The assembly and integration of a number of components of the Babur-class corvette PN Babur (F-280) at Istanbul Naval Shipyard have been completed. The Babur-class corvette, also known as the PN MILGEM class, is a class of four heavy corvettes under construction for the Pakistan Navy. This class is a subclass of the Turkish MILGEM project. The corvette class is heavier and larger than the Turkish Ada-class corvette and is also equipped with VLS. Under the contract, two ships were to be constructed at Istanbul Naval Shipyard and other two at Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works. The contract for four MILGEM Class Corvettes for Pakistan Navy was signed in 2018.
The corvettes feature one OTO Melara 76 mm naval gun, one Aselsan GOKDENIZ 35 mm close-in weapon system and two Aselsan STOP 25 mm remote weapon stations. The corvettes feature two triple-cell launchers for six anti-ship missiles, it is believed that they may actually be the Harbah anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) currently in service with the Pakistan Navy. As for its anti-air warfare (AAW) capabilities, the corvettes feature a 12-cell GWS-26 vertical launching system (VLS) configuration. As for its anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities, the corvettes feature two 3-cell Mark 32 324 mm lightweight torpedo tubes.
The PN MILGEM class is equipped with the SMART-S Mk2 passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radar, license manufactured by Aselsan. The SMART-S Mk2 is a three-dimensional, multi-beam, long-range suraface/aerial surveillance radar, featuring an azimuth of 360o, with the capability to track both aerial and surface targets – at ranges of approximately 250 km (160 mi) and 80 km (50 mi), respectively. The corvettes feature the Meteksan YAKAMOS sonar system, as its primary sonar suite. The YAKAMOS is a hull-mounted anti-submarine/obstacle-avoidance sonar, capable of detecting sub-surface targets within an azimuth of 360o azimuth over a range of 230 km (140 mi).
