China delivered the largest and most advanced warship it has ever exported to its “all-weather strategic cooperative partner” Pakistan on Monday.
The China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC), who designed and built the frigate, said in the statement released on Monday that the vessel was delivered to the Pakistan Navy during a commissioning ceremony in Shanghai. According to a statement sent by the Pakistani Navy to Chinese state-owned media house Global Times on Monday, the Type 054A/P frigate is named the PNS Tughril.
The Pakistani Navy said that the vessel is “the first hull of four Type 054 frigates being constructed for the Pakistan Navy.” It further noted that the ship is “a technologically advanced and highly capable platform with enormous surface-to-surface, surface-to-air and underwater firepower, besides extensive surveillance potentials.”
Pakistan welcomed the fact that the Type 054A/P frigate can “simultaneously execute a number of naval warfare missions in a highly intense multi-threat environment” and is “equipped with state-of-the-art combat management and an electronic warfare system along with modern self-defence capabilities.”
The vessel’s supreme capabilities were also attested to by Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the People’s Liberation Army Naval Research Academy. Zhang said that the new ship has better air defence capabilities compared to previous Chinese frigates, as it is “equipped with an improved radar system and a larger amount of missiles with a longer range.” He also noted that the Type 054A frigate has “world-class stealth capability.”
Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque celebrated the PNS Tughril’s commissioning, saying it “ushers in a new chapter in Pakistan-China friendship that has matured through the test of time and remained steadfast in all domains.”
He further added that “In the context of the overall security paradigm of the region,” the Tughril-class frigate will strengthen the Pakistan Navy’s ability to respond to maritime challenges and maintain peace, stability, and balance of power in the increasingly militarised Indian Ocean region. He also praised Beijing’s efforts in materialising the landmark achievement through its “timely delivery of the well-equipped and potent frigate despite the global pandemic.”
Similarly, Commodore Rashid Mehmood Sheikh, the head of the Pakistan Navy Mission that oversaw the construction of the 054A/P frigate, hailed the capabilities of the vessel, saying that the multi-mission capable frigate PNS Tughril “will form the mainstay of the Pakistan Navy fleet while bolstering the Pakistan Navy’s maritime defence capabilities.”
From the Chinese side, Vice Party Secretary and Director of the Board at CSSC, Du Gang, applauded the vessel’s timely construction and emphasised that “the commissioning of the ship is a major milestone and a testimony of the China-Pakistan long-lived friendship, as both countries are bound by the affinity of trust, compassion and commonality.”
China Delivers Most Advanced Warship to Pakistan to Help It Respond to Maritime Challenges
The ship is “a technologically advanced and highly capable platform with enormous surface-to-surface, surface-to-air and underwater firepower, besides extensive surveillance potentials.”
November 9, 2021
SOURCE: BHARATSHAKTI