The fourth and final PN MILGEM-class corvette for the Pakistan Navy was laid down on November 5th at Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KS&EW) by ASFAT Inc, a Turkish Ministry of Defense-affiliated contractor company. The event was announced on social media by ASFAT and the Pakistan Navy. KS&EW is at the forefront of national policy, and it is encouraging to see state-of-the-art warships being built in Pakistan. The ceremony of the fourth PN MILGEM-class corvette was attended by high-ranking officials including Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi, Chief of the Pakistan Navy, and Esad Akgün, General Manager of ASFAT.
The Babur-class corvette is a class of four heavy corvettes under construction for the Pakistan Navy. This class is designeted from Turkish MILGEM project. The corvette class is heavier and larger than the Turkish Ada-class corvette, also equipped with VLS. The first vessel named PNS Babur was launched on 15 August 2021. The second PN MILGEM corvette would be launched in Karachi, Pakistan, in May 2022. The first ship of the project, PNS Babur (F-280), was launched in Istanbul on August 15, 2021. The first two corvettes are expected to enter service for the Pakistan Navy in 2023, followed by another two corvettes in 2024.
MILGEM project is a national warship program of the Republic of Turkey. Managed by the Turkish Navy, the project aims at developing multipurpose corvettes and frigates that can be deployed in a range of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, early warning, anti-submarine warfare, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air warfare, and amphibious operations. As of 2018, the MILGEM project covers four Ada class anti-submarine warfare corvettes and one ELINT corvette, four Istanbul class multipurpose frigates and TF2000 class anti-air warfare destroyers destined for the Turkish Navy, four Babur-class corvettes for the Pakistan Navy.
ASFAT Inc., (Turkish: ASFAT, acronym: Askeri Fabrika ve Tersane ??letme, Military Factory and Shipyard Management) is a Turkish state-owned defense contractor. The company under the jurisdiction of the Turkish Ministry of National Defense, which develop, manage and utilise the facilities and capabilities of the 27 ordnance factories and 3 public naval shipyards in Turkey that were previously led by the country’s Ministry of National Defense, to provide innovative products and solutions covering design, manufacture, maintenance, sustainment and training areas for global defence market.