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Keel Laying Ceremony Of PAKISTAN NAVY’s 1st MILGEM Class Corvette Held At TURKEY:
The Keel Laying Ceremony of PAKISTAN NAVY’s Next Generation 1st MILGEM Class Corvette held at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard (INSY), TURKEY. The prestigious ceremony was attended by the Senior level Naval Official from the two Brotherly countries.
PAKISTAN NAVY Chief of Naval Overseas (TURKEY), Commodore Syed Rizwan Khalid graced the prestigious keel laying ceremony of PAKISTAN NAVY First MILGEM Class Corvette as the Chief Guest held at ASFAT (Askeri Fabrika ve Tersane İşletme), Istanbul, TURKEY.
PAKISTAN has initially signed the contract with its Iron Brother Country, TURKEY for the procurement of 4 numbers of state of the art MILGEM Class Corvettes with the Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreement.
Under the contract, 2 of the MILGEM Class Corvettes would be built in TURKEY and would be handed over to PAKISTAN in 2023 and 2025, respectively. While, the other two MILGEM Class Corvettes would be built in PAKISTAN by the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW), Karachi.
Keel laying ceremony of first MILGEM Class Corvette for #PakNavy held at Turkey. CNO (Turkey) Cdre Syed Rizwan Khalid was CG. The contract for 04 corvettes for PN with ToT was signed with #ASFAT which entails construction of 02 corvettes at Turkey & 02 at Pakistan (KS&EW). (1/2) pic.twitter.com/deHw1TGtB2
— Rear Admiral M Arshid Javed DGPR Navy (@dgprPaknavy) June 4, 2020
TURKEY has performed the steel cutting ceremony of PAKISTAN NAVY’s state of the art and cutting edge 1st MILGEM Class Corvette back in September 30, 2020.
During the Steel Cutting Ceremony of MILGEM Class Corvette, TURKEY’s President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan and PAKISTAN NAVAL CHIEF Admiral Zaffar Mehmood Abbasi graced the occasion of steel cutting ceremony at Istanbul Naval Shipyard and TURKISH Lloyd.
PAKISTAN NAVY Commodore Syed Rizwan Khalid highly appreciated the competence and professional expertise of the TURKISH Defense Firm and Istanbul Naval Shipyard to chalk out the time frame for PAKISTAN NAVY Warship.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Guest of the ceremony, PAKISTAN NAVY Chief of Naval Overseas (TURKEY), Commodore Syed Rizwan Khalid said that the MILGEM Corvette project is a manifestation of Strong, Cordial and Brotherly Ties between PAKISTAN and TURKEY.
Prestigious Ceremony and Keel Laying Ceremony of PAKISTAN NAVY’s Next Generation 1st MILGEM Class Corvette Held at Istanbul Shipyard, TURKEY#PLA @narendramodi#ChinaComesIndiaRuns #IndianArmy #indianairforce @majorgauravarya pic.twitter.com/TGHr6u8CTw
— PAKDEFENSE.OFFICIAL (@PAKDEFENSE_COM) June 5, 2020
He said that, “their (TURKISH Defense Firm’s) meticulous efforts in meeting the timelines despite global crisis of COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Construction of corvettes in PAKISTAN is aimed to provide impetus to local ship building industry and further enhance Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (PAKISTAN NAVY’s specialized shipbuilding division) capabilities,” statement said.
All of the TURKEY’s MILGEM Class Corvettes once added to the PAKISTAN NAVY Arsenal, would be most technological advanced Naval Warships that would significantly help to promote peace and maintain the balance of Power in the highly contested indian ocean.
Weaponry Options of PAKISTAN NAVY MILGEM Class Corvettes:
The MILGEM class corvettes would be equipped with the state of the art weaponry on board. PAKISTAN NAVY’s next generation would be the most technologically advanced warship that would be equipped with the top of the line and cutting-edge combat management system, modern surface, subsurface, and anti-air weapons.
PAKISTAN NAVY MILGEM Class Corvettes would be armed with the lethal torpedoes, missiles and a 76-millimeter top mounted gun. PAKISTAN NAVY’s next generation MILGEM Warship is fully capable of carrying manned and unmanned aircraft (UAVs), Sikorsky S-70 helicopter, aerial refueling system, associated armaments, maintenance facilities and a 20 Ton of JP-5 aircraft fuel.
HQ-16 Surface To Air Missile (SAM) System For PAKISTAN NAVY MILGEM Class Corvette:
PAKISTAN NAVAL CHIEF Admiral Zaffar Mehmood Abbasi has categorically said during PAKISTAN NAVY’s biennial Multi-National Exercise, AMAN-19, that PAKISTAN NAVY’s next generation MILGEM Class Corvettes would be equipped with the battle proven and cutting-edge CHINESE HQ-16 Surface to Air Missile System (SAM) through a 16-cell Vertical Launch System (VLS).
It means that PAKISTAN NAVY has planned to equip the MILGEM Class Corvettes with the lethal and modern weaponry to increase its potency.
It is important to mention that PAKISTAN NAVY is also acquiring 4 numbers of CHINESE State of the Art Type 054A Frigates from its Iron Brother CHINA in coming years.
Among the weaponry options, the Type 054A Frigate would also be equipped with the HQ-16 Medium Range Surface to Air Missile System (SAM) in the combination of 16 Vertical Launch Cells (VLA).
Now, PAKISTAN NAVAL CHIEF Admiral Zaffar Mehmood Abbasi has reportedly made it clear that PAKISTAN NAVY next generation MILGEM Class and Type 054A Corvettes would also equip with the HQ-16 SAM system with 16 Vertical Launch System (VLS), among other weaponry option.
It clearly indicates that PAKISTAN could have 8, 10 numbers of state of the art corvettes in its arsenal in the next couple of years, which would be equipped with the CHINESE HQ-16 Surface to Air Missile System (SAM) and it easily be used for offense and defense purposes to maintain balance of power in the indian ocean.
