The Pakistan Navy on Monday commissioned the PNS Tughril, a warship built at a shipyard in Shanghai.
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.
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.
also read
- OPINION: Dark days are ahead for Pakistan
- Is Pakistan procuring military-grade equipment from China?
- Nawaz Sharif wants Indian cricket team to play in Pakistan for Champions Trophy to break the ice between foes
- EAM Jaishankar, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif exchange pleasantries
- As Jaishankar heads to Islamabad for SCO meet; Nawaz Sharif hopes for a sit-together with Modi
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.
