The Pakistani guided missile frigate PNS Taimur, which was manufactured in China, has been given permission by Sri Lanka to call at Colombo on its way to Karachi, where it will join the Pakistan Navy.
The battleship, which was constructed in Shanghai at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard, is making its first trip to Pakistan while participating in exercises with the navies of Malaysia and Cambodia. From August 12–15, 2022, the ship is anticipated to be in Colombo harbour.
The Pakistan Navy Ship (PNS) Taimur visited Malaysia and took part in the MAL-PAK IV bilateral exercise.
Although Sri Lanka permitted the Pakistani guided missile frigate to dock in Colombo, it is believed that the Sheikh Hasina administration forbade the ship from docking in Chattogram port.
While Sri Lanka permitted the Pakistani guided missile frigate to dock in Colombo, it is believed that the Sheikh Hasina administration denied the ship permission to dock at Chattogram from August 7–10 after it docked in Malaysia’s Lumut port.
According to diplomatic sources, Bangladesh, a close friend of India, denied permission to PNS Taimur because August is Sheikh Hasina’s month of mourning for her father’s assassination on August 15, 1975, by Pakistan-instigated and Jamait-e-Islami-inspired extremist Islamist militants.
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In the first week of September, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is due to go to India, where she would join PM Modi in launching the 1320 Mega Watt Maitree Super Thermal Power Project at Rampal in the Khulna subdivision.
On June 23, 2022, PNS Taimur, the second of four Type 054 A/P frigates built in China, was commissioned. PMNS Tughril, the class’s captain, was commissioned on January 24, 2022.
To strategically flank India on the high seas, China is also constructing eight Yuan class -041 diesel attack submarines for Pakistan by 2028.
For the Pakistan Navy, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (HDZH) is constructing a series of modified guided-missile frigates known as the Tughril-class frigates, officially known as the Type 054A/P frigates.
The Type 054A/P is a modified derivative of the Type 054A frigate that was specially tailored to meet the operational needs of the Pakistan Navy. The class is equipped with a number of capabilities, such as low radar observability, anti-surface warfare (ASuW), anti-aircraft warfare (AAW), and anti-submarine warfare (ASW).
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The frigates will likely serve as the backbone of the Pakistan Navy’s operational naval fleet. Additionally, the class is expected to replace Pakistan’s outdated Tariq-class destroyers.
They are 4,200 tonnes in displacement, 134 m (439 ft 8 in) long, and 16 m (52 ft 6 in) wide (4100 long tons). The ships’ max speed is 27 knots, or 50 km/h or 31 mph.
The People’s Liberation Army Naval Air Force’s Harbin Z-9EC naval helicopter, a Pakistani-specific anti-submarine (ASW) variant of the Harbin Z-9C, is part of the aviation equipment on board the frigates. The Z-9EC will also be armed with CM-501GA land-attack missiles, which have an estimated range of 40 kilometres.
The frigates are outfitted with a flight deck and an enclosed aviation hangar that can fit a single Kamov Ka-27 medium-lift helicopter, an unmanned aerial vehicle, or a Z-9 medium-lift helicopter (UAV).