China delivers its most advanced warship to Pakistan
China on Monday delivered its largest and most advanced warship to Pakistan, the Chinese state media reported. The frigate with stealth capabilities has been designed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC). It was delivered to the Pakistan Navy in a commissioning ceremony in Shanghai, CSSC said in a statement. Here are more details on this.
Why does it matter?
The delivery of the latest warship signifies the strengthening of the military partnership between China and Pakistan. It also sends out a powerful message to their regional rival, India, which is also looking to upgrade and modernize its military prowess. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently said India will enhance its military capabilities in line with the changing world and war methods.
Frigate named PNS Tughril by Pakistan Navy
The Type 054A/P frigate has been named PNS Tughril, the Pakistan Navy said on Monday. It is the first of four Type 054 frigates that are being constructed for the Pakistan Navy, the Global Times reported. The frigate is the largest and the most advanced warship that China has ever exported, the CSSC said.
How powerful is the frigate?
The frigate is reportedly equipped with state-of-the-art combat management and an electronic warfare system. It also has great potential for surveillance as well as surface-to-surface, surface-to-air, and underwater firepower. Compared with previous Chinese frigates, the ship has improved air defense capability, a larger amount of missiles with a longer range, and world-class stealth capability, experts said.
'Major achievement of China-Pakistan friendship'
"The completion and the delivery of the vessel is another major achievement of China-Pakistan friendship, and will further enhance the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries," the CSSC said. "The delivery of the frigate also serves as a milestone in expanding the influence of Chinese vessels as products and boosting their competitiveness in the international market," the shipbuilding company added.
Pakistan also inducting corvettes, submarines
Meanwhile, China and Pakistan have also upgraded their jointly developed JF-17 fighter jet. It is a single-engine multi-role light fighter jet jointly developed by the two countries for export, according to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. Pakistan is also acquiring smaller corvettes from Turkey and up to eight diesel-electric submarines from China, reports say.
