43 replies to this topic

[Jazba-e-Kashmir]

Pak navy commissions first fast attack craft armed with missiles



Beijing: Pakistan's navy commissioned its first fast attack craft armed with missiles at a Chinese shipyard on Monday, with its chief Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandila saying that the force was fully prepared to counter any elements challenging the country's sovereignty.

Sandila was the chief guest at the commissioning of PNS Azmat, Pakistan's first "fast attack craft (missile)" at Xingang shipyard in Tianjin. He said the vessel's induction will supplement the Pakistani navy's combat potential.

Pakistani navy is "fully prepared to counter any forces challenging Pakistan's sovereignty or threatening the security of the country's waters," he said.

Describing the commissioning of the vessel as a milestone in defence and strategic cooperation between Pakistan and China, Sandila said: "This ship will undoubtedly be a very welcome addition in the Pakistan navy fleet which would indeed provide synergy in defence of our sea frontiers.

"Its immense firepower coupled with stealthy features makes it a real versatile platform which would not only prove vital for ensuring effective presence in our area of operations, but would bring a new dimension of operation of stealthy platform of this tonnage."

Sandila said a second fast attack craft will be completed in Pakistan by the end of 2012. PNS Azmat is equipped with advanced weapons and sensors.

An official statement said the vessel will strengthen the Pakistani navy's "advance naval warfare capability and prowess."  Work on the two fast attack craft was started in Pakistan and China in June 2010.

On its way to Pakistan, the Azmat will stop over in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

(Agencies)

http://post.jagran.c...iles-1335180158

Pak gets first stealth fast missile attack craft from China

TIANJIN: Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandila has said that Pakistan Navy is fully prepared to counter any forces challenging Pakistan’s sovereignty or threatening the security of the country’s waters.
He was speaking as Chief Guest at the commissioning ceremony of PNS Azmat, Pakistan’s first Fast Attack Craft (Missile) at Xingang Shipyard in Tianjin on Monday.
Admiral Sandila said the induction of PNS Azmat will supplement Pakistan Navy’s combat potential.
Terming it a milestone in defence and strategic cooperation between Pakistan and China, he said “This ship will undoubtedly be a very welcome addition in PN Fleet which would indeed provide synergy in defence of our sea frontiers. Its immense firepower coupled with stealthy features makes it a real versatile platform which would not only prove vital for ensuring effective presence in our area of operations, but would bring a new dimension of operation of stealthy platform of this tonnage.”
Chief of the Naval Staff said the commissioning of PNS Azmat concluded the construction of Fast Attack Craft (Missile) in China and the construction of second craft will be completed in Pakistan by the end of 2012. He appreciated the hard work and professional competence of the designers, engineers, technicians and workers who were associated with this project.
PNS Azmat is equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry and sensors. Addition of this ship will strengthen the Pakistan Navy’s fleet with advance naval warfare capability and prowess. Work for the construction of two FAC (M) ships was started in June 2010.
On its way to Pakistan the ship will stop over in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, Masood Khan and the presidents of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Company and Xingang Shipyard as well as high ranking officials of Pakistan Navy and PLA were present on this occasion.

http://www.lhrtimes..../#ixzz1ssA6MHoJ

[SUPARCO]

Salaam,

Alhamdulillah, that's excellent news.

Is this induction a replacement for any other ship/craft in Pakistan Navy or is this an expansion for Pakistan Navy?

Salaam

[Aali]

Good News

Can any one past picture

Rgds

[marchpole]

[Simpleton]

http://pakarmydefenc...-craft-pns.html

a couple of pics and a brief news snippet

[Tarbela]

Very nice picture. Thanks.

[cheif No 1]

How many of these we will be getting???

[atomicwaste12]

Simpleton, on 24 April 2012 - 07:02 AM, said:

http://pakarmydefenc...-craft-pns.html

a couple of pics and a brief news snippet

I don't believe this is PNS Azmat. The photographs are wrong.

As to how many we are getting, I believe it is 2. The other one will be built in Khi Pak. Great!! Jobs for our boys too.

[macau boy]

cheif No 1, on 24 April 2012 - 08:09 AM, said:

How many of these we will be getting???

IIRC, the contract was for two vessels, one build in China and the second will be built in Pakistan.

[Caesar]

Well when India is arming itself with destroyers PN is arming itself with SMALL BOATS. What a bunch of sub-intelligent baboons we have at the helm of PN I have to say.

[shabi1]

Missile boats have a more offensive role than destroyers. Data link them with AWACs or other systems to locate the enemy and they can wreck havoc.

[Caesar]

LOL LOL Right ... so you are now comparing Destroyers with missile boats .... do you even bother thinking before you write???

[Simpleton]

Missile boats, perhaps when deployed in greater numbers and with perhaps a swarm-like tactics under a net-centric doctrine, may be more (or as) potent as a destroyer, otherwise it's no contest, in fact such comparisons are laughable.

[atomicwaste12]

Caesar, on 24 April 2012 - 10:00 PM, said:

Well when India is arming itself with destroyers PN is arming itself with SMALL BOATS. What a bunch of sub-intelligent baboons we have at the helm of PN I have to say.

Caesar I understand your frustration. You are right India's build up is formidable and Culcatta and Delhi class destroyers have massive firepower and capabilties but at almost $300-400 million a ship it is a weapon that even they cannot afford. Yet with a $2/3 trillion ppp economy compared to our $300 billion ppp economy they can out spend us. We cannot and do not have the means to meet that kind expenditure so a $50 million pound missile ship is a good choice considering our limited dollars.

For a good defence we need a good economy and all our leaders have failed to stop the rot in our institutes and country.

Look at the CAA manned by incompetent and badly educated people. They are in such sensitive positions yet have not the skills or experience to be heading such an organisation. Hence we have suffered 3 major fatal crashes, 3 'minor' fatal crashes and 5 non fatal crashes in the last 5 years.

So when we have criminals in charge of our country we will never have the money to compete with India which is naturally 10x bigger than us.

However, I share your frustration.

[cheif No 1]

macau boy, on 24 April 2012 - 01:15 PM, said:

IIRC, the contract was for two vessels, one build in China and the second will be built in Pakistan.

Why we always buy stuff like this is short.

[SUPARCO]

Caesar, on 24 April 2012 - 10:00 PM, said:

Well when India is arming itself with destroyers PN is arming itself with SMALL BOATS. What a bunch of sub-intelligent baboons we have at the helm of PN I have to say.

Salaam,

India has more land/sea area to defend while Pakistan has less.

Any additional acquisition of any military hardware from China only means Pakistan will purchase less from the west.  It's a win win situation in the long term for Pakistan.

Salaam

[macau boy]

cheif No 1, on 25 April 2012 - 11:46 AM, said:

Why we always buy stuff like this is short.

The thinking behind could be the same as that of F-22P. PN is buying a few while getting ToT of the vessel. That is a short cut way to build up one's naval know-how and technical expertise. Patrol ship like Azmat is affordable and cheap to operate, therefore PN can have as many as it wants. These ships are best in doing daily routines and patrol duties freeing up larger vessels like F-22P for more demanding jobs.

[platinum786]

Caesar, on 24 April 2012 - 10:00 PM, said:

Well when India is arming itself with destroyers PN is arming itself with SMALL BOATS. What a bunch of sub-intelligent baboons we have at the helm of PN I have to say.

We don't have the economy to support those kinds of purchases. If we did, we'd be getting them. Besides, Missile boats have a role to play IF;

- They have the equipment to detect other vessels before they are detected (range of sonar/datalink from other sources)
- They have the capability to engage these other vessels before they can engage them (range of missiles)

They provide a cheap offensive threat, think back to what we had 10 years ago and what we have now.

[Taha]

That is a very good news.

[tank131]

Lets be  realistic for a second. These ships carry 8 C-802A missiles in addition to its main machine gun. It will out gun the rust buckets (type 21) and is 500t and $50million/ship. It has greater survivability than the type 21s due to stealth features, and has a complement of 12-14 sailors vs 177 for the Type 21s. A complement of 4-6 of these FAC is ideal as it will allow PN to retire the Type 21 early, and cut costs tremendously, being that 84 men on much more modern and automated ships with lower maintenence costs are doing the job formerly done by ~1030men on antiquated vessels with much higher operating costs and lower survivability.  The PN will be able to open up funds for more modern frigates like Type 054A.

[Simpleton]

Are the two the only FAC that will be inducted in the Jalalat II class, or does PN has plans to inducted more of these?  If we're talking about just two, then that's not much of a punch. I also thank tank131 for his views, they helped me see another aspect of this purchase; however, even in his scenario just two FACs are not enough.

[Caesar]

atomicwaste12, on 25 April 2012 - 06:53 AM, said:

Caesar I understand your frustration. ..............................
.........................For a good defence we need a good economy and all our leaders have failed to stop the rot in our institutes and country.

platinum786, on 25 April 2012 - 02:05 PM, said:

We don't have the economy to support those kinds of purchases. If we did, we'd be getting them. ........................

Thanks Gents for your reply and I agree with you that good economy is essential. But can you please explain to me as to how come Pakistan can spend 2.5 Billion dollars annually on nuclear weapon expansion program and cannot find money for warships which will be a one of cost??

[cheif No 1]

Simpleton, on 25 April 2012 - 10:04 PM, said:

Are the two the only FAC that will be inducted in the Jalalat II class, or does PN has plans to inducted more of these?  If we're talking about just two, then that's not much of a punch. I also thank tank131 for his views, they helped me see another aspect of this purchase; however, even in his scenario just two FACs are not enough.

May be thats why we get TOT. Also longer (more) we engage India in this part of world it would be more benifical for China. I am sure we will be geting atleast couple of dozens of these in future.

[atomicwaste12]

Caesar, on 25 April 2012 - 11:16 PM, said:

Thanks Gents for your reply and I agree with you that good economy is essential. But can you please explain to me as to how come Pakistan can spend 2.5 Billion dollars annually on nuclear weapon expansion program and cannot find money for warships which will be a one of cost??

Caesar, each department has it's own budget. The reality is that our nuclear capabilities is the only thing that has kept the indians at bay. Our navy cannot compete with the giant indian navy and similarly our airforce is also outgunned by numbers and now by technology. The MKI is a formidable fighter and we do not have the numbers of block 52s to deal with the MKI and the Mirage 2000 threats. Once the Indians induct their Rafales the PAF will be at a serious disadvantage. It is also baloney that the indians do not produce good pilots or soldiers. They are very well trained and by virtue of India having a better education system their warriors are better informed and better educated than our warriors. So we need to spend on our nuclear programme and this has the added advantage of much needed electricity.

[Alkhalid-19]

Without a long range air defence system this ships can be easily  attacked by Indian Air Force and Navy.

Anza II QianWei 2 Shoulder-Fired Air Defence Missile or HongYing 6 (FN-6) Shoulder-Fired Air Defence Missile are not enough, the question would be also are they static installed or MANPADS.

[tank131]

While i would like to point out these are fast attack crafts (500t) not corvettes or frigates, I do agree to some extent. I think 500t is large enough to fit some sort of air defense system like Fl-3000N on it. The main gun could get 2 single cell launcher added to it (as they can do with the Type 730 CIWS). In addition, I think that the rear of the vessel (which I think is where the launchers for the C-802 is) could probably get fitted with at least an 8 cell launcher for FL-3000N.

The FL-3000N comes in a 24 cell (+/- an autoreloader), an 8 cell, a 4 cell and a 1 cell (for existing gun mounts) launchers and is akin to the Rim-116 RAM.  It has a 9km range.

[marchpole]

[macau boy]

Wow! 8 rounds of AShCM, radar-guided CIWS and a twin 14.5mm (??) main gun; that boat packs some firepower. I guess there should be a couple 12.7mm HMG somewhere. It is a great FACG that can double up as a patrol boat. Imagine a fleet of Azmat sailing alongside F22-P with JF-17 providing air cover overhead.

[tank131]

I would like to note one thing...there is a main gun up front, the 8 AshM, but if you look at the picture provided by Marchpole (the first I have seen giving a nice shot of the back of the vessel), there is another gun at the top of the ship... an CIWS perhaps?  I believe that this was not previously known to have a CIWS, just the main gun and missiles with the MANPADS and HMGs.  This gives it much more versatility, especially for patrols and antipiracy.  I hope PN inducts 8 of these vessels as Off shore patrol and FACS service. in close PN should get more MRTP-33s.

[macau boy]

tank131, on 03 May 2012 - 12:34 PM, said:

I would like to note one thing...there is a main gun up front, the 8 AshM, but if you look at the picture provided by Marchpole (the first I have seen giving a nice shot of the back of the vessel), there is another gun at the top of the ship... an CIWS perhaps?  I believe that this was not previously known to have a CIWS, just the main gun and missiles with the MANPADS and HMGs.  This gives it much more versatility, especially for patrols and antipiracy.  I hope PN inducts 8 of these vessels as Off shore patrol and FACS service. in close PN should get more MRTP-33s.

Yes, the main gun on A position should be the twin 14.5mm semi-automatic. The "another gun" facing the stern is the Type 630 CIWS with the radar directly behind. It is packing alot of "punch" for a boat of that size. After F-22P, PN has made another prudent decision to modernize its naval forces.

[Alkhalid-19]

marchpole, on 03 May 2012 - 03:09 AM, said:

marchpole, on 03 May 2012 - 03:09 AM, said:

I cant see the picture ! Why is that so ?

[macau boy]

The main gun on A position appears to be a twin 35mm semi-automatic, not 14.5mm.
PNS Azmat is visiting Shanghai. PLAN ESF held a formal welcoming dinner party for the entire complement of officers and men in the same evening. The crews are given time off for sightseeing and shopping while the ship is being replenished with fuel, water and provisions before heading to the next port visit.

[M_ZEE32]

Alkhalid-19, on 04 May 2012 - 02:38 AM, said:

I cant see the picture ! Why is that so ?

Its perfectly visible ? do you use some kind of proxy ?

[marchpole]

More pictures here：

http://club.mil.news...483696-1-1.html

[tank131]

Great pics!!

[Magnus]

[marchpole]

[Skull-Buster]

marchpole, on 09 May 2012 - 07:00 PM, said:

Why is there a Hong Kong flag on the ship?

[macau boy]

Skull-Buster, on 12 May 2012 - 10:35 AM, said:

Why is there a Hong Kong flag on the ship?

I guess it is normal naval protocol for a visiting foreign combatant. HongKong SAR is a Special Administration Region of China with its own internal government, so flying the HKSAR flag in HK water is a diplomatic courtesy.

[Magnus]