Pakistan Navy To Acquire Four Chinese F-22 P Frigates By 2013
Dated 13/4/2007
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A parliamentary standing committee in Pakistan has announced that the country would get an F-22 P frigate from China in 2009, and that three more frigates would be delivered by 2013.
Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence, Nisar A. Memon announced this after returning from the weeklong visit to China.
"Three frigates will be manufactured in China and one in Karachi. China would also equip these frigates with six helicopters. During our visit, we focussed on enhancing ties with China in various fields, particularly in defence and defence production," the Daily Times quoted him as saying.
According to another report in Dawn, while first three of the frigates would be built in China, the fourth would come up in Karachi. China would equip these frigates with six helicopters.
Memon said that China, under the agreement with Pakistan, would also transfer technology to indigenously-build submarines.
The F-22P is an improved version of the Chinese Type 053H3 frigate currently on order by the Pakistan Navy (PN). The first ship is expected to be delivered to the PN in 2008 with the remainder by 2013. The last F-22P will be built by Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW). China and Pakistan finalized the $750mn deal last year - it also includes 4-6 Z-9EC helicopters as well as ammunition for the frigates. The first ship has been named the PNS Zulfiqar.
The Zulfiqar Class is armed with 8 C-802 surface-to-surface and 8 FM-90 (improved HQ-7) surface-to-air missiles. However the F-22P uses the Russian AK-176M 76.2mm as its main gun, instead of Chinese 100mm counterpart. Physically the F-22P has a stealthier platform as it uses some of the Type 054 frigate's Radar Cross Sectional (RCS) reduction concepts.