KARACHI — PNS Badr, Pakistan’s third Babur class guided missile heavy corvette, will be launched on May 20.
“The class of four Babur corvettes is being built under the joint venture MILGEM project between Pakistan and Turkey, with two ships being built in Istanbul, Turkey, and two in Karachi, Pakistan, at a cost of roughly $1.5 billion to the Pakistan Navy,” according to the Pakistan Strategic Forum. The Babur Class Corvettes are 3,000-tonne multi-mission ships that can conduct anti-ship, anti-submarine, and anti-air warfare (AAW).
“The corvettes will be armed with ATMACA anti-ship missiles and two four-cell launchers in the Anti-Surface category. ASuW helicopters with anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons may also be launched from the ship ” The corvettes carry a 12 cell GWS-26 vertical launch system (VLS) for anti-air warfare, which is equipped with the MBDA Albatros NG/Common Anti-Air Modular Missile-Extended Range (CAMM-ER) surface-to-air missile (SAM) with a range of 50-65 kilometers. For terminal and point air defense, the Babur-class will deploy an Aselsan Gökdeniz dual 35 mm close-in-weapon-system (CIWS) with Aselsan ATOM airburst ammunition.
“The corvettes carry two 3-cell 324 mm lightweight torpedo launchers, as well as the Yakamos hull-mounted sonar and a HIZIR towed array sonar system, as well as a decoy in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW). ASW helicopters with submarine hunter-killer capability can also be launched from the ship ” A 76 mm OTO Melara Super Rapid main naval gun and two Aselsan STOP 25 mm machine guns are among the other weapons systems. A 10-ton helicopter hangar and deck will be included on the ships. The warships are powered by General Electric LM2500 CODAD engines and have a range of 9,300 kilometers.
“The electronics suit for the four ships will be supplied by Aselsan at 215 million dollars which includes a main 3D AESA S-band naval radar, ASELSAN ALPER LPI Surface Radar, AKREP (AKR-D Block B-1/2) Fire Control Radar, SATCOM, a new network-oriented battle-management system, ARES-2NC ESM modules, ELINT and SIGINT modules, Electronic Warfare (EW) modules, SeaEye-AHTAPOT EO Reconnaissance and Surveillance System, ASELSAN Piri (Infrared Search and Track) IRST system, as well as the Yakamos hull-mounted sonar system and HIZIR torpedo countermeasure system. The HIZIR is a complete suite consisting of a towed array, decoy array, and expendable decoys.”
