Alpha guided-missile frigate PNS Tughril set to be commissioned in Pakistan Navy

KARACHI – Pakistan Navy is all set to commission the first Chinese-made 054 Alpha Guided Missile Frigate PNS Tughril in the next week, local media said Tuesday.

Reports quoting sources said the ceremony to commission the missile frigate will be held in Shanghai, China’s financial hub. Chinese Shipbuilding Trading Company, Hodong Xing Washhipyard contributed in constructing the warship.

The type 054 A/P Frigate is said to be the third Pakistan Navy warship to hold the name PNS Tughril after an O-Class Destroyer (1951) and a Gearing-Class Destroyer (1980).

The Tughril class ships are major surface combatant warships, designed for intense anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine operations in the high seas.

The over 4,000 tonnes, 440 feet long frigates are armed with a 32-cell Vertical Launch System (VLS), equipped with the HHQ-16 SAMs and the Yu-8 ASROCs, 2×4 ASCM launchers armed with the CM-302 supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, a PJ-26 76 mm main naval gun, 2×3 Anti-Submarine Torpedo launchers, 2×6 Type 87 Anti-Submarine rocket launchers, two Type 726-4 18-tube decoy rocket launchers and two Type 1130 CIWS.

It is also loaded with multifunction electronically scanned array radar on top of the main superstructure.

The warship also featured a top-notch combat management system capable of integrated naval battlegroup formation operations with the rest of the Pakistani naval fleet.

Induction of these frigates will contribute in maintaining peace, stability, and power equilibrium in the Indian Ocean Region.

Pakistan Navy has contracted the construction of Type 054 AP Frigates from China under a contract signed in 2017. The first–in–class Frigate was launched in August 2020, followed by Second Frigate Launching in January 2021 at Chinese Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai.