Pakistan Navy press release
A graceful ceremony for induction of MILGEM Class Corvette PNS BABUR and Offshore Patrol Vessel PNS HUNAIN was held at PN Dockyard Karachi. President of Pakistan, Mr Asif Ali Zardari graced the occasion as Chief Guest.
PNS BABUR is a multipurpose Ship built and commissioned at Istanbul Naval Shipyard on 23 Sep 23. PNS HUNAIN, an Offshore Patrol Vessel was built and commissioned at DAMEN Shipyard, Romania on 25 Jul 24.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Chief Guest dilated upon the precarious geo-strategic environment in the Indian Ocean and the need to have a potent Naval force to counter growing traditional and non-traditional challenges. He remarked that induction of state of the art ships on Defence Day of Pakistan is a milestone achievement. He reiterated that induction of these ships in PN Fleet will consolidate and enable the Fleet to meet its ever-growing operational responsibilities. The Chief Guest also mentioned that PN Ships BABUR and HUNAIN equipped with state of the art weapons, sensors and robust machinery, will In Sha Allah serve Pakistan Navy for years to come. Chief Guest formally handed over the ships’ scrolls to the Commander Pakistan Fleet which marked the induction of PN Ships BABUR and HUNAIN in PN Fleet.
In his welcome address, the Chief of the Naval Staff termed the induction of these ships in PN Fleet as a major milestone in capacity building of PN Fleet. He acknowledged the government’s full support for providing best possible resources for this purpose. He also acknowledged the professional competence of M/s ASFAT, Istanbul Shipyard, DAMEN Shipyard Galati Romania and the entire project team for delivering potent ships which showcased the deep rooted friendship and cooperation between friendly countries.
The ceremony was also attended by HE Mr Bilal Burdali, Deputy Minister of National Defence Turkiye, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Chief of the Naval Staff, senior reps of construction yards, political leadership and high ranking officials of the Armed Forces.
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Naval News comments:
About PN MILGEM / Babur-class corvettes
PN MILGEM Program consists of 4 ships, 2 ships are being built in Istanbul Shipyard Command and another 2 are being built in KS&EW. Turkish Ministry of Defence owned ASFAT Inc. is the primary contractor of the project. 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
About OPV 2600
The OPV 2600 is the largest member of four new second-generation offshore patrol vessels (other variants are OPV 1400, OPV 1800, and OPV 2400) designed by Damen Shipyards to support a variety of naval and Coast Guard missions, such as Border and EEZ surveillance, Counter piracy and smuggling, and Counter drugs- and weapons trafficking among others.
The 2600-ton vessel has a length of 98 meters, which is longer than the Yarmook-class OPVs Pakistan Navy currently operates. It has 4x 2350 kW diesel engines coupled to two CPPs that can deliver a top speed of 24 knots to the vessel. OPV 2600 will also be fitted with a bow thruster for close maneuvers.
The vessel can operate at sea state 6 and is capable of surviving at sea state 9 thanks to its active fin stabilizing system. It will be capable of accommodating 60 people.
The OPV 2600 will be armed with the main gun of up to 76 mm on the ship’s bow deck and two 20 mm guns as secondary weapons. The sensor suite includes a medium-range surveillance radar and an E/O fire control sensor. The ship will also be capable of helicopter missions with its helicopter deck and can house the helicopters in its hangar.
Under the aft deck there will be space for up to 5 containerized mission modules that can be loaded and unloaded using a crane.
Moreover, the OPV 2600 boasts the capacity for five additional mission modules, covering areas such as Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) with side-scan sonar, Mine Countermeasures (MCM), Unmanned Aerial Vehicle/Unmanned Surface Vehicle (UAV/USV), pollution control, hospital facilities, diving support, as well as energy and water-making facilities, among others.
Designed for sustained maritime patrols, search and rescue operations, law enforcement, humanitarian assistance, and disaster response missions, the scaled model crafted for the Pakistan Navy is also capable of Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) and Anti-Air Warfare (AAW).
