China Exports The Largest, Most Advanced Warship PNS Tughril To Pakistan
The new ship Type 054A/P has better air defence capability, as it is equipped with an improved radar system and a larger number of missiles with a longer range.
New Delhi: China has recently delivered one of the most advanced and largest warships to Pakistan from Beijing, the Chinese media reported. The frigate was delivered to the Pakistan Navy in a commissioning ceremony in Shanghai, according to Global Times.
The Type 054A/P frigate was designed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC) and has been named the PNS Tughril.
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China has sought to beef up the navy of its all-weather ally in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, where it has increased its own naval presence in recent years. The PNS Tughril is the first hull of four Type 054 frigates being constructed for the Pakistan Navy since 2017, the Pakistan Navy said.
About Type 054A/P frigate
Being equipped with state-of-the-art combat management and an electronic warfare system along with modern self-defence capabilities, the Type 054A/P frigate can simultaneously execute a number of naval warfare missions in a highly intense multi-threat environment, the daily quoted a Pakistan Navy's statement. The vessel is a technologically advanced and highly capable platform with enormous surface-to-surface, surface-to-air and underwater firepower, besides extensive surveillance potentials, it said.
Pakistan Navy Mission head who was 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 defence capabilities.
Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the PLA Naval Research Academy, told the Global Times earlier that Type 054A, on which the Type 054A/P is based, is China's most advanced frigate. Zhang added, compared to previous Chinese frigates, the new ship has better air defence capability, as it is equipped with an improved radar system and a larger number of missiles with a longer range, noting that the Type 054A frigate also has world-class stealth capability.
Balance of power
Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque said that the commissioning of the PNS Tughril ensures a balance of power in the Indian Ocean. The Tughril-class frigates will strengthen Pakistan Navy's capabilities to respond to maritime challenges to ensure seaward defence, maintain peace, stability and balance of power in the Indian Ocean region, he said, according to the Global Times report.
China, the biggest weapons supplier
Lately, China has become the biggest weapons supplier for the Pakistan military, Pakistan will also be getting eight Chinese submarines as part of the modernisation of the Pakistan Navy, its Chief Admiral M Amjad Khan Niazi told the daily in February this year. But, besides the advanced naval vessels, China partnered with the Pakistan Air Force to build JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft.
In recent years, military cooperation has been focussed more on the navy as China gradually stepped up its naval presence in India's backyard, the Indian Ocean.
China is building its first military base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa in the Indian Ocean, it has acquired Pakistan's Gwadar port in the Arabian Sea which connects with China's Xinjiang province by land in the USD 60 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
China is also developing Sri Lanka's Hambantota port after it acquired it on 99 years' lease.
The modernisation of the Pakistan Navy coupled with the acquisition of the naval bases was expected to shore up the Chinese Navy's presence in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea.
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