1-1. Assumed design “burst” speeds varied from 40 to 60
knots. Required transit range at economical speed of 18 to 20 knots was 3,000 to 5,000 n.mi.
Specific payload items are difficult to model, so payload densities were used instead.

Three generic mission categories were developed. Since future payload items were not known,
representative payload weights and volumes for each of the missions were developed for the
appropriate range of ship sizes.

• Combatant – Payload packages of sensors, weapons, and guns totaling 53 mt for a ship
of about 500 mt and 299 mt for a ship of about 3000 mt.
•Air Operations – Payload of unmanned air vehicles and helicopters totaling 85 mt for a
ship of about 500 mt and 128 mt for a ship of about 3000 mt.
• Cargo ship – Payload of material, equipment, and troops totaling 254 mt for a ship of
approximately 1500 mt and 606 mt for a ship of about 3000 mt.

Riaz Haq said...

#India Would Love to Return this Aircraft Carrier It Bought from #Russia. The ship's boilers are a big concern. Keeping INS Vikramaditya supplied with spare parts is a major task. The ship also lacks active air defenses. #IndianNavy #Junk https://news.yahoo.com/india-love-return-aircraft-carrier-193000947.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=tw via @YahooNews

By 2009, the project was deadlocked and word was starting to get around the defense industry. Russian arms exports for 2009 totaled $8 billion, and Sevmash’s delays and extortionary tactics weren’t good for the Russian defense industry as a whole.

In July 2009, Russia’s then-president Dmitri Medvedev made a high-profile visit to the Sevmash shipyard. Indian news reported that the carrier was still half-done, meaning that the yard had done virtually no work on the ship for two years as it held out for more money.

Medvedev publicly scolded Sevmash officials. “You need to complete [Vikramaditya] and hand it over our partners,” the visibly irritated president told Sevmash general director Nikolai Kalistratov.

In 2010, the Indian government agreed to more than double the budget for the carrier to $2.2 billion. This was less than the $2.9 billion Sevmash demanded, and much less than Sevmash’s suggested “market price” of $4 billion.

Suddenly, Sevmash magically started working harder—actually, twice as hard—and finished the other half of the upgrades in only three years. Vikramaditya finally entered sea trials in August 2012 and commissioned into the Indian navy in November 2013.

At the commissioning ceremony, Indian Defense Minister AK Anthony expressed relief that the ordeal was over, telling the press that there was a time “when we thought we would never get her.”

Enduring woes

Now that Vikramaditya is finally in service, India’s problems are over, right? Not by a long shot. Incredibly, India has chosen Sevmash to do out-of-warranty work on the ship for the next 20 years.

Keeping Vikramaditya supplied with spare parts will be a major task in itself. Ten Indian contractors helped to build the carrier, but so did more than 200 other contractors in Russia, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Finland, France, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the U.K. Some countries, particularly Japan, were likely unaware they were exporting parts for a foreign weapons system.

The ship’s boilers, which provide Vikramaditya with power and propulsion, are a long-term concern. All eight boilers are new. But yard workers discovered defects in them. During her trip from Russia to India, the flattop suffered a boiler breakdown, which Sevmash chalked up to poor-quality Chinese firebricks.

China denied ever exporting the firebricks.

Finally, Vikramaditya lacks active air defenses. The ship has chaff and flare systems to lure away anti-ship missiles, but she doesn’t have any close-in weapons systems like the American Phalanx.

India could install local versions of the Russian AK-630 gun system, but missiles will have to wait until the ship is in drydock again—and that could be up to three years from now. In the meantime, Vikramaditya will have to rely on the new Indian air-defense destroyer INS Kolkata for protection from aircraft and missiles.

As for Sevmash? After the Vikramaditya fiasco, the yard is strangely upbeat about building more carriers … and has identified Brazil as a possible buyer. “Sevmash wants to build aircraft carriers,” said Sergey Novoselov, the yard’s deputy general director.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan Navy Silent On Mystery #Submarine As New Details Emerge. It acts as transport for SSG-N (Special Service) commandos, perform #Intelligence, #Surveillance and #Reconnaissance. 2 torpedoes are for self-defense and targets of opportunity.via @forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/hisutton/2020/07/16/pakistan-navy-keeps-silent-on-mystery-submarine-but-new-details-emerge/

The Pakistani Navy has not yet officially acknowledged the submarine sitting on the quay outside its special forces headquarters. The submarine was first revealed on Forbes in April. Since then further satellite images have emerged. These provide additional clues about the unidentified boat.

But more significantly, there may have been a social media leak from an official Twitter account.

On July 3, Rear Admiral M Arshid Javed, Director General Public Relations for the Pakistan Navy, shared a video of a passing out parade. In the video new operatives of the Special Services Group Navy (SSG-N) special forces unit are parading and receiving awards. They are marching in the parade square at PNS Iqbal, the SSG-N’s headquarters and training base. For the first three seconds of the video part of the mystery submarine is visible in the background.

It is covered in tarpaulins but to trained eyes the shape is unmistakable. And it exactly matches the satellite image at the head of this article, which was also taken on July 3. The tarpaulin covering the front of the submarine is a light beige color, and the one over the back is a faded red.

The contours of the tarps may reveal some new details about the submarine. For example we can see the shape created by the forward hydroplanes. Technical details like this will be useful to defense analysts trying to better understand her form and capabilities. But the eye catches another feature hidden beneath the tarps. Running along the top of the hull is a casing which appears to be shaped to cover cylindrical tubes. Logically, this will be for torpedo tubes. These features were not confidently identified at the time of my previous article.

Having two torpedo tubes under the forward casing would match the previous generation of Pakistan Navy submarines used by the SSG-N. Three Cosmos class “X-Craft”, more properly called the Cos.Mo.S MG-110, are in service. These have twin torpedo tubes in almost exactly the same place as the new boat.

In fact the dark sails of two of the Cosmos class “X-Craft” are visible inside a long shed behind the parade. These were built locally in the 1990s to an Italian design. The new boat appears to have been influenced by the Cosmos class but is shorter, around 55 feet long.

The new design likely has the same role as the Cosmos class, which is to act as a transport for SSG-N commandos. It could also perform ISR missions, meaning Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. In both these roles the torpedoes wold be for self-defense and targets of opportunity.

The location of the new submarine keeps it away from prying eyes, and so far no photographs have emerged. It is near to where the Pakistani Navy’s regular submarines are moored, and where their newest warship, PNS Yarmook, was inducted on July 13. That too was caught on satellite imagery.

No doubt more details of this new submarine will emerge over time. But currently the Pakistani Navy is keeping the covers on it.

Riaz Haq said...

Game-Changing Chinese Missile To Pakistan Could Dent Navy's BrahMos Advantage


https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/game-changing-chinese-missile-to-pakistan-could-dent-navys-brahmos-advantage-1975148

An export variant of the YJ-12 missile, the CM-302, is likely to be the primary weapon on board four new Chinese frigates being built for the Pakistan Navy at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai.
The CM-302 matches both the supersonic speed and the range of the Indian Navy's BrahMos anti-ship cruise missiles, which have been deployed on several front-line frigates and destroyers of the Navy.

Senior defence officials monitoring the sale of new generation Chinese Type 054 frigates to Pakistan have told NDTV that the ships are likely to come armed with the CM-302, which they identify as a "new threat which represents a new capability."

But these officers also tell NDTV that "there is a long way to go for these missiles to become a credible threat for the Indian Navy" since the Pakistan Navy still lacks long-range sensors which need to target Indian platforms before a CM-302 can actually be fired.

"Possessing accurate targeting data, surveillance capability, and having the ability to penetrate a dense [Indian Navy] electronic counter-measures environment are a part of a complex matrix" that the Pakistan Navy's new frigates would need to overcome before they can attempt a missile launch.

Riaz Haq said...

(Pakistan Navy's) Type-054A and (Indian Navy's) Talwar class displace approximately 4,000 tonnes and have a length of around 130 metres. The Type-054A uses a surface-to-air missile system called the HQ-16, which experts claim is derived from the Russian Shtil missile, on service on the Talwar class frigates. Interestingly, Russia had sold the Shtil missile to China in the late 1990s. The Shtil has a maximum range of about 50km.


https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2019/01/04/advanced-warships-china-pakistan.html


However, the Type-054A has an advantage over the existing Talwar class ships as the former use a vertical launch system (VLS), which is buried in the ship's deck, to store and fire its HQ-16. The Indian Navy's Talwar class frigates use an older 'single-arm' launcher than can fire only one missile at a time, while the VLS allows the launch of multiple missiles simultaneously.

The HQ-16, which relies on 'passive' radar homing to detect targets, is considered inferior to the new Indo-Israeli Barak-8 missile entering service on new Indian Navy frigates and destroyers. Furthermore, India is also buying four upgraded Talwar class frigates from Russia that is expected to have VLS for surface-to-air missiles. The Talwar class ships, which use the supersonic Klub and Brahmos missiles, are regarded to have better anti-ship capabilities than the PLAN Type-054A class, which still use subsonic weapons. It is yet unclear what anti-ship missiles Pakistan will use.

The China Daily report quoted Cao Weidong, an expert, as saying the Pakistan Navy was expected to order Chinese-origin sensors and weapons for its new frigates unlike in the past, when Islamabad would mount Western-origin systems on ships purchased from China.

The Type-054A class ships have been considered by experts to be the 'workhorses' of the rapidly modernising PLAN. Their anti-air and anti-ship capabilities are more limited than the systems present on China's new destroyer classes. The relatively small size of the Type-054AP frigates means there is little scope to mount heavier radars and longer-range anti-aircraft or anti-ship weapons.

In addition, the Pakistan Navy continues its reliance on submarines as the main means to deter India; Islamabad signed a deal to buy eight submarines from China in 2015. These submarines are expected to remain the main threat to Indian ships and could also serve as more survivable platforms to launch land-attack cruise missiles.

In conclusion, while the new Type-054AP frigates will be the most capable ships in the Pakistan Navy, they are not expected to significantly alter the balance of power in the region, given Pakistan's limitations in airborne anti-submarine capabilities. It can be argued that the bigger threat posed by the Type-054AP frigates is the fact that the new ships will draw Pakistan closer to China at a time when there is growing worry about a military dimension to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan’s New Type-039B AIP #Submarines: Armed with #nuclear-tipped Babar cruise #missiles, these subs will form part of Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent. #Karachi https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2020/10/pakistans-new-chinese-aip-submarines-image-shows-karachi-site/

The Pakistan Navy's expansion is gearing up in Karachi. Major enhancements are evident at a shipyard, where a new construction hall and a dry dock greatly increase capacity. Although details are scarce, it seems likely that the local construction of Chinese-designed AIP (Air Independent Power) submarines will take place there.

The eight Type-039B ‘Hangor Class’ submarines will be a major boost to the Pakistan Navy. They will more than double the size of the Pakistan Navy’s submarine fleet.

The new submarines are variant of the Chinese Navy’s Type-039A Yuan Class. Construction will be split between the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) in Karachi. KSEW previously participated in local construction of Pakistan’s French designed Agosta class submarines.

The construction site in Karachi may put to rest previous reports that the subs would be built in Ormara. In 2016 it was reported that the local submarine construction would occur at a new Submarine Rebuild Complex (SRC) being built there. No significant construction work is evident at Ormara.

The new construction hall and dry dock are at the southern end of KSEW’s Karachi shipyard site. Footings for the halls was first observed in 2015. The twin-lane halls have slowly taken shape since then. The outer shell appears largely complete. Under their roof there should be enough room to build two submarines in parallel.

Work on the aligned dry dock appears to have started in 2016. It is a Norwegian designed Syncrolift ship-lift type built out over the water. Manufacture of the sections likely took place in China. The dry dock is 126m (415 ft) long and 32m (105 ft) across and has a lifting capacity of 7,881 tons. This is large enough for the new submarines, and would allow frigate sized warships and larger submarines in future.

Based on current information the first of the new submarines, built in China, is expected to be delivered in 2022. Local construction of the last four hulls will last through to 2028. The acquisition from China is part of a trend. Several major Pakistan Navy warship programs have gone to China in recent years. And the Pakistan Navy and Chinese Navy already cooperate closely, included close exercises involving Chinese warships and Pakistan Navy submarines.

The construction halls will be conveniently close to the Pakistan Navy’s main submarine berths. They are also just north of the SSGNs (Special Service Group (Navy)) base at PNS Iqbal. This is where the Pakistan Navy’s X-Craft midget submarine program is based. It seems logical that any local construction of midget submarines will also take place at the new site.

The technology transfer will benefit KSEW. Their Stirling-based AIP (Air Independent Power/Propulsion) technology is different from the French MESMA system installed on Pakistan’s Agosta-90B type boats. Pakistan remains the only country to adopt the MESMA system. Type-039B submarines are a relatively conservative design however.

The Type-039B submarines are likely to combine Chinese systems and weapons with Pakistani systems. Local weapons are expected to include the nuclear-capable Babur cruise missile. Armed with these the boats will form part of Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent. How this deterrence role will be reconciled with typical attack submarine duties remains unclear.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan To Host Historic #Naval Drills #AMAN2021. It will be the first time #Russia participates in a joint exercise with #NATO members (#US, #UK, #Europe) & #China in 10 years, which is scheduled to take place off #Karachi between February 11-16, 2021. https://eurasiantimes.com/pakistan-to-host-the-historic-naval-drills-between-russian-nato-countries/

Russia said on Thursday it would take part in drills involving more than 30 countries off the coast of Pakistan, in rare joint exercises with Russian and NATO member ships.

The AMAN-2021 anti-piracy drills are set to be held in waters near Karachi in February 2021 and will involve British, U.S., Turkish, Chinese, Japanese and other forces, the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Russian and NATO vessels last took part in drills together at the NATO-led Bold Monarch exercises in 2011 off the coast of Spain, the TASS news agency reported.

A NATO official said that the 30-member military bloc had no plans currently to take part in exercises with Russia, but that the participation of individual nations was up to them to decide.

"Our practical cooperation remains suspended as a consequence of Russia's illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014," the NATO official said.

Ties between Russia and the West are languishing at post-Cold War lows, strained by everything from the annexation of Crimea to allegations of hacking U.S. elections and Syria.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan Navy commissions new #Dutch -built 2,300-ton PNS Tabuk corvette. Yarmook and Tabuk off-shore patrol vehicles are multipurpose, highly adaptable platforms, which can carry out different operations, including #intelligence, special ops & #combat

https://www.naval-technology.com/news/pakistan-navy-commissions-new-damen-built-pns-tabuk-corvette/

Pakistan Navy has commissioned its new Damen-built corvette, named PNS Tabuk, at Romania’s Port of Constanta.

The vessel is the second of two 2,300t corvettes that Damen constructed under a contract signed by the Pakistan Ministry of Defence in June 2017.

The first vessel, PNS Yarmook, joined the fleet of Pakistan Navy in February.

In September last year, Damen launched the second offshore patrol vessel for the Pakistan Navy at its shipyard in Galati, Romania.

The vessels are multipurpose, highly adaptable platforms, which can carry out different operations in difficult maritime environments.

A helicopter and an unmanned aerial vessel (UAV), along with two rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIBs), can be simultaneously launched from the vessels.

Damen Shipyards Galati MD Flemming Sorensen said: “Damen has been involved in many projects in Pakistan since 1986 and we are very proud of this long-lasting and trusting cooperation.

“Such an achievement is only possible with good coordination, skilful workmanship, excellent teamwork, and good cooperation between all parties involved.


“Despite the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic, the Pakistan, Romanian and Dutch project teams have managed, with perseverance, to continue their work to successful completion.”


The company will provide assistance during the service of PNS Tabuk.

Last month, a keel was laid for the Pakistan Navy third MILGEM-class corvette during a ceremony held at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited (KS&EW).

In 2018, the Pakistan Navy signed a contract with Turkey’s ASFAT to procure four MILGEM-class corvettes from STM.

Riaz Haq said...

#China launches 2nd Type 054A/P frigate for #Pakistan Navy. It's a stealthy surface ship equipped with modern surface, subsurface and anti-air weapons, sensors and combat management systems. It has an advanced radar & large number of long range missiles. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202101/1214356.shtml#.YBSuvCi3FqA.twitter

China launched the second Type 054A/P frigate for Pakistan on Friday in Shanghai, as the Pakistan Navy Chief Naval Overseer highlighted at the launch ceremony that induction of the Type 054A/P warships will significantly enhance Pakistan's maritime defense and deterrence capabilities.

The launch of the second Type 054A/P frigate was held at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai on Friday, reads a statement the Pakistan Navy sent to the Global Times on the same day.

The occasion coincides with the completion of 70 years of Pakistan-China diplomatic relations built upon historic bonds of friendship and mutual trust, the statement said.

The Pakistan Navy has contracted the construction of four Type 054A/P frigates from China since 2017, and the first ship was launched in August 2020, media reported.

All the ships are being delivered as per the planned schedule, the Pakistan Navy statement said.

These will be some of the most technologically advanced platforms of the Pakistan Navy Surface Fleet, equipped with modern surface, subsurface and anti-air weapons, sensors and combat management systems, Admiral M Amjad Khan Niazi, Chief of the Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy, told the Global Times in a recent exclusive interview.

"These ships will boost [the] potency of our fleet and significantly contribute in maintaining peace and security in the region," the Pakistani Admiral said.

Commodore Azfar Humayun, Pakistan Navy Chief Naval Overseer, said at the launch ceremony that he acknowledges the commitment and hard work of China Shipbuilding Trading Company and Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard to keep this important program on track in the difficult times of the ongoing global pandemic, according to the Pakistan Navy statement.

Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, told the Global Times in a previous interview that the Type 054A, on which the Type 054A/P is based, is China's most advanced frigate.

Compared with previous Chinese frigates, the new version has better air defense capability, as it is equipped with an improved radar system and a larger amount of missiles with a longer range, Zhang said, noting that the Type 054A frigate also has world-class stealth capability.

The Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard also launched China's third Type 075 amphibious assault ship on Friday.

Riaz Haq said...

Focus on Pakistan Navy by Ejaz Haider by Ejaz Haider

https://www.thefridaytimes.com/focus-on-pakistan-navy/

Pakistan Navy is also the only regional navy since 2004 to be part of US-led Coalition Task Force 150 and 151 under the broader umbrella of Coalition Maritime Campaign Plan. PN has also commanded CTF-150 nine times, a distinction.

But while it is important to list the professional achievements of PN within its resource constraints, it is equally important to point out that Pakistan must review its navy’s role. The famous US naval officer and theoretician, Alfred Mahan wrote in his “The Influence of Sea Power Upon World History”: “The history of sea power is largely, though by no means solely, a narrative of contests between nations, of mutual rivalries, of violence frequently culminating in war.” Mahan also argues, somewhat exaggeratedly, that a country’s military and political strength directly correlates with their sea power. As is well known, Mahan’s thinking greatly influenced the US’ approach to command of the seas.


There’s much literature on the correlation between technology, naval expeditions and power projection and European imperialism. According to Hedrick, “The innovativeness of the West came from two sources. One is a culture that encourages the domination of nature through experimentation, scientific research, and the rewards of capitalism. The other is the competitive nature of the Western world…”. A similar nexus between capitalism, scientific and technological innovations and imperialism is made by Yuval Noah Harari in “Sapiens.”

But imperialism (even of the non-occupation kind) requires projecting power. Until the arrival of the digital world, power was projected through powerful navies. Pax Britannica was underpinned by a small island country’s formidable naval power. Britain displaced the Portuguese and the Dutch as the dominant naval power and the French could not challenge British naval power even when Napoleon was winning battles on land.

Even today a blue-water navy is the ultimate symbol of the reach of a state’s flag. As British naval historian Andrew Lambert says, “Sea power played a large role in the Allied victory, as the sea determined the control of global communications and getting the most advantage out of food, raw materials, manpower, and industrial products.”

In 1914, Britain dominated global communications and resources by sea power. The Allies economically blockaded Germany. They also used unrestricted submarine warfare in 1915 and 1917. Germans called it “Britain’s Oceanic Tyranny”.

It is interesting to note the naval component of China’s military modernisation programme. By all estimates, China has fast-tracked its development of naval power because Beijing understands that without naval power projection, it cannot dominate the South and East China Seas. And it also knows that it will be contending against the US and its allies.

India, Pakistan’s primary threat, is trying to develop blue-water capability. However, if a blue water navy is defined as “a maritime force capable of sustained operation across the deep waters of open oceans,” Indian Navy can only be called a limited-range blue-water navy. A blue-water navy should also allow “a country to project power far from the home country”. And while India has operated an aircraft carrier since 1961, it does not have the full range of capabilities to meet this condition. In response, Pakistan requires, at a minimum, green-water capabilities. In other words, it needs to be able to operate in the open oceans of its surrounding region to counter the Indian naval threat.

From a nuclear strategy perspective, the most credible second-strike capability rests on a ship submersible ballistic nuclear (SSBN) platform. That’s where the navy comes back into the picture again. So far, while Pakistan has developed the capability to put nuclear-armed cruise missiles on conventional subs, the country does not have an SSBN platform.

Riaz Haq said...

Focus on Pakistan Navy

https://www.thefridaytimes.com/focus-on-pakistan-navy/

Pakistan Navy is demonstrably the most neglected service. There are reasons for this state of affairs, all of them bad.

One, as the largest and senior-most service, the Pakistan Army has traditionally dominated military-operational thinking and plans.

Two, the Army’s politico-praetorian streak has added another dimension to its heft and further ensured it gets the lion’s share of defence allocations.

Three, air and naval platforms are almost always big ticket items and require monies that are difficult to find in a poor country like Pakistan.

Four, historically, even when Muslim empires dominated large parts of the world, the ruling dynasts — barring some attempts by the Ottomans — neglected naval power. To stress the salience of this point, one only need contrast the naval exploits of Italian city-states, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English with, for instance, the Muslim rulers of India.

What makes this Muslim reticence even more surprising is the fact that Arabs were great seafarers and navigators and traded with the littoral states of the Indian Ocean. For example, Ahmed Ibn-e Majid was an Arab navigator and cartographer whose book, “The Book of the Benefits of the Principles and Foundations of Seamanship,” was used by navigators right up to the 18th Century. The book discussed the difference between coastal and open-sea sailing, the locations of ports from East Africa to Indonesia, accounts of the monsoon and other seasonal winds, typhoons and other topics for professional navigators. [NB: for a detailed account of how difficult seafaring was and the five different seafaring traditions in the ancient world, the first chapter of Daniel Headrick’s Power Over Peoples… is a great primer. I am thankful to Dr Ilhan Niaz for pointing it to me.]


Five, this land-focused approach to warfare has continued in Pakistan. As mentioned above, this is due to the power of the army which (a) remains bound by traditional thinking and (b) has stymied any fresh thinking about war itself, including maritime security and the importance of naval power to a state’s offensive and defensive capabilities.

As I said earlier, these are all bad reasons.

Yet, despite these handicaps, the PN has acted professionally and remains prepared for the defence of territorial waters. To expect any more from it would be like expecting a sedan to win a Formula 1 race. Accordingly, the Pakistan Navy’s performance has to be evaluated within the functions and framework of a brown-, or at most green-water navy.

The PN is holding its 7th AMAN (Peace) exercise off the coast of Karachi in February. AMAN exercises began in March 2007. The exercise, which has harbour and sea phases, has drawn naval contingents from around the world. This year’s new entrant is a Russian naval contingent from its Baltic Fleet.

According to the Russian Navy’s website, Russia plans to send a frigate, a patrol ship, a tugboat, a sea-based helicopter and some other units. This is also the first time since 2011 that Russia will take part in a naval exercise with naval contingents from NATO countries. The last time Russian naval continent participated in naval drills with NATO vessels was in 2011 in a NATO-led exercise codenamed Bold Monarch held off the coast of Spain.

Exercise AMAN focuses on interoperability with other navies in anti-Piracy and counterterrorism operations. The drill allows navies to discuss best practices and establish operational relationships towards the common goal of maritime security.

Pakistan Navy is also the only regional navy since 2004 to be part of US-led Coalition Task Force 150 and 151 under the broader umbrella of Coalition Maritime Campaign Plan. PN has also commanded CTF-150 nine times, a distinction.

Riaz Haq said...

Focus on Pakistan Navy by Ejaz Haider

https://www.thefridaytimes.com/focus-on-pakistan-navy/

Pakistan Navy is also the only regional navy since 2004 to be part of US-led Coalition Task Force 150 and 151 under the broader umbrella of Coalition Maritime Campaign Plan. PN has also commanded CTF-150 nine times, a distinction.

But while it is important to list the professional achievements of PN within its resource constraints, it is equally important to point out that Pakistan must review its navy’s role. The famous US naval officer and theoretician, Alfred Mahan wrote in his “The Influence of Sea Power Upon World History”: “The history of sea power is largely, though by no means solely, a narrative of contests between nations, of mutual rivalries, of violence frequently culminating in war.” Mahan also argues, somewhat exaggeratedly, that a country’s military and political strength directly correlates with their sea power. As is well known, Mahan’s thinking greatly influenced the US’ approach to command of the seas.


There’s much literature on the correlation between technology, naval expeditions and power projection and European imperialism. According to Hedrick, “The innovativeness of the West came from two sources. One is a culture that encourages the domination of nature through experimentation, scientific research, and the rewards of capitalism. The other is the competitive nature of the Western world…”. A similar nexus between capitalism, scientific and technological innovations and imperialism is made by Yuval Noah Harari in “Sapiens.”

But imperialism (even of the non-occupation kind) requires projecting power. Until the arrival of the digital world, power was projected through powerful navies. Pax Britannica was underpinned by a small island country’s formidable naval power. Britain displaced the Portuguese and the Dutch as the dominant naval power and the French could not challenge British naval power even when Napoleon was winning battles on land.

Even today a blue-water navy is the ultimate symbol of the reach of a state’s flag. As British naval historian Andrew Lambert says, “Sea power played a large role in the Allied victory, as the sea determined the control of global communications and getting the most advantage out of food, raw materials, manpower, and industrial products.”

In 1914, Britain dominated global communications and resources by sea power. The Allies economically blockaded Germany. They also used unrestricted submarine warfare in 1915 and 1917. Germans called it “Britain’s Oceanic Tyranny”.

It is interesting to note the naval component of China’s military modernisation programme. By all estimates, China has fast-tracked its development of naval power because Beijing understands that without naval power projection, it cannot dominate the South and East China Seas. And it also knows that it will be contending against the US and its allies.

India, Pakistan’s primary threat, is trying to develop blue-water capability. However, if a blue water navy is defined as “a maritime force capable of sustained operation across the deep waters of open oceans,” Indian Navy can only be called a limited-range blue-water navy. A blue-water navy should also allow “a country to project power far from the home country”. And while India has operated an aircraft carrier since 1961, it does not have the full range of capabilities to meet this condition. In response, Pakistan requires, at a minimum, green-water capabilities. In other words, it needs to be able to operate in the open oceans of its surrounding region to counter the Indian naval threat.

From a nuclear strategy perspective, the most credible second-strike capability rests on a ship submersible ballistic nuclear (SSBN) platform. That’s where the navy comes back into the picture again. So far, while Pakistan has developed the capability to put nuclear-armed cruise missiles on conventional subs, the country does not have an SSBN platform.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan to have hypersonic missiles and directed-energy weapons on all new ships by mid-2020s, as revealed by outgoing Navy chief Adm. Zafar Mahmood Abbasi. In #Asia, #China, #India, #Japan, #SouthKorea & #Australia Navies have similar plans. https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2021/03/15/hypersonic-and-directed-energy-weapons-who-has-them-and-whos-winning-the-race-in-the-asia-pacific/#pakistan

In October, outgoing naval chief Adm. Zafar Mahmood Abbasi revealed plans to equip future warships with directed-energy weapon systems and the P282 hypersonic missile.

“In the hypersonic domain, the ship-based, long-range, anti-ship and land-attack P282 ballistic missile is under development” he said at the time, and the newly established Naval Research and Development Institute was developing “laser-based directed-energy weapons.”

Neither the Ministry of Defence Production nor the Navy responded to Defense News’ requests for information on these programs. Their stage of development or how and when they will be employed is unknown. Nevertheless, Mansoor Ahmed, a senior research fellow at Islamabad’s Center for International Strategic Studies, believes these developments must be reasonably advanced for them to have been revealed at all.

Whether Pakistani warships have sufficient power-generation capacity to operate directed-energy weapons may be inferred from Chinese and Turkish programs. Pakistan has ordered Type 054A/P frigates (similar to those in Chinese service) and Milgem corvettes (similar to Turkey’s Ada class), and is designing the related Jinnah-class frigate (possibly similar to Turkey’s Istanbul class).

Chinese destroyers have had an operational directed-energy capability since at least 2018, but frigates are not similarly equipped. However, an expert on China’s military believes this will change.

“Based on my interviews with Chinese sources, I conclude that China will be pacing most U.S. directed-energy weapon developments, be they solid-state lasers or microwave weapons,” said Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center. “They were marketing a 30-kilowatt, mobile, solid-state laser weapon five years ago, so it is reasonable to expect they will soon have much more powerful land-, sea- and air-deployable laser weapons.”

Similarly, the installation of the Roketsan-made Alka laser weapon on Turkish warships would infer Pakistan receiving a similar setup. Roketsan literature indicates the Alka can be fitted to warships to destroy or disable drones and similar targets. The company says the system can destroy a target with a laser at 500 meters, and destroy a target at 1,000 meters with its electromagnetic weapon.

STM and fellow Turkish contractor Afsat signed an agreement “on engineering solutions for supplying and integrating the main propulsion system” for Pakistan’s corvettes in June 2020. Their propulsion/power-generation system was previously a CODAD (combined diesel and diesel) system before the U.S. cleared the export of gas turbines, allowing a CODAG (combined diesel and gas) system similar to the Ada corvettes to be fitted.

When asked, STM would not say whether this could produce sufficient power to support a directed-energy weapon.

Given the delivery timetable for Pakistan’s new frigates and corvettes, a directed-energy capability may be reality by mid-decade, but Ahmed, the expert at the Center for International Strategic Studies, believes the hypersonic program is more urgent. He said hypersonic technology is part of Pakistan’s “emerging menu of long-range [anti-access, area denial] capabilities that are increasingly going to be needed for maintaining a credible deterrent” against India’s Navy.

This is backed by reports that an Azeri surface-to-air Barak-8 missile system — a weapon also installed on some of India’s destroyers — downed an Armenian Iskander tactical ballistic missile last year, potentially rendering Pakistan’s present subsonic anti-ship missile arsenal vulnerable to interception.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan #Navy's New Type 054 A/P Frigate Started Sea Trials in #China. These state of the art frigates are equipped with modern surface, subsurface and anti air weapons and sensors. They're the backbone of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) fleet https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/06/pakistans-new-type-054-a-p-frigate-started-sea-trials-in-china/

The first Type 054 A/P frigate for the Pakistan Navy started sea trials in late May. Local ship spotters images show the frigate leaving the Hudong Zhonghua shipyard (near Shanghai) under her own power...

Pakistan signed an initial contract for the delivery two Type 054 A/P frigates in 2017. An additional contract for two more ships was announced in June 2018. The first-in-class frigate was launched in August 2020 and the second in January 2021. As for the third one, the keel laying took place on May 1st 2021. All four units are built in China and the first two are expected to be delivered to the customer by year end.

According to a Pakistan Navy press release, the Type-054 A/P ships are state of the art frigates equipped with modern surface, subsurface and anti air weapons and sensors. Once constructed, these ships will be the most technologically advanced platforms of Pakistan Navy which will strengthen its capability to meet future challenges and maintain peace, stability & power equilibrium in the Indian Ocean Region.

The Pakistan Navy is currently undertaking an important renewal of its fleet, with the procurement of several modern platforms: In addition to these frigates from China, Pakistan will also commission new corvettes from Turkey and OPV from the Netherlands. It is also modernizing its submarine force.

The Type 054A is a multi-role frigate and is recognized as the backbone of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) fleet of surface combatants with 30 vessels in commission. They have a length of 134 meters, a beam of 16 meters for a displacement of 4,000 tons. They have a crew complement of 165 sailors and are fitted with:

a H/PJ-26 76mm main gun
8 C803 anti-ship missiles
32x VLS cells for HQ-16 surface to air missiles
2x Type 730 30mm CIWS
2x Triple Torpedo launchers
In PLAN service, those frigates feature a Type 382 radar which shares a close resemblance with the Russian MR-710 Fregat radar. Unlike the Pakistan Navy variant – whose first ship-in-class is fitted with a SR2410C radar – the Type 054A in Chinese Navy service do not feature a long range / metric wave radar.

Riaz Haq said...

Did #Pakistan drop Leonardo as lead for Sea Sultan conversion of #Brazil made Embraer Lineage 1000 jet to replace #US made P-3C Orion? #SouthAfrica's Paramount Group is the lead contractor, with #Italy's Leonardo #Aerospace relegated to supplying hardware. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2021/09/09/did-pakistan-drop-leonardo-as-lead-on-sea-sultan-aircraft-conversion/


ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Navy has inducted into service its first Embraer Lineage 1000 jetliner, which is to be converted into the “Sea Sultan” design under the country’s long-range maritime patrol aircraft program. However, there remain unanswered questions surrounding the selection of a prime contractor and which company will carry out the conversion.

The Sept. 2 induction ceremony took place at PNS Mehran naval air station, where the P-3C Orion aircraft — which will be replaced by the Sea Sultan — operates.

A Navy release stated two more Lineage 1000 aircraft are under contract to “be equipped with the latest weapons and sensors to undertake Maritime Air Operations.”

Defense News reported in October that Pakistan selected the Brazilian-made Lineage 1000 for the program.

Pakistan previously hired Italy’s Leonardo as the prime contractor for the program, Defense News reported in July, and South Africa’s Paramount Group was to prepare the aircraft for conversion. But a source with knowledge of Pakistan’s defense programs told Defense News that Paramount Group is the lead contractor, with Leonardo relegated to supplying hardware.

He said Leonardo seems to have accepted this, knowing it could gain the experience to eventually independently offer a Lineage 1000 conversion. It’s unclear why Paramount Group was given the lead role.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the program, added that the first Sea Sultan will likely be used for training and liaison missions.

Former Australian defense attache to Islamabad and independent analyst Brian Cloughley described the Sea Sultan program as uncharacteristically quick by Pakistani standards.

“Acquisition of the new patrol aircraft is a welcome development for the PN, but it is intriguing that the usually lengthy contract process has taken such a short time. Apparently there were no competing tenders, and it is not known, indeed, if conventional procedures were followed,” he said.

Pakistan’s military has good working relationships with Leonardo as well as Germany’s Rheinland Air Service and Turkish Aerospace Industries, and those firms have considerable experience relevant to the Sea Sultan program. Paramount Group does not appear to have the same level of experience.

There is also no indication the Lineage 1000′s manufacturer, Embraer, is involved in the program. Analyst Alexandre Galante, who previously served in Brazil’s Navy, believes the company could have contributed its know-how, as it previously converted the E190 (from which the Lineage 1000 is derived).

“Embraer carried out studies a few years ago of a maritime patrol version of the E-Jet E190, but the project did not go ahead” he said, citing a lack of financial resources to invest in new equipment, as the military budget is mainly consumed by pay and pensions. “For this reason, the Brazilian Air Force purchased used P-3A aircraft and hired Airbus to modernize them.”

Riaz Haq said...

P282 Anti-ship Ballistic Missile: Strengthening Navy’s Conventional Deterrence - Centre for Strategic and Contemporary Research

https://cscr.pk/explore/themes/defense-security/p282-anti-ship-ballistic-missile-strengthening-navys-conventional-deterrence/


The development of the P282 anti-ship missile in Pakistan was announced by the Ex-Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, during his farewell address in October 2020. Only the information about the development work on the missile was made public. No other details like the range and timeline were then shared. The missile, however, will be capable of anti-ship and land-attack strikes. It could also be launched from a ship. It is also said to have hypersonic or Mach 5+ speed. A typical ballistic missile with a certain range normally has hypersonic speed. In addition to other factors, the speed of the missile increases with its range. Typically, a short or medium-range missile would have less speed than an intermediate or long-range missile. So, it can be assumed that the missile will likely have at least a 1000km range.

-----------

The expansion of the number and range of capabilities of the Indian Navy in recent decades has not gone unnoticed in Pakistan. The number of warships is increasing in the Indian Navy, and with that, their war-fighting capabilities would also get a boost. In comparison, Pakistan Navy was mostly constrained by budgetary allocations that could not enhance its war-fighting capabilities in the past. However, given the fast-paced Indian Naval modernisation plans, Pakistan Navy is now focusing on acquiring more assets and modern capabilities. Factors such as the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, operationalisation of Gwadar port, maritime and blue economy awareness have also enhanced the navy’ role in the security structure of the country. One capability that the Pakistan Navy is working on is to attain the capability to restrict the operational freedom of the Indian Navy during the war. In order to do that, it is working on the development of the P282 anti-ship/land-attack ballistic missile.

The possession of an anti-ship ballistic missile by the Pakistan Navy can become a major asset to deter India’s large naval fleet’s presence in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean during the peace and war. Pakistan has been developing capabilities that are in line with the Anti-Access/Area-Denial (A2/AD) concept. Under this strategy, the defensive forces try to restrict the movement of the adversary in an area of interest and deny it the freedom to operate if limited access has been gained. Anti-ship warfare is the major component of anti-access capabilities. Anti-ship warfare includes a variety of cruise missiles, but the development of anti-ship ballistic missiles by China has received more attention.

Riaz Haq said...

Today, Pakistan’s Naval Air Arm also operates three shorter-range Franco-Italian ATR-72 twin-turboprop maritime patrol planes, and sixteen Mi-14, Sea King, and Z-9EC anti-submarine capable helicopters. However, the Orions and forthcoming Sea Sultan have significantly greater range, payload, and endurance than these other platforms.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/will-pakistan%E2%80%99s-new-sea-sultan-sub-hunter-be-used-guide-anti-ship-ballistic-missiles

In a speech in October 2020, former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi stated that Pakistan was developing “…in the hypersonic domain, the ship-based, long-range, anti-ship and land-attack P282 ballistic missile.” He described it as an effort to “leapfrog” Pakistan to capabilities similar to India’s supersonic Brahmos cruise missile.


----------------
Pakistan’s Orions have had an eventful service life, employed in combat against Taliban insurgents in Swat Valley, performing signals-intelligence gathering, surveillance, and bombing missions. But in 2011, insurgents raided Mehran and destroyed two P-3s based there, though the United States replaced the aircraft. A third P-3C was lost off the coast of Balochistan in 1999 in an accident that killed all twenty-one onboard.

As the future of U.S.-Pakistan relations remains murky, Islamabad explicitly sought a P-3 replacement that wouldn’t be subject to U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Thus the Sea Sultan is based on Brazilian Lineage 1000E regional jetliners purchased second-hand rather than directly from manufacturer Embraer. South African company Paramount Group is installing torpedo launchers and SeaSpray radars made by Italian firm Leonardo into the four-engine regional airliners.

The basic Lineage 1000 airliner has a comparable maximum range to a P-3C but is roughly fifty percent faster at cruising and maximum speed (629 and 543 miles per hour) and has a much higher maximum altitude too. Although the performance of a fully-equipped Sea Sultan is unknown, Pakistan’s tender specified a range of 4,600 miles and a maximum takeoff weight of sixty to seventy tons.

The SeaSpray AESA X-Band multi-mode radar may represent the most important change from the Orion. The 360-degree radar incorporates a Moving Target Indicator for tracking vehicles and synthetic-aperture mode which can provide detailed scans of ships or other surface targets. The SeaSpray 7500V2 model has a maximum range of 368 miles, but the somewhat shorter-range 7300E model, already in use on Pakistani ATR-72 patrol planes and Sea King helicopters, may be installed instead.


Even the 7300E, however, reportedly has high enough resolution to detect life rafts and ship-wrecked humans in inclement weather at a significant distance. Such resolution might also suffice to detect the protruding snorkel of a diesel-electric submarine sucking in air to recharge its batteries.

Like the Orion, Sea Sultans are planned to have electromagnetic and signals intelligence sensors (ESM and ELINT), sonar buoys, and an acoustic analysis station for submarine hunting, a satellite communications link, and flare/chaff dispensers to decoy missiles. They will also carry homing torpedoes for sub-hunting, and likely anti-ship missiles for surface warfare.

Pakistan’s Navy is focused on denying India’s larger fleet access to its littoral waters. Maritime patrol planes thus improve the Pakistani Navy’s awareness of ships and submarines approaching said waters, limiting the risk of surprise attack (like the Indian Navy’s successful missile attack on Karachi in 1971) and enabling coordinating response by other assets. Furthermore, they can attack maritime targets, conduct search and rescue missions, and scoop up electronic intelligence data on other militaries operating in the region.

Riaz Haq said...

MELBOURNE, Australia, ISLAMABAD, NEW DELHI, and WASHINGTON — A number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region are caught up in the global hypersonic and directed-energy weapons race, with these regional powers having either developed or publicly stated intentions to develop such technology.

Defense News has contacted regional government and military officials, businesses, and analysts to find out who is keeping pace in the worldwide contest.


https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2021/03/15/hypersonic-and-directed-energy-weapons-who-has-them-and-whos-winning-the-race-in-the-asia-pacific/


Whether Pakistani warships have sufficient power-generation capacity to operate directed-energy weapons may be inferred from Chinese and Turkish programs. Pakistan has ordered Type 054A/P frigates (similar to those in Chinese service) and Milgem corvettes (similar to Turkey’s Ada class), and is designing the related Jinnah-class frigate (possibly similar to Turkey’s Istanbul class).

Chinese destroyers have had an operational directed-energy capability since at least 2018, but frigates are not similarly equipped. However, an expert on China’s military believes this will change.

“Based on my interviews with Chinese sources, I conclude that China will be pacing most U.S. directed-energy weapon developments, be they solid-state lasers or microwave weapons,” said Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center. “They were marketing a 30-kilowatt, mobile, solid-state laser weapon five years ago, so it is reasonable to expect they will soon have much more powerful land-, sea- and air-deployable laser weapons.”

Similarly, the installation of the Roketsan-made Alka laser weapon on Turkish warships would infer Pakistan receiving a similar setup. Roketsan literature indicates the Alka can be fitted to warships to destroy or disable drones and similar targets. The company says the system can destroy a target with a laser at 500 meters, and destroy a target at 1,000 meters with its electromagnetic weapon.

STM and fellow Turkish contractor Afsat signed an agreement “on engineering solutions for supplying and integrating the main propulsion system” for Pakistan’s corvettes in June 2020. Their propulsion/power-generation system was previously a CODAD (combined diesel and diesel) system before the U.S. cleared the export of gas turbines, allowing a CODAG (combined diesel and gas) system similar to the Ada corvettes to be fitted.

When asked, STM would not say whether this could produce sufficient power to support a directed-energy weapon.

Given the delivery timetable for Pakistan’s new frigates and corvettes, a directed-energy capability may be reality by mid-decade, but Ahmed, the expert at the Center for International Strategic Studies, believes the hypersonic program is more urgent. He said hypersonic technology is part of Pakistan’s “emerging menu of long-range [anti-access, area denial] capabilities that are increasingly going to be needed for maintaining a credible deterrent” against India’s Navy.

This is backed by reports that an Azeri surface-to-air Barak-8 missile system — a weapon also installed on some of India’s destroyers — downed an Armenian Iskander tactical ballistic missile last year, potentially rendering Pakistan’s present subsonic anti-ship missile arsenal vulnerable to interception.

Though Pakistan has acquired CM-302/YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship missiles for its Type 054A/P frigates, Ahmed said the hypersonic P282 will enable Pakistan to “leapfrog” to a similar level of capability to India, which already has different BrahMos supersonic missile variants and is developing the hypersonic BrahMos II.

Irrespective of whether the P282 will be a wholly indigenous or collaborative effort, Ahmed views it as a critical program that will spawn land and air weapons potentially “deployed across a variety of platforms.”

Riaz Haq said...

#Turkey begins constructing 4th warship for #Pakistan Navy. The keel-laying ceremony was held at the #Karachi Shipyard. It will have state-of-the-art #weapons & sensors, including surface-to-surface & surface-to-air missiles, & anti-submarine weapons http://sabahdai.ly/_103w

keel-laying ceremony beginning the construction of a MILGEM (National Ship) Ada class corvette tailored for the Pakistan Navy was held in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi Friday.

The ceremony at the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW) – Pakistan Navy's specialized shipbuilding division – was attended by Naval Chief Adm. Amjad Khan Niazi, Pakistan Navy officers and representatives of Turkey's state-run defense firm ASFAT, said an official statement.

Addressing the ceremony, Niazi said the production of indigenous modern warships with the help of Turkey is a proud moment for Pakistan.

The joint venture, he said, will open new avenues of cooperation between Ankara and Islamabad in the field of defense production.

Induction of the MILGEM-class ships, the statement added, would significantly increase the operational capabilities of the Pakistan Navy.

The ships are being constructed according to modern naval ship class standards and will be equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, including surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, and anti-submarine weapons, the statement added.

In July 2018, the Pakistan Navy signed a contract with ASFAT for the acquisition of four MILGEM-class ships. According to the plan, two corvettes will be built in Turkey and the next two will be built in Pakistan, which also involves technology transfer.

MILGEM vessels are 99 meters (325 feet) long with a displacement capacity of 24,000 tons and can move at a speed of 29 nautical miles. The anti-submarine combat frigates can be hidden from radar.

In October 2019, President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, along with then-Chief of Pakistan Navy Adm. Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, had cut the metal plate of the first MILGEM Ada class corvette during a ceremony in Istanbul.

Turkey is one of the 10 countries in the world that can build, design and maintain warships using its national capabilities.

Riaz Haq said...


Shen Shiwei沈诗伟
@shen_shiwei

China state-affiliated media
Introducing PNS Tughril Flag of Pakistan - Most advanced Type 054-A/P guided-missile commissioned into
@PakistanNavy
service at a ceremony held at HZ Shipyard, Shanghai, China.Flag of China

https://twitter.com/shen_shiwei/status/1457677204251295745?s=20

--------------

The PNS Tughril is the first hull of four Type 054 frigates being constructed for the Pakistan Navy, the Pakistan Navy said, noting that the ship is a technologically advanced and highly capable platform with enormous surface-to-surface, surface-to-air and underwater firepower, besides extensive surveillance potentials.

Being equipped with state-of-the-art combat management and an electronic warfare system along with modern self-defense capabilities, the Type 054A/P frigate can simultaneously execute a number of naval warfare missions in a highly intense multi-threat environment, the Pakistani statement said.

The frigate is the largest and most advanced warship China has ever exported, CSSC said.

The completion and the delivery of the vessel is another major achievement of China-Pakistan friendship, and will further enhance the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, the Chinese shipbuilding company said in the statement.

Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque said that the commissioning of the PNS Tughril ushers in a new chapter in Pakistan-China friendship that has matured through the test of time and remained steadfast in all domains, according to the statement from the Pakistan Navy.

In the context of the overall security paradigm of the region, Tughril-class frigates will strengthen Pakistan Navy's capabilities to respond to maritime challenges to ensure seaward defense, maintain peace, stability and balance of power in the Indian Ocean region, the ambassador said, who also praised the concerted efforts made by China for the landmark achievement by the timely delivery of the well-equipped and potent frigate despite the global pandemic.

The Vice Party Secretary and Director of the Board at CSSC Du Gang also applauded the timely construction of PNS Tughril while emphasizing that the commissioning of the ship is a major milestone and a testimony of the China-Pakistan long-lived friendship, as both countries are bound by the affinity of trust, compassion and commonality.

The head of the Pakistan Navy Mission overseeing construction of the 054A/P frigate, Commodore Rashid Mehmood Sheikh, said that the PNS Tughril, being a multi-mission capable frigate, will form the mainstay of the Pakistan Navy fleet while bolstering the Pakistan Navy's maritime defense capabilities, according to the Pakistani statement.

The delivery of the frigate also serves as a milestone in expanding the influence of Chinese vessels as products and boosting their competitiveness in the international market, CSSC said.

Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the PLA Naval Research Academy, told the Global Times in a previous interview that the Type 054A, on which the Type 054A/P is based, is China's most advanced frigate.

Compared to previous Chinese frigates, the new ship has better air defense capability, as it is equipped with an improved radar system and a larger amount of missiles with a longer range, Zhang said, noting that the Type 054A frigate also has world-class stealth capability.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1238452.shtml

Riaz Haq said...

The Tughril is the first of four frigates that China built for Pakistan under an agreement signed in 2017. Frigates are multi-role warships that are capable of carrying out anti-aircraft, anti-ship and anti-submarine missions.

https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2021/11/09/pakistan-inducts-most-advanced-warship-china-has-exported-details-here.html

The Tughril, which displaces around 4,000 tonnes, is a derivative of the People's Liberation Army Navy's Type 054A class frigate. Analysts have considered the Type 054A the workhorse of the PLAN. The US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) estimated in 2020 that at least 30 Type 054A frigates entered service with the PLAN since 2008.

The frigates being built for Pakistan were designated Type 054A/P and feature more advanced radars than the ships in Chinese service. Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the PLA Naval Research Academy, told the Global Times the Tughril has better air defence capability compared with the Chinese ships and has a "larger amount of missiles with a longer range". China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC), the ship's builder, was quoted by Global Times as saying "the frigate is the largest and most advanced warship China has ever exported".

According to reports, the Tughril and her sister ships will be armed with the Chinese-made HQ-16 surface-to-air missile that can destroy aircraft and anti-ship missiles to a range of around 70km. It also carries anti-ship cruise missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes.




Vertical launch advantage

The Tughril will be the first Pakistan Navy ship equipped with a vertical launch system for surface-to-air missiles. In comparison with mechanical launchers, which can only fire a maximum of one or two missiles at once, a vertical launch system can simultaneously fire multiple missiles as the weapons are stored in a ready-to-fire cell. Vertical launch systems are considered more suitable to deal with large-scale air attacks.

The Tughril is estimated to have a vertical launch system equipped with 32 missile-launching cells.

A Pakistan Navy statement issued at the commissioning emphasised the "PNS Tughril, being a multi-mission capable frigate, will form the mainstay of the Pakistan Navy fleet while bolstering the Pakistan Navy's maritime defence capabilities."

The Type 054AP is one element of the Pakistan Navy's ongoing fleet modernisation initiative. Pakistan is also acquiring smaller corvettes from Turkey and up to eight diesel-electric submarines from China.

Riaz Haq said...

Aselsan’s Zargana to protect Pakistan’s Agosta 90B submarines against torpedoes


ZARGANA System uses ZOKA Acoustic jammers and decoys. Acoustic jammer is a broadband high power acoustic noise generator that covers all operating frequency bands of both classical and modern acoustic homing torpedoes operating in passive, active, or combined homing modes. As a softkill measure, acoustic decoys are aimed to deceive incoming torpedoes by emulating dynamic and acoustic behaviors of the submarine.

Zargana system was fitted Turkish Navy’s PREVEZE-class (Type 209/1400) submarines, which was spotted by Yoruk Isik and released on Twitter in January 2021.

-----------------

Turkey's leading defence company Aselsan has completed factory acceptance tests (FAT) of the Zargana Torpedo Countermeasure System for the Pakistan Navy's Agosta 90B-class submarines mid-life upgrade (MLU) project.

The tests of Zargana were attended by Pakistan’s Attachee, a Pakistan Navy representative, and STM Defence officials, according to Aselsan’s most recent bulletin. The FATs were also carried out as part of Zargana’s integration with Indonesian submarines.

Aselsan made the initial announcement of the export of the Zargana torpedo countermeasure system to Pakistan in May 2019. The contract is part of the Pakistan Navy’s Agosta 90B MLU program, which includes the modernization of three Agosta 90B submarines under a contract signed in 2016 with the Turkish STM Company as the prime contractor. STM officials revealed during the Naval Systems Seminar held in Ankara on 15 and 16 November that they delivered the first modernized submarine, PNS Hamza. According to multiple OSINT reporters, the second submarine’s upgrade is complete.

Because officials did not disclose relevant information, it is unknown when the next trials will take place or which submarine will be equipped. The best option appears to be outfitting the third Agosta 90B-class submarine, PNS Saad (S-138), which is currently being modernized.

In the same bulletin, Aselsan announced that it had completed the FAT of its MITOSTM WECDIS (Warship Electronic Chart Display), an electronic map-based navigation system that assists navigation by providing information compatible with current electronic maps and provides route planning and route tracking capability to navigation personnel, for the Pakistan Navy’s first Babur-class corvette.

The defense industry collaboration between Turkey and Pakistan has grown year after year. Aside from the MLU of Agosta 90B submarines, Turkey is building four Babur-class (PN MILGEM) corvettes for the Pakistan Navy. Though officials did not provide any details regarding Pakistan’s Jinnah-class frigate project, officials from KUASAR Marine, a Turkish engineering firm, informed Naval News in an interview that they will be in charge of the frigate’s design.

Riaz Haq said...

Turkish Aerospace, Pakistani institution to jointly produce UAV parts

https://www.dailysabah.com/business/defense/turkish-aerospace-pakistani-institution-to-jointly-produce-uav-parts

One of Turkey’s leading unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) producers, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), has inked a contract with Pakistan's National Engineering and Science Commission (NESCOM) to produce components for TAI's medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) combat drone, Anka.

TAI and NESCOM will be jointly responsible for employment, resource and technology transfer within the scope of the agreement that was inked to expand the markets for the Turkish drones, an Anadolu Agency (AA) report said Saturday.

TAI General Manager Temel Kotil said, “The contract we made with Pakistan within the scope of our Anka UAV systems will provide significant gains to the UAV industry. This acquisition, especially with Pakistan’s National Engineering and Science Commission, will strengthen our UAVs.”

The Anka UAV performed its maiden flight in September 2016 and entered serial production in 2017.

The drone, which is manufactured locally, is currently in active use by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), the Gendarmerie General Command and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT).

Anka can stay in the air for more than 24 hours at an altitude of 30,000 feet (9,144 meters) with a payload capacity of 250 kilograms (550 pounds).

Anka has three configurations. The Anka-S configuration has Beyond Line Of Sight (BLOS) capability through satellite links and is being used by the TSK and the Gendarmerie units. The Anka-B configuration can use Link Relay capabilities and is also used by the TSK and the Gendarmerie The Anka-I, which is the configuration that performs signal intelligence, is used by the MIT.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan S-139 #sub sinks frigate with a single torpedo shot. During #SEASPARK-2022 exercise, guided missiles and torpedoes were fired at various targets. One shot was fired by the PNS/M HAMZA submarine [S-139] that sank decommissioned frigate @BGMilitary https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2022/03/19/watch-pakistan-s-139-sub-sinks-frigate-with-a-single-torpedo-shot/

Agosta-class 90B submarine PNS/M HAMZA [S-139], upgraded by Turkey’s STM for the Pakistani Navy, managed to hit and sink a decommissioned frigate with a single torpedo shot, learned BulgarianMilitary.com, citing the Turkish online portal savunmasanayist.com.

During the tactical exercise SEASPARK-2022, which is held two years after the command of the Pakistani Navy and held between February 17 and March 13, 2022, this year, guided missiles and torpedoes were fired at various targets.

One of the actual shots was fired by the PNS/M HAMZA submarine [S-139], which was upgraded as part of the Pakistani submarine modernization project Agosta-class 90B [Padyom] and delivered to the Pakistani Navy on 29 April 2021.

The target is destroyed with one torpedo shot!
PNS/M HAMZA [S-139], equipped with Turkish engineering solutions from STM, destroyed a Tariq-class ship [frigate Type 21], decommissioned with a single torpedo shot, model DM-2A4. Military delegations invited to the demonstration followed the exercise from the Pakistani marine supply tanker PNS Moawin, which was designed and built by STM and delivered in 2018.

PNS Hamza was designed and constructed by the KSEW Ltd. under the technology transfer agreement with France in 1994. The Turkish company STM has modernized this submarine. The submarine has an integrated underwater command and control system [IUCCS & C2IS], weapons control system [WCS], sonar systems, periscopes [attack and navigation], electronic warfare, radar, data distribution system, electronic map system, and information system STMDENGÄ°Z.

STM and Pakistani submarines
STM won the tender of the Pakistani navy for medernization of the sub years ago, beating French rivals in the field. In 2016, Turkey outsourced for the first time the local development and engineering of a weapons system in an area that requires advanced technology. Turkey is intensively developing its engineering and technological development in the field of naval combat weapons systems, including submarines.

STM is currently upgrading two other Agosta-class submarines, again the Pakistani Navy.

Riaz Haq said...

ANALYSIS: PAKISTAN’S JINNAH-CLASS FRIGATE PROGRAM

https://quwa.org/2022/02/20/analysis-pakistans-jinnah-class-frigate-program-2/

Initiated in 2015, the Pakistan Navy’s (PN) wide-reaching fleet modernization and expansion efforts are now fully underway. The PN has begun to (or will) induct new frigates, corvettes, submarines, jet-powered maritime patrol aircraft, and additional helicopters as well as drones.

However, the PN’s vision to build a 50-strong surface fleet (inclusive of 20 “major surface vessels”) offers the most interesting glimpse of this service arm’s evolution.

One can expect Pakistan to double-down on anti-access and area-denial (A2/AD) projects, like submarines (and it has), but growing the surface fleet to over 20 ‘large’ warships was an intriguing turn. It indicates that the PN is more focused than ever on securing Pakistan’s sea-lanes with an overt presence, as opposed to strictly secretive or less observable elements, like submarines and aircraft.

One of the keystone ingredients of the PN’s surface fleet growth plans is the Jinnah-Class Frigate (JCF), an original warship that Pakistan is designing in collaboration with Turkey. Based on its specifications and its expected capabilities, the JCF is the blueprint of its future, workhorse warship.

Background
The JCF is a key part of the PN MILGEM program. Under this program, the PN ordered four new customized multi-mission corvettes based on the Turkish Ada design. However, it also signed onto a joint-project with the principal contractor, ASFAT Inc. (Military Factor and Shipyard Management), to design, develop, and build an original frigate tailored for the PN’s requirements.

This frigate is the JCF. PN officials have only recently begun to discuss the JCF in detail.[1] It seems that the JCF is an elaborate project. It involves the transfer of intellectual property (IP) of the JCF to Pakistan while also supporting an upgrade of KSEW to support the project.

The original design expertise and IP are crucial pieces. Traditionally, when the PN ordered ships based on ‘transfer-of-technology’ (ToT) agreements, the OEM would supply kits-of-materiel. In most situations, the OEM likely determined the selection of critical inputs, such as steel and propulsion.

However, with the JCF, Pakistan might gain the ability to control more of the cost by choosing the critical input suppliers. So, in theory, it could source the steel through a competitive bidding process, for example. By controlling the design/IP, the PN could potentially even open the tender to domestic suppliers, thereby incentivizing the private sector to develop indigenous alternatives…

Riaz Haq said...

ASFAT Selects SSI For Pakistan’s Jinnah Class Frigate

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/04/asfat-selects-ssi-for-jinnah-class/

ASFAT (Askeri Fabrika ve Tersane Ä°ÅŸletme A.Åž.), a state-owned leading Turkish defense contractor, has selected SSI ShipConstructor as the engineering and detailed design solution as part of their design support for the Pakistani Navy Jinnah Class Frigate program.

Founded in 2018 as part of the Turkish Ministry of National Defense, ASFAT is responsible for developing, managing, and utilizing the public naval shipyards in Turkey and providing design, construction, sustainment, and training for both Turkish and foreign navies.

“We’re excited to be working with a leader in the Turkish defense industry. ASFAT has previously demonstrated its commitment to innovative technologies. By choosing SSI’s solution, they can take advantage of the latest innovations, reduce costs, and eliminate many of the typical change management risks present in naval projects.”

The Jinnah class frigate project’s needs demanded a solution that could be implemented quickly and return value as soon as possible. The use of SSI’s solutions also aligns ASFAT with global leaders from the US, Canadian, and other naval and coast guard shipbuilders currently designing, constructing, and delivering vessels for navies.

ASFAT was aided in making its decision by SSI’s Turkish Partner, TECNOR, whose local industry knowledge, shipbuilding experience, and sales and technical support will help ensure a smooth transition for ASFAT.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan to launch 3rd Babur class guided missile heavy corvette this month

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/13-May-2022/pakistan-to-launch-3rd-babur-class-guided-missile-heavy-corvette-this-month


According to the Pakistan Strategic Forum, "The class of four Babur corvettes are being built under the joint venture MILGEM project between Pakistan and Turkey, with 2 ships being built in Istanbul, Turkey and 2 in Karachi, Pakistan at a cost of around $1.5 Billion to the Pakistan Navy. The Babur Class Corvettes are 3,000 tonne multi-mission platforms, equipped for anti-ship warfare (AShW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW) as well as anti-air warfare (AAW).

"In the Anti-Surface category, the corvettes will be armed with ATMACA anti-ship missiles, with two four-cell launchers. ASuW helicopters can also be deployed from the ship, carrying anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons.

"In anti-air warfare, the corvettes have a 12 cell GWS-26 vertical launch system (VLS) that carries the MBDA Albatros NG/Common Anti-Air Modular Missile-Extended Range (CAMM-ER) surface-to-air missile (SAM) with a range of between 50-65 kilometres. The Babur-class will also use an Aselsan Gökdeniz dual 35 mm close-in-weapon-system (CIWS) with Aselsan ATOM airburst ammunition for terminal and point air defense.

"In Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), the corvettes have two 3-cell 324 mm lightweight torpedoes launchers as well as the Yakamos hull-mounted sonar and a HIZIR towed array sonar system as well as decoy. ASW helicopters can also be deployed from the ship with submarine hunter-killer capabilities.

"Other weapons systems include a 76 mm OTO Melara Super Rapid main naval gun and two Aselsan STOP 25 mm machine guns. The ships will also have a 10-ton capacity helicopter hangar and deck. The warships have a range of 9,300 kilometres and are powered by General Electric LM2500 CODAD engines.

"The electronics suit for the four ships will be supplied by Aselsan at a cost of 215 million dollars which includes a main 3D AESA S-band naval radar, ASELSAN ALPER LPI Surface Radar, AKREP (AKR-D Block B-1/2) Fire Control Radar, SATCOM, a new network-oriented battle-management system, ARES-2NC ESM modules, ELINT and SIGINT modules, Electronic Warfare (EW) modules, SeaEye-AHTAPOT EO Reconnaisance and Survellience System, ASELSAN Piri (Infrared Search and Track) IRST system, as well as the Yakamos hull-mounted sonar system and HIZIR torpedo countermeasure system. The HIZIR is a complete suite consisting of a towed array, decoy array and expendable decoys."

Riaz Haq said...

Is Indian Navy's aircraft carrier a big threat to Pakistan Navy?

https://cscr.pk/explore/themes/defense-security/is-indian-aircraft-carrier-a-big-threat-for-pakistan-navy/

Pakistan’s Counter Options against Aircraft Carriers

Pakistan is beefing up its muscles against the increasing number of Indian warships and capabilities. Part of its efforts is focused on developing anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities. It is developing various anti-ship capabilities to effectively neutralize the Indian advantage of large numbers of warships and aircraft carriers. There are three layers of defence against Indian aircraft if deployed against Pakistan.

Firstly, Pakistan deploys anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) on its submarines. Pakistan currently operates two Agosta-70 submarines that can fire Harpoon anti-ship missiles, three Agosta 90B submarines that can carry Exocet anti-ship missiles. Eight submarines are on order from China which will also have anti-ship capabilities. Secondly, it has also developed or acquired several ASCMs such as Harba ASCM launched from the ship and the air-launched CM-400AKG anti-ship missile with supersonic speed. The coastal/land-based Zarb ASCM provides the third line of defence in the coastal waters of Pakistan against the intruding carrier. The Navy is also reportedly developing a supersonic cruise missile and an anti-ship ballistic missile. The development of anti-ship ballistic missiles will create a long buffer zone against the Indian carrier depending on the missile’s range.

Indian Navy will seriously consider the growing effectiveness of Pakistan’s anti-ship capabilities for the deployment of its carriers. These capabilities will force Indian carriers to operate from a safer distance making it less useful against the country. Even if trying to carry out a blockade of Pakistan or achieve air dominance against Pakistan in the Arabian sea, it risks its survival against Pakistan’s potent anti-ship capabilities.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan's 3rd MILGEM corvette 'PNS BADR' launched in Karachi - Naval News

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/05/pakistans-3rd-milgem-corvette-pns-badr-launched-in-karachi/


Turkish state-owned company ASFAT ceremonially launched the third PN MILGEM corvette for Pakistan Navy (PN), PNS BADR (281), at Pakistan's Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW) on 20 May 2022.


PN MILGEM Program consists of 4 ships, 2 ships will be built in Istanbul Shipyard Command and 2 ships will be built in KSEW. The program started on 11 March 2019. 4 ships are planned to be delivered in August 2023, February 2024, August 2024, and February 2025, respectively.

The exact configuration of the Pakistan Milgem-class ships has not been made public yet. During the Aman Naval Exercise held in February 2019, Admiral Abbasi said that Pakistan ships will be fitted with a 16-Cell VLS behind the main gun. It is expected that the Babur-class corvettes will be armed with MBDA’s Albatros NG air defence system and Harbah Anti-ship and land attack missiles.

The propulsion system for all the MILGEM ships consist of one LM2500 gas turbine in a combined diesel and gas turbine configuration with two diesel engines; total propulsion power is 31,600 kilowatts.

Turkey’s Ada-class are multipurpose corvettes able to conduct a wide a range of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air warfare.

Key data:

Displacement: 2,926 tonnes
Length: 108.2 m
Beam: 14.8 m
Draft: 4.05 m
Propulsion: CODAG
Max speed: 31 knots
Range: 3500 nautical miles
Endurance: 15 days at sea
Crew: 93+40

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan boosts #defense budget by nearly 6% in PKR to $7.19 billion in FY 2023. Official figure for #military expenditures amounts to about 2.2% of its gross domestic product — a drop from 2.45% of its #GDP compared to the fiscal 2021-2022 time frame.
https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2022/06/10/pakistan-boosts-defense-budget-by-nearly-6/

Though mainly covering salary increases, some of the extra money is earmarked for infrastructure such as the continued development of Jinnah Naval Base in Ormara, the Navy’s main operational base, and a naval air base in Turbat.

Official figures state the 83 billion rupee (U.S. $412 million) increase pushes the defense budget up to nearly 1.45 trillion rupees (U.S. $7.19 billion). That implies the 2021 defense budget was about $7.49 billion.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a Sweden-based think think, found that Pakistan’s military-related expenditures for 2021 came to $11.3 billion. However, the difference could come down to how the procurement budget is created.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a Sweden-based think think, found that Pakistan’s military-related expenditures for 2021 came to $11.3 billion (including pensions). However, the difference could come down to how the procurement budget is created.


Amid the ongoing threat of domestic terrorism and the need to maintain a credible deterrent against India, the fate of Pakistan’s economy does not bode well, according to Pakistan expert Claude Rakisits, who teaches at the Australian National University.

“Pakistan’s economic situation is in dire straits. This makes it difficult for the government to buy new hardware or even plan ahead for new acquisitions,” he said.

Brian Cloughley, an analyst and former Australian defense attache to Islamabad, has tracked developments in Pakistan for decades, and he doubts the government’s fiscal approach will be different from previous ones that failed to address underlying issues, including the country’s elite effectively ruling for their own benefit, leading to Pakistan’s cycle of economic woes.


“It is likely, however, that there will be announcement of deferment of expenditure plans for at least some acquisitions, if only to try to convince the [World Bank and International Monetary Fund] that their present, fairly benevolent policy on Pakistan should be maintained,” he said.

But he also believes Pakistan can likely rely on its allies and other friendly nations to carry the load. “The Chinese and the Saudis will probably continue to support Pakistan’s military posture and plans, and the current — most serious — economic crisis will have little effect on the military overall.”

Rakisits agreed that Pakistan might rely on China, although Beijing will likely step in for its own benefit.

“China has a vital interest in ensuring that not only does Pakistan’s economic situation not get worse, which could threaten the overall stability of the country and the viability of its CPEC project, but that it is in a position to maintain its defense capability,” Rakisits said, referring to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is meant to improve infrastructure to strengthen trade between the two countries.

“Accordingly, It’s almost certain that Beijing will assist Pakistan financially in one way or another, especially in light of the West’s increased interest in selling military hardware to India,” he added.

Riaz Haq said...

China Delivers Its ‘Most Advanced’ Frigate – PNS Taimur – To Pakistan; Navy Says Will Boost Combat Capabilities


https://eurasiantimes.com/china-delivers-its-most-advanced-frigate-pns-taimur-to-pakistan-navy/


The Pakistan Navy received the second Type 054A/P frigate (PNS Taimur) from China on Thursday, significantly boosting the country’s ambitions to reinforce its maritime frontiers.

According to the state-run Global Times, PNS Taimur was commissioned at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai, China.

This is the second of the four Type 054 A/P frigates China produced for the Pakistan Navy. In January, the Pakistan Navy Fleet received its first Type 054A/P frigate, the PNS Tughril. The other two are being built in China.

Taimur is a competent and technologically powerful maritime asset equipped with advanced combat management, electronic warfare systems, and high-tech weapons and sensors to fight in multi-threat environments, Pakistan Navy said in a statement.

The ships will provide the Pakistan Navy with a sustainable boost in combat power and allow it to take on new challenges in maritime security and regional peace.

Riaz Haq said...

#China & #Pakistan launch #naval drills to counter #US Indo-Pacific strategy. Focus is on attacking maritime targets, tactical maneuvers, anti-#submarine warfare, reinforcing damaged #ships, anti-#aircraft & anti-#missile operations & replenishment at #sea https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3184897/china-and-pakistan-launch-naval-drills-aimed-countering-us-indo

The Indian Ocean is a vital trading hub, and 80 per cent of China’s oil imports come through the Malacca Strait, the ocean’s busiest “choke point”.

----------


Lin Minwang, a professor of South Asian studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said the exercise would help China to expand its engagement in the Indian Ocean and counter US efforts to advance its Indo-Pacific strategy, which emphasises India’s “continued rise” and leadership in the region.
“The strengthening of maritime security between India and the United States has led to China’s greater engagement in the Indian Ocean.”
China must strengthen naval cooperation with countries in the region, including Pakistan, Iran, and Middle Eastern countries, Lin said.

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The maritime exercise – the second in the ‘Sea Guardians’ series – will allow Pakistan to test Chinese-made warships
The drills coincide with US-led Rimpac, which has excluded China since 2018

China and Pakistan have launched a joint naval exercise in Shanghai, with an eye on countering the US Indo-Pacific strategy and responding to security threats in the Indian Ocean.

The four-day “Sea Guardians – 2” maritime exercise, jointly held by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy and Pakistan Navy, started at the Wusong military port, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The exercise aims to advance the strategic partnership between China and Pakistan and improve their joint response to maritime security threats, according to Xinhua.

This is the second time China and Pakistan have held a “Sea Guardians” joint maritime exercise. The first was held in January 2020 in the northern Arabian Sea.

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To counter India, it is important for Pakistan to improve its navy by acquiring advanced equipment from Beijing and enhancing its capabilities through these drills, according to Lin.
The drills coincide with the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (Rimpac), a US-led multinational naval exercise joined by 25 other nations. The exercise began in Hawaii in late June and will last until August.
China took part in Rimpac in 2014 and 2016, but was not invited in 2018 or subsequent years as US-China relations worsened under the administration of former US president Donald Trump.


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The Pakistan Navy sent the PNS Taimur – the second of four powerful Type 054A/P frigates built by China – to take part in the exercise. The ship was delivered to the Pakistan Navy in Shanghai on June 23. The first of the frigates, the PNS Tughril, joined the Pakistan Navy fleet in January.
The Chinese vessels and aircraft taking part in the exercise are mainly from the PLA Eastern Theatre Command. They include the guided-missile frigates Xiangtan and Shuozhou, supply ship Qiandaohu, a submarine, an early warning aircraft, two fighter jets and one helicopter.

Riaz Haq said...

Umair Aslam
@Defense785
The Pakistan Air Force showcased its latest defence procurements in a video released on the occasion of Pakistan's 75th Independence Day.

- Akinci UCAV 🇹🇷
- Bayraktar TB2 UCAV 🇹🇷
- HQ-9B
- TPS-77 MMR
- J-10CE

https://twitter.com/Defense785/status/1558698930493341704?s=20&t=OhaRQXyqXrw7lfKoJ9Qk5w

Riaz Haq said...

Venkatesh Kandlikar, defence analyst at GlobalData, told Naval Technology that the INS Vikrant features a significant amount of Indian industrial contribution in the design and manufacturing stage, even using locally sourced steel.

However, the programme was not without its difficulties, with component and equipment delivery and supply chain issues delaying the commissioning by around five years. The programme also suffered from cost overruns, coming in at $3bn more than the initial allocated budget.


INS Vikrant (specifications)
Displacement 43,000t
Speed 28kt
Endurance 7,500nm
Embarked aircraft 30 fixed- and rotary-wing

https://www.naval-technology.com/analysis/ins-vikrant-a-profile-of-indias-newest-aircraft-carrier/

According to Kandlikar, the Indian Navy is expected to field three aircraft carriers in its fleet by the next decade. With Vikramiditya in service and Vikrant now commissioned, India is beginning to plan the build of the future INS Vishal, which is expected to be larger still than existing carriers and feature updated technologies, such as an electromagnetic air-lift systems, also known as EMALS, as being installed on the US Navy’s Ford-class super carriers.

“With the experience gained in the construction of IAC-1, supported by the indigenous ecosystem it is expected that the Indian Navy will soon get a green light from the Indian Ministry of Defence to start designing the third aircraft carrier,” Kandlikar said.

Air wing composition
In terms of embarked aircraft, Kandlikar said the Indian Navy was looking to deploy a new carrier air wing comprising of either F/A-18 Super Hornets or Rafale-M fighters. The Indian Air Force currently operates the conventional Rafale 4.5 generation fighter, which is manufactured by France’s Dassault Aviation, offering a commonality option for the Indian Navy.

Capability-wise, the two aircraft are similar, although the Rafale is the newer aircraft and is being heavily pushed for export. The Super Hornet, meanwhile, is entering the twilight of its naval career. Although it still broadly matches the Rafale in terms of engine thrust it, is slightly slower at Mach 1.6 compared to Mach 1.8, but with a higher payload capacity at 66,000lb (29,937kg) to the Rafale’s 54,000lb.

However, in the near-to-mid-term, India will utilise its fleet of 45 MiG-29K/KUB fighters, acquired from Russia following the signing of separate deals in 2004 and 2010. India is also developing a navalised variant of its LCA/HAL Tejas fighter, although it is not known when the platform will be integrated into the country’s carrier fleet.

The rotary component, vital for search-and-rescue and airborne early warning and surveillance roles, will be fulfilled by the Russian-supplied Kamov 31 helicopter.


Riaz Haq said...

3 cheers for INS Vikrant & 3 questions for India’s leadership on naval doctrine

by Shekhar Gupta

https://youtu.be/3GbgmJM4Ygw

Key points:

1. Indian aircraft carrier is powered by American General Electric turbines

2. Russian MIG 29s require a lot of maintenance. These will be replaced with French Rafales or US F-18s in future.

3. Chinese aircraft carriers are totally indigenous (including engines, weapons, and aircraft) are much bigger

4. China has developed "aircraft carrier buster missiles" to deal with hostile nations' Navies.

5. Indian Navy hid its aircraft carriers from Pakistani submarines during 1965 and 1971 wars.

6. Indian-American analyst Ashley Tellis questions the utility of Indian aircraft carriers in the absence of India's geopolitical aims and its Naval Doctrine.

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Ashley Tellis on submarines vs aircraft carriers

https://youtu.be/6BficVBrqls


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The Unusual Carrier Killer Capability Of The Chinese Navy’s Strategic Bomber - Naval News

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/10/the-unusual-carrier-killer-capability-of-the-chinese-navys-strategic-bomber/


China’s recent test of a hypersonic ‘Orbital Bombardment System’ has been characterized as a ‘Sputnik moment’. The world is only just waking up to Chinese advances in strategic weapons technologies. Among a raft of new weapons, which increasingly do not have direct equivalents in the West, are anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs). One of these, an air-launched version, appears to include a hypersonic maneuvering missile.

Riaz Haq said...

INS Vikrant boosts Indian Navy's firepower but Chinese navy still ahead in numbers

https://www.cnbctv18.com/india/ins-vikrant-india-first-indigenously-aircraft-carrier-comparison-with-china-14632391.htm

NS Vikrant is the largest indigenous warship built by India and expected to "bolster India's position in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and its quest for a blue water navy". How will it boost India's naval power, especially against rival China?

For starters, the induction of India's first indigenous aircraft carrier means the navy now has two aircraft carriers, including INS Vikramaditya in service boosting the country's maritime defence. Compared to the Indian Navy, China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has three aircraft carriers. India now has two aircraft carriers—INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya. China has three—Fujian, Shandong and Liaoning.

India has now joined the "select group of nations" which have the capability to indigenously design and build an aircraft carrier, say experts.
"There are only 14 countries in the world which have at least one aircraft carrier and only six countries in the world have the capacity and the capability to build an aircraft carrier. India is one of these six," Lt Col JS Sodhi. a Defence and Strategic Affairs analyst told CNBC-TV18.com.
INS Vikrant's importance for India
INS Vikrant "would bolster India's position in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and its quest for a blue water Navy", the government had said in July this year in a press release.
A blue water Navy "operates deep into the oceans", Sodhi added.

This comes at a time when the ties between the two nations are under stress owing to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army's (PLA) movements around India's borders as well as Chinese PLAN's movement in and around the Indian Ocean.
With INS Vikrant's entry, India can deploy an aircraft carrier each on the eastern and western seaboard and expand its maritime presence.

"We will have two aircraft carriers. Because of that, India, having an eastern and western coast and vast oceans on both sides, will be able to utilise one carrier on each seaboard... we'll be able to cover the primary areas of maritime interest," Captain Kamlesh Agnihotri (Retd.), a senior fellow at the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) told CNBC-TV18.com.
The need for an aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier has great operational range, carrying fighter aircraft which are important in any battle to project power and control the sea.
NMF's Agnihotri said, "projecting powers and sea control is the primary purpose of aircraft carriers," while adding, "the aircraft carrier are floating airfields."

"The aircraft carrier adds to the maritime power of the country. It is the most potent weapon of a navy because it has the capacity to operate at a very large distance. It also acts as an air base at the time of conflict," Sodhi said.

India Vs China maritime power
While INS Vikrant adds to the Indian Navy's firepower, Chinese navy or PLAN is ahead in the number of warships and overall seapower. According to the World Directory of Modern Military Warships (2022), China ranks second on the Global Naval Powers Ranking 2022 after the United States — the true global blue water navy, while India ranks seventh.

"Comparing India's carrier INS Vikrant to Fujian is not correct," said Agnihotri. This is because, while INS Vikrant has a ski-jump kind of take-off mechanism, the Chinese Fujian has a catapult type of take-off mechanism.
"With catapult, you are able to launch heavier aircraft carrying more payloads, and more fuels for longer range," he said. It is better to compare Vikrant with Shandong, the second aircraft carrier China owns.
Besides, aircraft carriers, India has INS Arihant, an indigenously built
nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN).

Riaz Haq said...

INS Vikrant boosts Indian Navy's firepower but Chinese navy still ahead in numbers

https://www.cnbctv18.com/india/ins-vikrant-india-first-indigenously-aircraft-carrier-comparison-with-china-14632391.htm

"Comparing India's carrier INS Vikrant to Fujian is not correct," said Agnihotri. This is because, while INS Vikrant has a ski-jump kind of take-off mechanism, the Chinese Fujian has a catapult type of take-off mechanism.
"With catapult, you are able to launch heavier aircraft carrying more payloads, and more fuels for longer range," he said. It is better to compare Vikrant with Shandong, the second aircraft carrier China owns.
Besides, aircraft carriers, India has INS Arihant, an indigenously built
nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN).
Can India counter Chinese navy incursions?
NMF's Agnihotri said, "our strong carrier-based force will be able to counter the challenges." Sodhi, however, said that "India is fast emerging as great naval power but China has an edge."
"We have picked up speed in the defence manufacturing indigenously. We are also slowly matching up," Sodhi added.
Earlier, news agency ANI quoted Southern Naval Command (SNC) Chief Vice admiral MA Hampiholi as saying that the Indian Navy needs three aircraft carriers to deter Chinese presence in Indian Ocean Region.

Riaz Haq said...

India is Building a Carrier Fleet, but Pakistan has a Plan to Sink It
To directly threaten Pakistan, the small-deck carriers will have to maneuver closer to “anti-access / area denial” weapons which could sink them.

by Robert Beckhusen

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/india-building-carrier-fleet-pakistan-has-plan-sink-it-196897


Most likely, India would attempt to enforce a blockade of Pakistan and use its carriers to strike land-based targets. But Pakistan has several means to attack Indian carriers — with near-undetectable submarines and anti-ship missiles — which must also operate relatively far from India itself in the western and northern Arabian Sea. China does not have a similar disadvantage, as the PLAN would likely keep its carriers close and within the “first island chain” including Taiwan, closer to shore where supporting aircraft and ground-based missile launchers can help out.

Thus, Indian carriers would be relatively vulnerable and only one of them will have aircraft capable of launching with standard ordnance and fuel. And that is after Vishal sets sail in the next decade.

To directly threaten Pakistan, the small-deck carriers will have to maneuver nearer to shore — and thereby closer to “anti-access / area denial” weapons which could sink them. And even with a third carrier, the threat of land-based Pakistani aircraft will force the Indian Navy to dedicate a large proportion of its own air wings to defense — perhaps half of its available fighters, according to 2017 paper by Ben Wan Beng Ho for the Naval War College Review.

“Therefore, it is doubtful that any attack force launched from an Indian carrier would pack a significant punch,” Ho writes. “With aircraft available for strike duties barely numbering into the double digits, the Indian carrier simply cannot deliver a substantial ‘pulse’ of combat power against its adversary.”

Essentially, this makes Indian carriers’ self-defeating, with the flattops existing primarily to defend themselves from attack rather than taking the fight to their enemy. Carriers are also expensive symbols of national prestige, and it is unlikely the Indian Navy will want to risk losing one, two or all three. Under the circumstances, India’s investment in carriers makes more sense symbolically, and primarily as a way of keeping shipyards busy and shipyard workers employed.

However, this is not to entirely rule out a carrier-centric naval strategy. Ho notes that Indian carriers could be useful when operating far out at sea and in the western Arabian Sea, effectively as escort ships for commercial shipping and to harass Pakistani trade. Nevertheless, this strategy comes with a similar set of problems.

“In any attempt to impose sea control in the northern Arabian Sea and to interdict Pakistani seaborne commerce by enforcing a blockade of major Pakistani maritime nodes, Indian carrier forces would have to devote a portion of their already meager airpower to attacking Pakistani vessels, thereby exacerbating the conundrum alluded to earlier,” Ho added. “What is more, Pakistani ships are likely to operate relatively close to their nation’s coast, to be protected by Islamabad’s considerable access-denial barrier.”

Another possibility is India massing its carriers in the later stages of a war after the Army and Air Force pummel and degrade the Pakistani military.

But this raises the question as to whether India strictly needs carriers at all if it cannot use them during the decisive periods of a conflict — as opposed to, say, less-expensive warships, and more of them, equipped with long-range missiles.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan Displays India’s MiG-21 Bison’s Tail Shot Down By PAF F-16 Fighter Jet At Its Defense Expo — Reports

https://eurasiantimes.com/pakistan-displays-indias-mig-21-bisons-tail-shot-down-by-paf-f-16/

By
Ashish Dangwal
November 17, 2022


The tail section of a MiG-21 of the Indian Air Force is on display at IDEAS-22 that was shot down on February 27, 2019, during Operation Swift Retort, by a Pakistani F-16. New Delhi and Islamabad made different statements about the event’s occurrence at the time.

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Meanwhile, the J-17C’s informative photos, one of which also shows the cockpit, are being presented at the event. A video module of the aircraft is also showcased at PAF Pavilion during IDEAS 2022.

Pakistan’s JF-17C, also known as Block 3, is the latest version of the J-17 aircraft. The Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) collaborated to develop the medium-sized multi-role JF-17 ‘Thunder’ fighter aircraft for the Pakistan Air Force.

The service has received more than 100 Thunder jets since 2007.

The JF-17 C model is thought to have taken to the skies for the first time in December 2019. The PL-10E, which China describes as its most advanced air-to-air missile, was also spotted being carried by the JF-17 Block 3 in 2021.

The JF-17C has notable upgraded capabilities, such as Missile Approach Warning Systems (MAWS), Wide Angle Smart HUD, more Chin Hardpoints, and an integrated EW suite.

Another photograph that has gained popularity on the internet is thought to be the finest image of a PAF JF-17C – dubbed Block 3 – so far.

The DEPO organizes IDEAS every two years. Since its beginning in 2000, IDEAS has established itself as a worldwide staging ground for defense manufacturers, business owners, R&D professionals, finance experts, and top-level officials.

However, in terms of space, reservations, exhibitors, and delegates from domestic and international countries, this year’s event has reportedly eclipsed all records.

The defense expo was inaugurated by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at the city’s expo center in Karachi. IDEAS 2022 officially started on November 15 and will last through November 18.

In his remarks at the occasion, FM Bhutto-Zardari discussed the current coalition government’s difficulties while noting that it succeeded despite the economic downturn. About 300 exhibitors are showing off their latest products from 32 nations.

This exhibition is attended by about 500 national and international delegates, including high-level delegations from friendly nations.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tweeted that the nation’s defense industry is meeting the demands of the technological era, and he emphasized that IDEAS had grown into a significant platform in the global defense market.

He stated that this year’s event’s ‘Arms for Peace’ theme represented Pakistan’s commitment to peace and stability. Sharif added that IDEAS had developed into a platform that showcased Pakistan’s expanding impact in the global defense market.

“Good to see that our defense sector is catering to demands of the tech era,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Air Force is presenting its aerospace, avionics, cyberspace, and other related technologies at its pavilion. The National Aerospace Science and Technology Park (NASTP) is the PAF pavilion’s biggest attraction.

It is a Pakistan Air Force project to promote industry-academia linkage to provide an ecosystem of critical elements required to nurture design, research, development, and innovation in the aviation, space, and cyber sectors.

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Speaking at the event, the Air Chief stated that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is dedicated to creating advanced technologies in the nation to deliver the most cutting-edge, efficient, and impenetrable aerial defense.

Riaz Haq said...

Istanbul Naval Shipyard Launches MILGEM Corvette “PNS KHAIBAR” For Pakistan Navy
On Nov. 25, 2022, the PN MILGEM-class corvette PNS Khaibar (282) was ceremonially launched for the Pakistan Navy at Turkiye's Istanbul Naval Shipyard. "Khaibar" is the third corvette under construction but is expected to be the second ship delivered.

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/11/istanbul-naval-shipyard-launches-milgem-corvette-pns-khaibar-for-pakistan-navy/

Three important events took place at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard. The primary event was the launching of the third PN MILGEM corvette for the Pakistan Navy, the future PNS Khaibar (282). Following the ceremony, the keel of the first Hisar-class offshore patrol vessel, the future TCG Akhisar (P-1220), was laid and the first steel of the second OPV (P-1221 – TCG Kochisar) was cut.

The ceremony was attended by high-ranking representatives of both countries. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the chief guest at the ceremony, while Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sherif and Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, as well as high-ranking officers of the two navies, were other guests VIP.

In his speech, President Erdogan highlighted Turkish-Pakistani relations in the field of defense industry in recent years. He also stated that Turkey will realize significant developments in the defense industry within the next year.

President Erdogan also remarked that the 4th corvette of the PN MILGEM project will be delivered to Pakistan in February 2025.

After the launching ceremony, the keel of the lead vessel of the Hisar-class OPV was laid, and the construction of the second OPV has officially begun.

In July 2018, a contract was signed between the Military Factory and Shipyard Management Corporation (ASFAT) of Turkey and the Pakistani National Defense Ministry Ammunition Production and Karachi Shipyard for the construction of four Milgem class vessels based on Turkish Ada-class design. Turkish defence minister at the time, Nurettin Canikli, described the deal as “the largest defense export of Turkey in one agreement.”

The contract entails the construction of two corvettes in Turkey and two at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW). The contract has also provisions for the transfer of design rights and construction know-how from Turkey to Pakistan.

N MILGEM Program consists of 4 ships, 2 ships will be built in Istanbul Shipyard Command and 2 ships will be built in KSEW. The program started on 11 March 2019. The deliveries of the ships, which will be able to perform all kinds of military duties from air defense to submarine defense, are expected to be made at six-month intervals starting from August 2023.

The exact configuration of the Pakistan Milgem-class ships has not been made public yet. During the Aman Naval Exercise held in February 2019, Admiral Abbasi said that Pakistan ships will be fitted with a 16-Cell VLS behind the main gun. It is expected that the Babur-class corvettes will be armed with MBDA’s Albatros NG air defence system and Harbah Anti-ship and land attack missiles.

The propulsion system for all the MILGEM ships consist of one LM2500 gas turbine in a combined diesel and gas turbine configuration with two diesel engines; total propulsion power is 31,600 kilowatts.

Turkey’s Ada-class are multipurpose corvettes able to conduct a wide a range of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air warfare.

Key data:

Displacement: 2,926 tonnes
Length: 108.2 m
Beam: 14.8 m
Draft: 4.05 m
Propulsion: CODAG
Max speed: 31 knots
Range: 3500 nautical miles
Endurance: 15 days at sea
Crew: 93+40

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan PM Sharif, Turkish President Erdogan jointly inaugurate new warship for Pakistani Navy - The Hindu

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/pakistan-pm-sharif-turkish-president-erdogan-jointly-inaugurate-new-warship-for-pakistani-navy/article66188327.ece

In response to a question about increased defence cooperation between the two nations, Mr. Niazi noted: "Both militaries are continuously exchanging knowledge and expertise. Construction and upgradation projects such as 17,000 tonne Fleet Tanker, PN-MILGEM and Agosta 90B submarines, Super Mushak trainers, UAV drones, and so on are evidence of this strong friendship and military cooperation." Under the bilateral project, Turkey was tasked to build four corvette warships for the Pakistan Navy — two in Istanbul and two in Karachi.

The first corvette warship for the Pakistan Navy known as PNS Babar was launched in Istanbul in August 2021 while the foundation stone for the second ship PNS Badr was laid in Karachi in May 2022, another report on the inauguration ceremony by the Dawn newspaper said.

Mr. Sharif during the inauguration informed that the fourth warship would be delivered in February 2025.

The new warships have a length of 99 metres, a displacement capacity of 2,400 tonnes, and a speed of 29 nautical miles.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan launches first locally built assault boat
By Usman Ansari

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2022/12/13/pakistan-launches-first-locally-built-assault-boat/

Pakistan’s Bahria Boat Building Yard launched its first 12T marine assault boat on Dec. 5 at its Karachi facility as part of a technology transfer deal with Polish shipbuilder Techno Marine.

The deal represents Techno Marine’s expanding presence in Pakistan; the company previously supplied 30 Chaser TM-1226 rigid inflatable boats for Pakistan’s naval special forces.

The contract for the marine assault boats was signed in 2018, but verifiable public information is limited. Available information notes the delivery in 2019 of two 12T vessels.

However, a spokesman with Bahria Boat Building Yard told Defense News the Pakistan Navy ordered 18 12T boats made up of two types. The Karachi Naval Dockyard is building those powered by outboard engines, and the Navy hired Bahria to make those powered by water jets. Bahria is currently building the remaining three of four vessels it is currently contracted to produce.

The spokesman also said efforts are underway to secure more domestic customers for the Bahria-built boats.

Around the 2003-2004 time frame, Thailand’s Marsun shipyard supplied M-16 fast assault boats — similar to the 12T — and the design for Pakistan’s locally built Jurrat-class missile boats. However, the M-16 vessels no longer meet the Pakistan Navy’s requirements.

The Bahria spokesman said the 12T “is for surveillance, policing purposes and [is] extremely swift in handling, as required, to operate in restricted/Creek areas,” but also around other sensitive areas such as the main naval base in Ormara and the commercial port of Gwadar.

The “Creek areas” refers to the disputed border with India around the Sir Creek, where the land border reaches the Arabian Sea. The tidal estuary is formed of marshland and shifting creeks. Conflicting claims over the border have resulted in a disputed maritime boundary in the Arabian Sea shaped like a large triangle, within which may be subsea energy resources.

Though the Pakistan Marines service patrols the Creeks area with British-built Griffon hovercraft, the 12T would enable a more effective patrolling presence into the disputed area of sea.

The 12T is equipped with twin inboard Cummins-powered Hamilton water jets. It can reach 42 knots (48 mph). It is also equipped with a navigational suite from British company Raymarine, and features ballistic protection by Danish company Scanfiber Composites.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan Holds Keel-Laying And Cutting-Steel Ceremonies For The Hangor-Class Submarines

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/12/pakistan-holds-keel-laying-and-cutting-steel-ceremonies-for-the-hangor-class-submarines/

The indigenous submarine development project in Pakistan has reached another milestone. The keel laying of the first HANGOR-class submarine (5th overall) and the steel cutting of the second submarine (6th overall) were carried out at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW) on December 24, 2022.

The defense agreement between Pakistan and China included the development of 08 x HANGOR-class Submarines including four submarines under construction at Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group (WSIG) in China and the remaining four being built at KS&EW under the Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreement. The construction work of the first submarine to be made at KS&EW Pakistan commenced on Dec 21 and now the Keel Laying is being laid which is a major milestone in the history of any naval vessel being constructed. Concurrently, construction work on the subsequent submarine has started with its Steel Cutting at the same shipyard.

HANGOR-class Submarine is capable to undertake a variety of missions as per operational dictates. The submarine possesses advanced stealth features and is fitted with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors to operate under a multi-threat environment and can engage targets at stand-off ranges.

The Pakistan Navy does not offer any details about the Hangor-class submarines’ subsystems or specific weapon systems. The Stirling AIP system is used in China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Company’s (CSOC) S26 design, on which many experts assume the Hangor is based, but Pakistani officials have not publicly revealed the propulsion system of Hangor-class sub

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Naval News comments on Hangor-class project:
The Hangor-class submarines are an export variant of the PLAN’s Type 039A/041 Yuan-class submarines. Pakistan accepted the purchase of eight submarines from China in April 2015. According to the agreement, four of the submarines will be built in Pakistan’s KSEW at the same time as the other four would be produced in China.
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According to the Pakistani defense blog Quwa, Hangor-class submarines will be 76 meters long and have a displacement of 2800 tons, making them slightly shorter but heavier than the original S26 design.

Currently, PN operates three Agosta 90B air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarines and two Agosta 70 diesel-electric submarines. Three Agosta 90B subs have been undergoing a mid-life upgrade under a contract signed in 2016 with the Turkish STM Company as the prime contractor. STM delivered the first upgraded submarine, PNS Hamza, in 2020. The scope of modernization is the replacement of the Fire Control System, Sonar Suite, Electronic Warfare System, Radar, and Periscope System (Navigation and Assault).

The eight Hangor Class submarines will significantly strengthen the Pakistan Navy. Pakistan is likely to improve its A2/AD capabilities in the region after the project is completed. Though no official confirmation has been made on the weapon systems, it is clear that Pakistan would obtain deep strike capability if the Hangor-class submarines were outfitted with Babur-3 SLCMs.

Riaz Haq said...

Chinese shipyard delivers final two Type 054 A/P frigates to Pakistan Navy - Naval News

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2023/05/chinese-shipyard-delivers-final-two-type-054-a-p-frigates-to-pakistan-navy/

On May 10, 2022, China's Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard delivered the final two Type 054A/P frigates to the Pakistan Navy with a ceremony held in Shangai, China.


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The contract for four multi-role frigates (Type 054-A/P) for Pakistan Navy was signed between Pakistan and China in 2018. The first and second ships PNS TUGHRIL and PNS TAIMUR joined the PN fleet in 2022. The development of these state-of-the-art naval units for the Pakistan Navy is hinged upon modern stealth design with the capability to simultaneously engage in multiple naval operations to counter maritime threats. The 4000 tons frigates are technologically advanced and highly capable platforms having enormous surface-to-surface, land attack, surface-to-air and underwater firepower coupled with extensive surveillance potential. These ships will provide deterrence and mean for averting threats in our region while contributing towards the protection of Sea Lines of Communications (SLOCS).



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The Type 054A is a multi-role frigate and is recognized as the backbone of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) fleet of surface combatants with 30 vessels in commission. They have a length of 134 meters, a beam of 16 meters for a displacement of 4,000 tons. They have a crew complement of 165 sailors and are fitted with:

a H/PJ-26 76mm main gun
2×4 CM302 anti-ship missiles
32x VLS cells for HQ-16 surface-to-air missiles
2x Type 730 30mm CIWS
2x Triple Torpedo launchers
In PLAN service, those frigates feature a Type 382 radar which shares a close resemblance with the Russian MR-710 Fregat radar. Unlike the Pakistan Navy variant – whose first ship-in-class is fitted with an SR2410C radar – the Type 054A in Chinese Navy service does not feature a long-range/metric wave radar.

Riaz Haq said...

Indian view of Pakistan Navy Modernization

https://thediplomat.com/2023/07/china-is-helping-modernize-the-pakistan-navy-what-does-that-mean-for-india/

by Guarav Sen

Pakistan has been proactively procuring technologically advanced naval vessels from China, headlined by a $5 billion deal signed in 2016 for Pakistan to acquire Yuan class Type 039/041 diesel submarines by 2028. Pakistan is all set to acquire eight such submarines from China, with four of them scheduled for delivery by the end of 2023. The first four subs are being built by China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation; the other four will be built in Pakistan by Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works, further bolstering Pakistan’s indigenous capabilities.

These submarines are equipped with advanced sensors and modern armaments, which tilts the tactical power balance slightly in favor of Pakistan. These diesel attack submarines align with the Pakistan Navy’s offensive sea denial strategy, which prioritizes the use of submarines and missile-carrying maritime patrol aircraft in naval warfare.

Apart from this, Pakistan is also expanding its surface fleet. It has commissioned Zulfiqar-class frigates, based on China’s Type 053H3 vessels, which serve multiple roles, including anti-submarine warfare. It carries YJ-82 missiles for anti-surface warfare and FM-90N short-range surface-to-air missiles for self-defense.

In January 2022, the Pakistan Navy commissioned its most advanced vessel, the guided missile frigate Tughril. The Tughril is the first of four powerful Type 054A/P frigates being built in Shanghai for the Pakistan Navy. The vessel is armed with surface-to-air missiles and supersonic surface-to-surface missiles (SSMs), is a versatile warship capable of undertaking multiple missions. The second such vessel, the Taimur, was commissioned in June 2022.

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While the Tughril-class frigates represent a significant addition to Pakistan’s surface fleet, they do not pose a credible deterrent against the Indian Navy’s superior capabilities and numerical advantage. But still, India needs to monitor Pakistan’s shift toward power projection in the IOR. The addition of these advanced frigates enhances the Pakistan Navy’s capability to operate in distant waters, which is demonstrated by its ability to conduct joint drills with China’s navy in the East China Sea this year.

Besides China, Turkey is also playing a key role in stretching and modernizing Pakistan’s naval fleet. In 2018, Pakistan and Turkey signed a contract for the construction of four Milgem-class corvettes based on the design of Turkish Ada-class ships. Under the deal, Turkey will deliver four ships to Pakistan by February 2025.

Pakistan’s continued induction of higher-tonnage surface vessels reflects its ambition to enhance power projection in the region. The concerns for India lie not only in the naval imbalance but also in Pakistan’s first-ever maritime doctrine, “Preserving Freedom of Seas.”

Pakistan’s maritime strategy has evolved from an offensive sea denial approach to one focused on a sustained presence in the IOR. The Chinese-made J-10 fighter, which is part of China’s naval arm, can be used by the Pakistan Navy to carry out maritime operations in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The warplane can carry anti-ship missiles, which could enable the Pakistan Navy to play a more responsive role in the Indian Ocean.

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Presently, Pakistan cannot come close to matching the maritime power of its archrival India, but the continued push for modernization and renewed strategic cooperation with China and Turkey could change the status quo by transforming Pakistan into a genuine regional naval power. A strong Pakistan Navy equipped with advanced frigates and other weapons is part of Beijing’s grand plan to ensure the security of Chinese oil imports coming from the Persian Gulf and attain control of the sea lanes traversing the Indian Ocean.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistani defense conglomerate unveils new drone, missiles at IDEF

https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2023/08/03/pakistani-defense-conglomerate-unveils-new-drone-missiles-at-idef/



A Pakistani defense conglomerate has unveiled new missiles and a drone during Turkey’s IDEF defense conference.

During the event, which ran July 25-28, Global Industrial and Defence Solutions showed off its Faaz-RF and Faaz-IIR medium-range, air-to-air missiles, as well as the Shahpar III medium-altitude, long-endurance combat drone.


The Faaz missiles and the unmanned system on display were mockups, GIDS chief executive Asad Kamal told Defense News.

The Faaz-RF is an active radar-guided missile, while the Faaz-IIR features an imaging infrared seeker. Both have a range exceeding 100 kilometers (62 miles), can reach a speech of Mach 3.5 and can fly 6,000 feet above sea level, according to GIDS.

The Faaz-RF seeker has a 25-kilometer detection range, and the Faaz-IIR a 40-kilometer range.


The Faaz design appears to have been partly inspired by the Chinese SD-10/PL-12 weapon, which is produced under license by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. GIDS said its products are locally developed and owns the intellectual property rights.

Shahpar III is a Group 4+ drone able to carry weapons, meaning it weighs more than 1,320 pounds.It has six hardpoints for up to 530 kilograms (1,168 pounds) of disposable stores; a 1,650-kilogram maximum takeoff weight; the option for an internal payload; indigenously developed avionics; anti-icing/deicing system; a 1553 architecture dual-redundant flight control computer; and multiple sensor options, including electro-optical/infrared, synthetic aperture radar, communications intelligence and signals intelligence.

Engine configurations of 140 horsepower and 170 horsepower are available, both with a 300-kilometer line-of-sight and 3,000-kilometer beyond line-of-sight range. However, the 140-horsepower option has a 30,000-foot ceiling when rigged for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions and a 24-hour endurance, and a 28,000-foot ceiling and 17-hour endurance when armed.

The figures for the 170-horsepower variant are 41,000 feet and 40 hours, and 35,000 feet and 35 hours, respectively.

The engines are foreign, but GIDS did not disclose the origin.

Shahpar III will be available for export next year after in-house trials, the organization said.

Riaz Haq said...

Ukraine’s drones (USVs) provide a lesson - Taipei Times


https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2023/08/04/2003804199

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been going on for nearly a year and a half. At the end of last year Ukraine started building the world’s first “naval fleet of drones” to counter Russia’s Black Sea fleet, news reports said. One of Ukraine’s maritime drones — an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) that resembles a speedboat — is 5.5m long and weighs one tonne. It has an operational radius of up to 400km and can operate autonomously for up to 60 hours. It can carry a combat load of up to 200kg and has a maximum speed of 80kph. The USV’s main functions include long-range maritime reconnaissance and coastal surveillance, escorting and supporting Ukraine’s conventional fleet and countering amphibious operations, among others. This Ukrainian-developed USV is believed to be the weapon that badly damaged the Kerch Bridge in Crimea on July 17, effectively blocking Russia’s logistical supply line, and had attacked the Crimean Black Sea port of Sevastopol the previous day.

Taiwan would do well to learn from this experience. To be ready for a war across the Taiwan Strait, the nation should develop a sea-drone fleet that is maneuverable, fast, cheap and effective. In recent years there have been several incidents of Chinese illegally crossing over to Taiwan on simple rubber dinghies. As well as favorable sea conditions and good luck, another reason they managed to reach Taiwanese territory is that a dinghy’s low profile on the sea surface makes it hard to detect using electronic devices. For the same reason, USVs have a “stealth” function. Despite their small size, they can be used to hit ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy as they try to cross the Taiwan Strait, thus giving Taiwan a chance to win decisively outside its own territory.

Taiwan also needs to develop a system that can launch sea-to-air or sea-to-ground missiles from USVs. If China were to invade Taiwan, the first attack waves would destroy more than half of Taiwan’s military airfields, warships, naval harbors and missile bases, as well as a large number of the military personnel stationed at those sites. In such a scenario, easily concealed sea drones and their operators stationed in bunkers might well play a role in turning the tide of the war.