What we need to acquire is ship of a kind with lower displacement having proper air defence plus capability to attack ships.
Through this approach we would have several number of ships With capabilities of attacking and at the same time self defence.
It would be better to acquire 3 ships of 1000-1500 tons instead of a larger ship of 3000-4000 tons to build capabilities and fleet numbers to improve presence and availability in the oceans.
Tnx
We have a workable design and experience in the form of Azmat class what we need is to increase its capabilities by increasing its weight and size a little to accommodate few medium range sams and increase its attacking power from 8 16 ssms same like the sa'ar class of Israel.
Pakistan is not living in Israels neighborhood, the Indian navy is more potent then the navies of all the Arab states combined. Pakistan needs cost effective multirole ships to defend its fleet and shipping lanes. They need to be able to have the fleet operate independently of the shore with actual air cover provided by the ships. They must be able to return sufficient fire on opposing vessels. To that effect, a 16 cell vls if utilizing quad-packable medium range sams and the ship is able to equip at least 8 AShm, then yes by all means go for the smaller ship (although range will suffer, that is not a major concern in this theater). But i suspect, given the minimum 4.3-5m required to have a vls long enough for current quack packed SAMs, you wont be to find a 1500t capable of fielding a sufficient defense against saturation style attacks mostly due to cost (would need to be custom designed for such a thing) . A 3000-4000t ship is most likely necessary.
Well we already have 11-12 Ships , so we would be adding another 10 Units , and if we choose the correct type of Ships , which come with Anti Ship , Anti Air and Anti Submarine solution , then our money would be spent worth while.
251 PNS Zulfiquar
252 PNS Shamsheer
253 PNS Saif
254 PNS Aslat
F-181 PNS Tariq
F-182 PNS Babur
F-183 PNS Khaibar
F-185 PNS Shah Jahan
F-186 PNS Tippu Sultan
PNS Alamgir
1013 PNS Azmat
1014 PNS Dehshat
1015 PNS Dehshat2
If there are constraints in budget we can part few of the frigates near the gawadar port and restrict patrols untill the large ships are needed
We will continue to boost our Navy from the looks of things
Since our fleet is normally living around the coast line we already have that air zone covered
But the ships also have their own counter meassures against Aireal threat
Arrival of 4 Frigates (Destroyers) and 6 Corvettes , will further solidify the Navy
Obviously for enemy ships , we also have few other plans "Zarb Missile"
So firstly, considering the type 21s for anything more than target practice or antipiracy missions at this point is laughable. They need badly to be decommissioned and are 10 years past their retirement date. Including FAC as major surface combatant when they are actually patrol and support ships is misleading. You currently have 9 large surface combatants of which 5 are fairly useless in modern warfare when compared to your main opponent. And of the vessels you mentioned, none provide even a passable air defense (by that i mean they cant truely defend against air launchdd and surface launched missile strikes in a sufficient manner, let alone a saturation style attack with 6-8 missiles). PN needs to make full effort to replace the T21s with the retiring Adelaides and then get 4 turkish or chinese multimission frigates (capable of utilizing at least medium range SAMs). The notion that coastal air defense batteries and land based fighters are sufficient air protection for the fleet means you have given yourself up to blockade. The fleet needs the capability and capacity to operate undeterred in open waters. It needs to be self sufficient amd any protection it recieves from the shore is icing.
I have previously laide out a plan for cost effective modernization for PN which will enable it to field 12 large surface combatants of which 8 are fully multirole, while adding 4 high quality, high payload capable ASW Aircraft capable of Antishipping as well, for under $2bln. I am fully cognizant that PN wouldnt actually do it, mostly because they seem to have a lack of imagination, and an unnatural disregard for air defense despite the fact that history has shown us airpower equals control.
The Alamghir was acquired via hot transfer for $65m. It was refurbished and equipped with Harpoons by PN. The 3 remaining Adelaides however can be acquired for similar price via hot transfer (taking it directly from retirement service to the new nation without storage or mothballing). You get it as is. The major advantage is that these vessels already have 8 cell mk41 vls systems and they have their Mk13 launchers intact. These were designed to carry sm1-mr and harpoon but as sm1 wont be available to Pakistan, load these 3 up with harpoon (up to 40 missiles in the mk13 cylinder). Get a south korean vls or the Sylver A43/A50 8 cell units for Alamghir and equip all 4 ships with K-SAAM (of vls is korean) or CAMM (if Sylver vls is acquired). These 4 ohp will be suitable replacements for the T21s and will actually outgun any frigate/destroyer in IN except maybe Kalkota class (but likely that as well) with 32 MR-SAMs and 8(Alamghir) - 40 (Adelaides) AShMs. The cost of these vessels will run ~$195-200M total with likely an additional $100-200M in upgrades (GENESIS systems and SMART S Mk2 from Turkey). Then get 4 I-class frigates equipped with the same VLS System and medium range SAM as the OHPs (for fleet commonality and improves logistics). Equip them with 2 ciws and a 24 cell fl3000n and you also carry 16 AShM (250km range of Atacama) or 10 Zarb missiles. With 64 MR-SAMs, 24 short range SAMs these will also outgun any vessel in IN for a total of $1.3bln ($325M/ship). Next go for 4 Y-8GX6 ASW aircraft capable of carrying 8 Torpedoes or 4 AShM and in partnership with ATR and Orion amd your surface fleet, you have a strong antisub amd Antishipping capability. These acquisitions will cost ~$2B (200M for adelaides, 1.3B for I-class, ~200M for Y-8GX6 and 100-200M for upgrades to Alamghir /Adelaides).
With F-22p the deck housing the FM90 is roughly 2M tall. Keep the deck but take the 1st level below it and place the same vls launcher as the OHPs and I-class with 16-24 cells and add a 24 cell fl3000n launer over the rear hangar. If thats not possible then replace FM-90 with 2 boxes for DK-10 or hq16 (8 total), arranged like harpoon on Alamghir, and a 24 cell fl3000n launcher over the helicopter hanger. That at least provides reasonable defense. Get SMART-S Mk2 for them amd a genesis combat management system. This would likely cost ~350-500M.
This gives you 12 large truely multirole large surface combatants against 25 such vessels (not including carriers) in IN. Add to that 11 AIP equipped subs, 4 Azmat and 6 other FAC (hopefully FAC-55) and you have the makings of a strong navy.
It buys time for larger vessels such as destroyers when each of your vessels can hold its own. In future PN could look at vessels like type 057 all the way up to tf2000 or type 055. But not yet. The economy needs to improve amd this cost effective way to do it allows you the breathing room to do it.
