The fourth and last Milgem-class corvette for the Pakistan Navy has been launched by Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW).
On August 2, the ship PNS Tariq was launched. Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, Cevdet Yilmaz, the vice president of Turkey, Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi, the commander of Pakistan’s navy, and other senior officials from both countries were present at the ceremony. Last November, the keel for the last corvette of this class was laid.
The Pakistan Navy and the Turkish company ASFAT struck a contract in July 2018 to buy four Milgem-class ships. The deal stipulated that two ships would be built at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard and the other two at KS&EW.
The Ada-class corvettes produced for the Turkish Navy as part of the Milgem project, which includes building both corvettes and frigates, are the model for the Milgem-class corvettes being built for Pakistan.
The vessels can travel at a speed of 29 nautical miles and have a length of 99 meters. They can also carry 2,400 tonnes. They have cutting-edge surface, subsurface, and anti-air weapons as well as sophisticated sensors that are integrated by a cutting-edge network-centric combat management system.