ISLAMABAD: Two warships, PNS Babar and PNS Hunain, will be formally inducted into the Pakistan Navy’s fleet on Defence Day, observed on September 6, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Tuesday.
The military’s media wing announced that President Asif Ali Zardari will serve as the chief guest during the induction ceremony of the warships.
PNS Babar, built in Turkiye, and PNS Hunain, constructed in Romania, will significantly enhance the Pakistan Navy’s defense capabilities, the statement said.
Construction of PNS Babar began on June 4, 2020, with the ship being launched on August 15, 2021, and officially commissioned on September 23, 2023. Four Babar-class ships, equipped with vertical launching systems, are being inducted into the Pakistan Navy under a Pak-Turkey agreement, with two ships being manufactured in Istanbul and two in Karachi.
The statement also mentioned that three other Babar-class ships—PNS Badar, PNS Tariq, and PNS Khyber—are currently under construction. The Babar-class ships are designed for simultaneous surface, underwater, and air combat. The 2,888-tonne ships feature a vertical launch system capable of targeting aerial threats.
Recently, the third offshore patrol vessel (OPV), PNS Hunain, arrived in Karachi from Romania, as announced by the Pakistan Navy’s Director General Public Relations (DGPR) on August 30. A reception ceremony was held at the PN Dockyard, with Commodore Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Faisal Abbasi as the chief guest.
PNS Hunain, a multipurpose medium-sized OPV, is equipped with state-of-the-art electronic warfare systems, anti-ship and anti-air warfare weapons, sensors, and self-protection and terminal defense systems. The ship was built and commissioned in July this year at Romania’s Damen Shipyard.
Vice Admiral Faisal Abbasi highlighted that the addition of PNS Hunain will significantly enhance the Pakistan Navy’s capability to safeguard maritime frontiers. He also emphasized that the induction of such advanced multipurpose platforms will support PN Maritime Security patrols in the Indian Ocean.
The reception ceremony for PNS Hunain was attended by a large number of Pakistan Navy officers, CPOs/sailors, and the families of the crew members.
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