(Karachi) The construction of first of the four Stealth MILGEM-Class Warships for Pakistan Navy kicked off at Turkey's Istanbul Shipyard on Sunday. In this regard, a ceremony was held which was attended by Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistan’s Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Zafar M. Abbasi. Both dignitaries jointly cut the first metal plate to officially start the ship building process.
Pakistan and Turkey inked the contract on July 5, 2018, for the construction of four MILGEM-Class corvettes. The new warships will help replace old ships in Pakistan Navy and boost its conventional deterrent and defend its maritime economy and trade links.
Noteworthy features
The deal includes transfer of technology and intellectual proprietary rights for the design of these ships to Pakistan. As part of the agreement, four ships will be built ? the first two in Turkey at Istanbul Naval Shipyard, and the third and fourth in Pakistan by Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Limited (KSEW).
The construction of the second pair of ships will help revive and grow Pakistan’s shipbuilding industry and improve its contribution to the economy of the country. Another major feature of the contract is that the fourth warship will be designed by Pakistan’s Maritime Technologies Complex .
The MILGEM Class Ships deal will also help boost strategic relations between Pakistan and Turkey which have strengthen with the passage of time. The induction of the ships will enhance Pakistan Navy’s combat capabilities and will contribute effectively towards maritime security operations in the region.
Capability
MILGEM-Class Ship is a capable warship which could be compared with any contemporary warship of modern navies. The new MILGEM-Class corvettes feature stealth technologies and can perform search, rescue, patrol, observation, and anti-submarine warfare operations.
The corvette has an overall length of 99m, a waterline length of 90.5m, a beam of 14.4m and a design draft of 3.6m. The displacement of the vessel is 2,000t. It can be fully operated at the sea state 5 and accommodate 93 crew members, including the aircrew.
The corvette is equipped with eight Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles and a single mk31 RAM self-defense missile system, which can launch RAM anti-aircraft missiles. The Harpoon missile can strike the targets in a 124km range while traveling at a speed of Mach 0.71.
The ship is fitted with two 324mm mk32 tubes to launch mk46 torpedoes. The torpedo has a range of 7,315m and can attack high-performance submarines.
A 76mm dual-purpose gun is fitted on the vessel. In addition, two remotely controlled 12.7mm machine guns are mounted on the stabilized machine gun platform. The corvette is equipped with an aft flight deck to allow the operation of a helicopter.