Xestan
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2009
- Messages
- 2,455
- Reaction score
- 1
- Country
- Location
Analyzing notable additions to the Pakistan Navy
Pakistan recently concluded one of the largest naval exercises of its history. The exercise named 'SEASPARK-12' mobilized all arms of the Pakistan Navy to the Arabian Sea where more than 40,000 officers and sailors tested their combat skills in a real-time war like simulation.
Where all the existing assets were again tested in SEASPARK-12, there are a few new weapon systems which the navy tested for the first time ever. These include the Chinese ZDK-03 AWACS of the Pakistan Air Force which were assigned to provide AEW cover for the maritime forces and some newly acquired low-level radars and AA guns.
Induction of 2nd Marines Battalion
On October 15 2012, Pakistan Navy commissioned the 2nd Marines Battalion and formally inducted Type-90 twin-35 mm towed AA gun, a Chinese built copy of Swiss Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon, alongwith 10 Skyguard all-weather fire control radar systems which will be integrated with the AA guns.
Commissioning ceremony of the 2nd Marines Battalion in Pakistan Navy
Let us analyze the addition of this battalion into Pakistan Navy:
The Pakistan Marines are an expeditionary naval warfare branch of the Pakistani military, similar to the United States Marine Corps and British Royal Marines.
Although not separate from the Navy, Pakistan Marines still have an independent structure. Currently, the number of marines are speculated to be around 4500. With the commission of this new battalion, numbers may have gone up to 5000. Reportedly, Pakistan Navy plans to grow the marines to the strength of a Brigade by 2015, with a long-term plan of increasing it to Corps level, comprising of approximately 45,000 troops.
Pakistan Marines are currently assigned with the security of naval installations as well as defence of coastal areas. They are also deployed in the creek border areas, most notably in the disputed Sir Creek region.
The Pakistan Marines also have Air Defence units which are deployed in and around naval installations for point-defence. The 2nd Marines battalion was commissioned alongside the 21st Air Defence Battalion, equipped with the latest Skyguard radar-controlled Chinese Type-90 AA guns.
Type-90 35mm AA guns (left)
Photos from the commissioning ceremony show a variety of weapons that are being inducted, including MG-3 (MG1A3) light machine guns, locally-built Anza MK-III Shoulder fired SAMs and some batteries of the Type-90 AA guns.
Though not seen in photos or videos of this ceremony, reports are that this battalion will be equipped with Chinese FN-6 MANPADS and French-built Mistral missiles as well, both of which are already in use by the Pakistan Navy.
Aerial defence systems
The Type-90 twin-35 mm towed AA gun is a Chinese version of the Swiss Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon, one of the most proven low-level Air Defence systems in the world. Pakistan Army's Air Defence units already use around 200 of these guns, most of which are old GDF-002 variants; some reports suggest that a few dozen of the GDF-002 variants were later modified to GDF-005 and GDF-007 (AHEAD) variants.
The guns recently introduced to the Pakistan Navy are not Swiss but Chinese. Even though the Chinese Type-90 is based on old GDF-002 variants, nonetheless according to sources, Chinese manufacturers have improved the capabilities of this gun to the level of a GDF-005 variant. A few reports also confirm that China is also producing Type-90 AA guns with the capability to fire AHEAD rounds. An AHEAD round is a special type of ammunition which is designed to be fired by Oerlikon 35 mm AA guns; its specialty is that it is fired like a normal round but when it reaches 10-30 metres in front of its target, an automatically-timed fuse ignites the ejection charge releasing a payload of heavy metal pallets which hit the target with devastating effects. To explain its impact on the target in an easy way, it is akin to a shotgun fire but with a lot of payload.
Sources for TX in the military suggest that the AA guns acquired by Pakistan Navy are indeed modified to fire AHEAD ammunition. However, these claims could not be confirmed from secondary sources.
These Type-90 AA guns are integrated with the Swiss Skyguard fire control radars, thus making them even more potent. Skyguard is trailer-mounted with a fully air-conditioned fire-resistant cabin which houses a crew of two. It uses a pulse doppler search radar, a pulse doppler tracking radar and a co-axial TV camera. The pulse doppler search radar has a range of 20 km with a very fine detection capability against low-flying threats. Both the radars, including the tracking radar as well, are very high resistant to ECMs.
Skyguard fire control radar unit
A Skyguard fire-control system and two 35 mm AA guns make one battery. Pakistan had ordered around 10 new Skyguard radar systems, of which unknown numbers are inducted by the Navy; our guess is that all of them were.
The Oerlikon Skyguard® 3 fire control unit and its two Oerlikon Twin Gun® GDF007 35mm anti-aircraft cannons
These Type-90 AA guns are remotely controlled by the Skyguard fire control system, mentioned in the official statement by the Pakistan Navy as 'radar-controlled guns'. The Skyguard radar system works as eyes and ears of the guns. Although these guns can also be manually controlled, maximum capability is only achieved through Skyguard radars which can detect targets flying 20 km away. When a particular target comes in sight, the controller for the Skyguard fire control system can direct fire from the guns to targets in a maximum range of 3.5 km. If, for some reason, the radar is out of order or is hit by the enemy in SEAD operations, two men crew (gunner and loader) can fire the guns manually as well. This is a very big advantage in an EW environment.
With the capability of AHEAD rounds and fire control of Skyguard radars, these Type-90 AA guns can prove to be very lethal against cruise missile threats as well. Similarly, other threats that can also be targeted by this system including incoming missiles such as ARMs, low-flying helicopters and jets.
There is no doubt that these batteries, along with MANPADS provide the Pakistan Navy with a very powerful low-level air defence but there is still a long way to go in medium and high-altitude air defence domains, which we know are quite weak in other arms of the Pakistani military as well.
Pakistan Navy needs to strengthen the security of its bases even more, especially against aerial threats from the east. Needless to say, the addition of these aerial defence defence systems is a step towards that direction.
Terminal X: Analyzing notable additions to the Pakistan Navy
Pakistan recently concluded one of the largest naval exercises of its history. The exercise named 'SEASPARK-12' mobilized all arms of the Pakistan Navy to the Arabian Sea where more than 40,000 officers and sailors tested their combat skills in a real-time war like simulation.
Where all the existing assets were again tested in SEASPARK-12, there are a few new weapon systems which the navy tested for the first time ever. These include the Chinese ZDK-03 AWACS of the Pakistan Air Force which were assigned to provide AEW cover for the maritime forces and some newly acquired low-level radars and AA guns.
Induction of 2nd Marines Battalion
On October 15 2012, Pakistan Navy commissioned the 2nd Marines Battalion and formally inducted Type-90 twin-35 mm towed AA gun, a Chinese built copy of Swiss Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon, alongwith 10 Skyguard all-weather fire control radar systems which will be integrated with the AA guns.
Commissioning ceremony of the 2nd Marines Battalion in Pakistan Navy
Let us analyze the addition of this battalion into Pakistan Navy:
The Pakistan Marines are an expeditionary naval warfare branch of the Pakistani military, similar to the United States Marine Corps and British Royal Marines.
Although not separate from the Navy, Pakistan Marines still have an independent structure. Currently, the number of marines are speculated to be around 4500. With the commission of this new battalion, numbers may have gone up to 5000. Reportedly, Pakistan Navy plans to grow the marines to the strength of a Brigade by 2015, with a long-term plan of increasing it to Corps level, comprising of approximately 45,000 troops.
Pakistan Marines are currently assigned with the security of naval installations as well as defence of coastal areas. They are also deployed in the creek border areas, most notably in the disputed Sir Creek region.
The Pakistan Marines also have Air Defence units which are deployed in and around naval installations for point-defence. The 2nd Marines battalion was commissioned alongside the 21st Air Defence Battalion, equipped with the latest Skyguard radar-controlled Chinese Type-90 AA guns.
Type-90 35mm AA guns (left)
Photos from the commissioning ceremony show a variety of weapons that are being inducted, including MG-3 (MG1A3) light machine guns, locally-built Anza MK-III Shoulder fired SAMs and some batteries of the Type-90 AA guns.
Though not seen in photos or videos of this ceremony, reports are that this battalion will be equipped with Chinese FN-6 MANPADS and French-built Mistral missiles as well, both of which are already in use by the Pakistan Navy.
Aerial defence systems
The Type-90 twin-35 mm towed AA gun is a Chinese version of the Swiss Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon, one of the most proven low-level Air Defence systems in the world. Pakistan Army's Air Defence units already use around 200 of these guns, most of which are old GDF-002 variants; some reports suggest that a few dozen of the GDF-002 variants were later modified to GDF-005 and GDF-007 (AHEAD) variants.
The guns recently introduced to the Pakistan Navy are not Swiss but Chinese. Even though the Chinese Type-90 is based on old GDF-002 variants, nonetheless according to sources, Chinese manufacturers have improved the capabilities of this gun to the level of a GDF-005 variant. A few reports also confirm that China is also producing Type-90 AA guns with the capability to fire AHEAD rounds. An AHEAD round is a special type of ammunition which is designed to be fired by Oerlikon 35 mm AA guns; its specialty is that it is fired like a normal round but when it reaches 10-30 metres in front of its target, an automatically-timed fuse ignites the ejection charge releasing a payload of heavy metal pallets which hit the target with devastating effects. To explain its impact on the target in an easy way, it is akin to a shotgun fire but with a lot of payload.
Sources for TX in the military suggest that the AA guns acquired by Pakistan Navy are indeed modified to fire AHEAD ammunition. However, these claims could not be confirmed from secondary sources.
These Type-90 AA guns are integrated with the Swiss Skyguard fire control radars, thus making them even more potent. Skyguard is trailer-mounted with a fully air-conditioned fire-resistant cabin which houses a crew of two. It uses a pulse doppler search radar, a pulse doppler tracking radar and a co-axial TV camera. The pulse doppler search radar has a range of 20 km with a very fine detection capability against low-flying threats. Both the radars, including the tracking radar as well, are very high resistant to ECMs.
Skyguard fire control radar unit
A Skyguard fire-control system and two 35 mm AA guns make one battery. Pakistan had ordered around 10 new Skyguard radar systems, of which unknown numbers are inducted by the Navy; our guess is that all of them were.
The Oerlikon Skyguard® 3 fire control unit and its two Oerlikon Twin Gun® GDF007 35mm anti-aircraft cannons
These Type-90 AA guns are remotely controlled by the Skyguard fire control system, mentioned in the official statement by the Pakistan Navy as 'radar-controlled guns'. The Skyguard radar system works as eyes and ears of the guns. Although these guns can also be manually controlled, maximum capability is only achieved through Skyguard radars which can detect targets flying 20 km away. When a particular target comes in sight, the controller for the Skyguard fire control system can direct fire from the guns to targets in a maximum range of 3.5 km. If, for some reason, the radar is out of order or is hit by the enemy in SEAD operations, two men crew (gunner and loader) can fire the guns manually as well. This is a very big advantage in an EW environment.
With the capability of AHEAD rounds and fire control of Skyguard radars, these Type-90 AA guns can prove to be very lethal against cruise missile threats as well. Similarly, other threats that can also be targeted by this system including incoming missiles such as ARMs, low-flying helicopters and jets.
There is no doubt that these batteries, along with MANPADS provide the Pakistan Navy with a very powerful low-level air defence but there is still a long way to go in medium and high-altitude air defence domains, which we know are quite weak in other arms of the Pakistani military as well.
Pakistan Navy needs to strengthen the security of its bases even more, especially against aerial threats from the east. Needless to say, the addition of these aerial defence defence systems is a step towards that direction.
Terminal X: Analyzing notable additions to the Pakistan Navy
