Dutch naval shipbuilding Damen Shipyard Group will soon deliver the second 2300 Tonnes Corvette PNS Tabuk (F-271) – a Yarmook-Class Corvettes to the Pakistan Navy. The Pakistan Navy opted to fit the ships with their weapons and subsystems in Pakistan, so the corvettes may not be fully mission-ready before 2021, at the earliest. Damen signed the contract with the Ministry of Defence Production for two multipurpose OPVs for the Pakistan Navy on 30th June, 2017, following a tender process. The Pakistan Navy got a custom design based on Damen’s OPVs, but with added elements from the Damen’s SIGMA-line of military-standard corvettes and frigates.
PNS Tabuk is capable of performing a variety of maritime operations and can transport both a helicopter and a UAV. The ship can launch two high speed RHIBs of 11.5 meters and 6.5 meters simultaneously and also has the capability to accommodate two TEUs for special mission based operations. Damen constructed the PNS Tabukat its yard in Galati. The yard has built nearly 40 vessels for the defence and security segment, including the last seven complex naval vessels for the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Stefan cel Mare offshore patrol vessel, the flagship of the Romanian Border Police, showing time and time again that is a trustworthy and highly capable international player in naval shipbuilding.
The Yarmook-Class Corvettes have a displacement of 2,300 tons, a length of 90 m and a beam of 14.4 m. The OPV can reach the top speed of 23 knots, has a range of 6,000 nautical miles and its maximum endurance is 40 days. The ship can accommodate more than 60 sailors on board. Based on a scale model, the Yarmook-Class Corvettes will be fitted with a Surface to Surface Missile system, a 30 mm Main Gun, Close-in Weapons System and 4×12.7 guns, anti-ship missile, infrared radars and a system to reduce the magnetic signature of the vessel. It is not a 76 mm main gun, rather, it seems to be the size the Aselsan STAMP.
