The guided-missile frigate Binzhou (Hull 515) of
the 29th Chinese naval escort taskforce sails into Gdynia port of
Northern Poland on June 22 and started a five-day friendly visit to Poland.
(eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Chen Xu)
Construction of warship for Pakistan underway
By ZHAO LEI
China
recently started construction of an export version of one of its advanced
warships and will deliver it to Pakistan as part of a major arms deal,
according to China State Shipbuilding Corp, a large State-owned defense
contractor.
It said the
ship is a version of the Chinese Navy's most advanced guided missile frigate,
without specifying its type.
In late
December it said the ship is under construction at its Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard
in Shanghai, noting it will be equipped with modern detection and weapon
systems and will be capable of anti-ship, anti-submarine and air-defense
operations.
According
to the Pakistani Navy, the ship's class is Type 054AP, which means it is based
on the Type 054A of the People's Liberation Army Navy. It previously said four such
ships had been ordered.
Once
constructed, the warship will be one of the largest and technologically
advanced platforms of Pakistan's Navy and strengthen the country's capability
to respond to future challenges, maintain peace and stability and the balance
of power in the Indian Ocean region. It will also support the Pakistani Navy's
initiative of securing sea lanes for international shipping by patrolling
distant waters, it said in a statement on its twitter account.
Type 054A
is the best frigate in service with the PLA Navy. Military sources said the
ship has a fully loaded displacement of about 4,000 metric tons and is equipped
with advanced radars and missiles. About 30 Type 054As are in service with the
PLA Navy, observers said.
Cao
Weidong, a senior researcher at the PLA's Naval Military Studies Research
Institute, said that in the past, the Pakistani Navy would ask its Chinese
contractors to use Western radars or weapons on ships constructed by Chinese
shipbuilders because it believed Western naval technologies were better than
Chinese ones.
"But
it seems that all weapons and radars on the new ship will be Chinese products,
which reflects our progress in the industry and the Pakistani Navy's confidence
in our technology and capability," he said.
Cao said
there are many nations selling frigates in the market, so Pakistan must have
made thorough comparisons in terms of combat capability and costs.
"I
believe the reason they chose our type is that ours is one of the few that can
carry out all of the air-defense, anti-ship and anti-submarine tasks," he
said, expecting the service of the Chinese frigate to substantially boost
Pakistan's defense capability.
An insider
in China's shipbuilding sector with knowledge of the Type 054AP program told
China Daily on condition of anonymity that the ship is the largest and most
powerful combat vessel China has ever exported.
"Based
on pictures circulating on the internet, the ship will have vertical launch
cells that can fire Chinese HQ-16 air-defense missiles and other kinds of
missiles. Vertical launch cells will bring flexibility to the user in terms of
weapons portfolio, thus giving it a stronger fighting capability," he
said, adding that the Type 054AP is the best frigate Pakistan can access in the
international market.
"The
service of Type 054APs will double the combat power of the Pakistani Navy's
surface fleet," he said.
Source: www.chinadaily.com.cn
Pakistan Navy's 054A/P frigate likely to be equipped with SR2410C phased array radar andYJ-12 supersonic AShM CM302
Type 054A Jiangkai II frigate: Details
No comments:
Post a Comment