AP, Beijing :
China is all set to build one of the ‘most advanced’ naval warships for its ally Pakistan as a part of a major bilateral arms deal between both the nations. It will be first of the four naval warships that are being exchanged between the neighbouring countries to ensure a certain ‘balance of power’ in the Indian Ocean.
The ship which is currently under construction is a version of the Chinese Navy’s most advanced guided missile frigate, the state media reported. It belongs to the class of Type 054AP, which means it is based on the Type 054A of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, the report further added.
State-owned defence contractor China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) has said that the naval warship will be equipped with modern detection and weapons systems. It will be capable of anti-ship, anti-submarine and air defence operations, reports China Daily.
Military sources have said that the ship is equipped with advanced radars and missiles and that it is one of the best frigates at disposal with the PLA Navy. About 30 Type 054As are currently in the disposal of the PLA Navy.
The warship “will be one of the largest and technologically advanced platforms of the Pakistani 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,” the report said.
The China Daily reported that the ship is the largest and the most powerful combat vessel China has ever exported. An insider in China’s shipbuilding sector told the Daily, “Based on pictures circulating on the internet, the ship will have vertical launch cells that can fire Chinese HQ-16 air-defence 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,”
All the weapons and radars in the ship will be Chinese manufactured, unlike earlier when Western naval technologies were sought after for better performance.
While speaking about the ship’s construction, Cao Weidong, a senior researcher at the PLA’s Naval Military Studies Research Institute had previously said, “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,”
China had acquired Pakistan’s strategic Gwadar port under the multi-billion ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’ deal. The state media recently denied a foreign media report that it was planning to build advanced fighter aircraft under the ‘CPEC’ in Pakistan.
China is at present the largest supplier of weapons to Pakistan.
