Maaaz Khan
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just saw navy protocol yesterday on kpt port, it was just "WOW' , they were travelling with around 100kmph (Y)
Pakistan Navy | News & Discussions.
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fatman17
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Militancy
- Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) spokesman Usama Mahmood, released a nine-page “press release” on his official Twitter feed on September 29 explaining the group’s September attack that aimed to target the U.S. and Indian navies. The statement claims that the Pakistani government has suppressed news regarding the extent to which the plot was successful. It also claims that the attack took place at sea on September 3 and not in the Karachi naval dockyard on September 6, as Pakistani military sources claim, and that all the militants involved were current or former naval officers.[1]
so the world is going to believe them.......how can former naval officers be on the FFG at sea?
fatman17
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Naval dockyard attack: How significant is the infiltration threat?
By Reuters
— File photo.
KARACHI: Months after Owais Jakhrani was sacked from the Pakistan navy for radical religious views, he led an audacious mission to take over a warship and turn its guns on a US naval vessel in the open seas.
The early September dawn raid at a naval base in the southern city of Karachi was thwarted, but not before Jakhrani, two officers and an unidentified fourth assailant snuck past a patrol boat in a dinghy and engaged in an intense firefight on or around the warship, PNS Zulfiqar.
Four people were killed in the attempt to hijack the Zulfiqar, including Jakhrani and two accomplices, who were serving sub-lieutenants, according to police reports seen by Reuters.
Officials are divided about how much support the young man in his mid-20s had from inside the navy. They also stress that Jakhrani and his accomplices were a long way from achieving their aim when they were killed.
But the attack, claimed by Al Qaeda's newly created South Asian wing, has highlighted the threat of militant infiltration into the military.
The issue is a sensitive one for the armed forces, which have received billions of dollars of U.S. aid since 2001 when they joined Washington's global campaign against al Qaeda.
According to an initial statement from Al Qaeda, the plan was to use the Zulfiqar to attack a U.S. navy vessel, meaning potential loss of American lives and a blow to relations between the two nations.
A further statement issued by the group identified the target as USS Supply, a US naval ship used to refuel warships at sea. The Indian navy was also a target, the statement said.
It urged followers to “make jihad on the seas one of their priorities,” according to the SITE intelligence group, which monitors extremist communications.
A naval spokesperson said an inquiry was still ongoing when Reuters contacted the military with detailed questions about the incident. The military typically does not publish its inquiries.
“The Reuters story is not based on facts,” he said. “All the facts will be ascertained once the inquiry is finalised.” Most Pakistani military officials deny infiltration is a significant problem.
Yet Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told parliament the attackers could only have breached security with inside help.
One navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the press, said at least eight navy personnel had been arrested based on the attackers' phone records, including four aboard the Zulfiqar.
Three serving mid-level lieutenant commanders from Karachi were also arrested in the western city of Quetta, allegedly trying to flee to Afghanistan two days after the botched raid, officials said.
Further arrests were made in Karachi, Peshawar, and northwestern Pakistan, they added.
The "mastermind"
The plot's mastermind was sub-lieutenant Jakhrani, either 25 or 26 years old, whose father is a senior police officer in Karachi, officials said.
He was fired several months ago during his probationary training period, according to a senior naval officer.
“He used to ask questions about why there is no break for prayers given during the course of training sessions,” the officer said. “He used to question seniors.”
Earlier this year, Jakhrani traveled to Afghanistan to meet militant leaders and receive combat training, according to two officials. They said that he had told his bosses before departing that he needed to take leave to study for exams.
But Jakhrani failed his exams and alarmed colleagues with his militant views.
“We found literature and material on his person that no one can be allowed to have. His colleagues reported his views and he was then closely watched and monitored and finally dismissed,” one official said.
Once he left the navy, information on his movements and plans was patchy.
Intelligence officials tipped off the navy days before the attack that a raid was imminent, according to two officials. But Jakhrani, who had an insider's knowledge of the Karachi base, did not appear to be closely monitored.
Imtiaz Gul, head of the Islamabad-based think tank the Centre for Research and Security Studies, said senior generals were aware of a long-standing weakness in surveillance of military officials dismissed for extremism.
“They don't have a tracking system for officers who are dismissed or asked to leave the service (for radical views),” said Gul. “That makes it very difficult to track if they have joined extremist groups.” Chris Rawley, vice president of the Washington D.C.-based think tank the Center for International Maritime Security, said the attack never looked likely to succeed.
But underlining one of the United States' biggest fears, he added: “The fact that maybe there are some collaborators in the navy is worrying because maybe there are collaborators among others that have purview over nuclear weapons.”
Similar fears about militant infiltration and the sympathies of junior officers were raised after sophisticated attacks penetrated a Karachi naval base in 2011 and the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi in 2009.
The attack
The Karachi attack came two days after al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri announced the formation of a new wing, al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. The region, stretching across India to Bangladesh, is home to more than 400 million Muslims.
“The targets were the American and the Indian navies!” the group said in a statement carried by SITE intelligence group.
The statement threatened US naval allies that seek to secure maritime routes and prevent the movement of militants.
It claimed that jihadi fighters had launched an attack aboard the Zulfiqar and another ship, the PNS Aslat, and had killed many naval officers. A police report that Reuters saw recorded one sailor's death on the Zulfiqar, and did not mention the Aslat.
Militants have launched attacks on top Pakistani security installations before, but this plot sought to strike at the heart of the alliance between Pakistan and the United States.
At least four attackers wearing navy uniforms snuck past the patrol boat, arriving at the Zulfiqar as the dawn shift change was due, a navy official said.
A sailor on board challenged them, leading to a shootout that ended when the ship's gunner fired anti-ship guns at the attackers, according to the navy official and the police report.
“The special services group commandos arrived from their nearby base and eliminated at least one attacker who had taken position below the deck,” said a naval officer who worked on the base.
“Meanwhile, reinforcements of naval commandos came from the nearby (unit) Iqbal. The commandos came in with their gadgetry of jammers and a lab which absorbed all the data being transmitted from the ship at that moment.” In total, three attackers and one sailor were killed, police reports and autopsies showed.
A policeman said he raced to the dockyard when he heard a blast, but the military told him it was part of celebrations for Pakistan Defence Day, which fell on the day of the attack.
The navy official said it was not clear what caused the blast, but it could have been either a grenade or suicide vest.
Witnesses' statements differ in some aspects to an account given by another security official, who said Jakhrani and five attackers were killed by a gunner on the ship who fired on their dinghy before they boarded.
One Pakistani security official said the threat posed by the plot to a US ship in the region should not be exaggerated.
“It was not a success and trying to make it look like it was is unfair propaganda. Hijacking a navy ship isn't a joke,” the official said. “We can all be alarmists if we want but this is not some Hollywood film.”
By Reuters
— File photo.
KARACHI: Months after Owais Jakhrani was sacked from the Pakistan navy for radical religious views, he led an audacious mission to take over a warship and turn its guns on a US naval vessel in the open seas.
The early September dawn raid at a naval base in the southern city of Karachi was thwarted, but not before Jakhrani, two officers and an unidentified fourth assailant snuck past a patrol boat in a dinghy and engaged in an intense firefight on or around the warship, PNS Zulfiqar.
Four people were killed in the attempt to hijack the Zulfiqar, including Jakhrani and two accomplices, who were serving sub-lieutenants, according to police reports seen by Reuters.
Officials are divided about how much support the young man in his mid-20s had from inside the navy. They also stress that Jakhrani and his accomplices were a long way from achieving their aim when they were killed.
But the attack, claimed by Al Qaeda's newly created South Asian wing, has highlighted the threat of militant infiltration into the military.
The issue is a sensitive one for the armed forces, which have received billions of dollars of U.S. aid since 2001 when they joined Washington's global campaign against al Qaeda.
According to an initial statement from Al Qaeda, the plan was to use the Zulfiqar to attack a U.S. navy vessel, meaning potential loss of American lives and a blow to relations between the two nations.
A further statement issued by the group identified the target as USS Supply, a US naval ship used to refuel warships at sea. The Indian navy was also a target, the statement said.
It urged followers to “make jihad on the seas one of their priorities,” according to the SITE intelligence group, which monitors extremist communications.
A naval spokesperson said an inquiry was still ongoing when Reuters contacted the military with detailed questions about the incident. The military typically does not publish its inquiries.
“The Reuters story is not based on facts,” he said. “All the facts will be ascertained once the inquiry is finalised.” Most Pakistani military officials deny infiltration is a significant problem.
Yet Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told parliament the attackers could only have breached security with inside help.
One navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the press, said at least eight navy personnel had been arrested based on the attackers' phone records, including four aboard the Zulfiqar.
Three serving mid-level lieutenant commanders from Karachi were also arrested in the western city of Quetta, allegedly trying to flee to Afghanistan two days after the botched raid, officials said.
Further arrests were made in Karachi, Peshawar, and northwestern Pakistan, they added.
The "mastermind"
The plot's mastermind was sub-lieutenant Jakhrani, either 25 or 26 years old, whose father is a senior police officer in Karachi, officials said.
He was fired several months ago during his probationary training period, according to a senior naval officer.
“He used to ask questions about why there is no break for prayers given during the course of training sessions,” the officer said. “He used to question seniors.”
Earlier this year, Jakhrani traveled to Afghanistan to meet militant leaders and receive combat training, according to two officials. They said that he had told his bosses before departing that he needed to take leave to study for exams.
But Jakhrani failed his exams and alarmed colleagues with his militant views.
“We found literature and material on his person that no one can be allowed to have. His colleagues reported his views and he was then closely watched and monitored and finally dismissed,” one official said.
Once he left the navy, information on his movements and plans was patchy.
Intelligence officials tipped off the navy days before the attack that a raid was imminent, according to two officials. But Jakhrani, who had an insider's knowledge of the Karachi base, did not appear to be closely monitored.
Imtiaz Gul, head of the Islamabad-based think tank the Centre for Research and Security Studies, said senior generals were aware of a long-standing weakness in surveillance of military officials dismissed for extremism.
“They don't have a tracking system for officers who are dismissed or asked to leave the service (for radical views),” said Gul. “That makes it very difficult to track if they have joined extremist groups.” Chris Rawley, vice president of the Washington D.C.-based think tank the Center for International Maritime Security, said the attack never looked likely to succeed.
But underlining one of the United States' biggest fears, he added: “The fact that maybe there are some collaborators in the navy is worrying because maybe there are collaborators among others that have purview over nuclear weapons.”
Similar fears about militant infiltration and the sympathies of junior officers were raised after sophisticated attacks penetrated a Karachi naval base in 2011 and the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi in 2009.
The attack
The Karachi attack came two days after al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri announced the formation of a new wing, al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. The region, stretching across India to Bangladesh, is home to more than 400 million Muslims.
“The targets were the American and the Indian navies!” the group said in a statement carried by SITE intelligence group.
The statement threatened US naval allies that seek to secure maritime routes and prevent the movement of militants.
It claimed that jihadi fighters had launched an attack aboard the Zulfiqar and another ship, the PNS Aslat, and had killed many naval officers. A police report that Reuters saw recorded one sailor's death on the Zulfiqar, and did not mention the Aslat.
Militants have launched attacks on top Pakistani security installations before, but this plot sought to strike at the heart of the alliance between Pakistan and the United States.
At least four attackers wearing navy uniforms snuck past the patrol boat, arriving at the Zulfiqar as the dawn shift change was due, a navy official said.
A sailor on board challenged them, leading to a shootout that ended when the ship's gunner fired anti-ship guns at the attackers, according to the navy official and the police report.
“The special services group commandos arrived from their nearby base and eliminated at least one attacker who had taken position below the deck,” said a naval officer who worked on the base.
“Meanwhile, reinforcements of naval commandos came from the nearby (unit) Iqbal. The commandos came in with their gadgetry of jammers and a lab which absorbed all the data being transmitted from the ship at that moment.” In total, three attackers and one sailor were killed, police reports and autopsies showed.
A policeman said he raced to the dockyard when he heard a blast, but the military told him it was part of celebrations for Pakistan Defence Day, which fell on the day of the attack.
The navy official said it was not clear what caused the blast, but it could have been either a grenade or suicide vest.
Witnesses' statements differ in some aspects to an account given by another security official, who said Jakhrani and five attackers were killed by a gunner on the ship who fired on their dinghy before they boarded.
One Pakistani security official said the threat posed by the plot to a US ship in the region should not be exaggerated.
“It was not a success and trying to make it look like it was is unfair propaganda. Hijacking a navy ship isn't a joke,” the official said. “We can all be alarmists if we want but this is not some Hollywood film.”
fatman17
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’Story of the Pakistan Navy’ formally launched
Tuesday, 30 September 2014 13:14 Posted by Parvez Jabri
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Navy formally launched the second volume of Book "Story of the Pakistan Navy" aimed at providing an insight of growth and progression of Pakistan Navy to the future generations here.
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandila graced the launching ceremony yesterday as chief guest.
This latest volume of Book covers the decade long period from 1972-1983, narrating the revitalizing phase of Pakistan Navy and focuses on the significant events and developments made during the period which shaped the subsequent growth of Pakistan Navy.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandila lauded the conscious contributions made by veteran Pakistan Navy Officers who played a significant role in compilation of this Book which will serve to provide an insight of growth & progression of Pakistan Navy to the future generations.
The ceremony was attended by a large number of serving and veteran officers and dignitaries.
APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2014
is this available to the public...?
Tuesday, 30 September 2014 13:14 Posted by Parvez Jabri
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Navy formally launched the second volume of Book "Story of the Pakistan Navy" aimed at providing an insight of growth and progression of Pakistan Navy to the future generations here.
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandila graced the launching ceremony yesterday as chief guest.
This latest volume of Book covers the decade long period from 1972-1983, narrating the revitalizing phase of Pakistan Navy and focuses on the significant events and developments made during the period which shaped the subsequent growth of Pakistan Navy.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandila lauded the conscious contributions made by veteran Pakistan Navy Officers who played a significant role in compilation of this Book which will serve to provide an insight of growth & progression of Pakistan Navy to the future generations.
The ceremony was attended by a large number of serving and veteran officers and dignitaries.
APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2014
is this available to the public...?
fatman17
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Military
what na mahloom muqam - its arabian sea.
check item no.4: is PN looking for LAW's Rockets for the PN Marines?
- On October 2, President Mamnoon Hussain promoted Vice Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah to the rank of Admiral and appointed him as the Chief of Naval Staff for the Pakistan Navy, on the advice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Admiral Zakaullah is expected to assume command on October 7 at Navy Headquarters in Islamabad. He has previously commanded the Pakistan Naval Academy and the 25th Destroyer Squadron.[8]
what na mahloom muqam - its arabian sea.
check item no.4: is PN looking for LAW's Rockets for the PN Marines?
Last edited:
Arsalan
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It must be for Marines, i don't see requirement of a Light anti-Armour weapon on board a navy ship going out to sea. Also the numbers required, 50 makes it a unit level procurement and will almost certainly equip PN Marines.
fatman17
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PNS Moawin (Dutch Poolster Class)
For replenishment at sea PNS MOAWIN (A 20) was acquired MOAWAIN (Ex HMS POOLSTER) was transferred in July 1994 from the Dutch Navy. The ship has underway replenishment capabilities. PNS MOAWIN was commissioned as HNLMS POOLSTER on 10 September 1964. Her first trip after commissioning was of USA and Caribbean Sea in 1965. In 1967 the ship underwent modernization in which RAS stations 5 & 6 were modified and in 1972 Derrick rig was replaced by the Tension rig at station 5 & 6.
During her services in the Dutch Navy she participated in NATO Exercises. From 1964 to 1994 she carried out about 700 replenishments at sea. The ship was handed over to Pakistan Navy and re-commissioned as PNS MOAWIN on 28 July 1994 at Den Helder, Netherlands. MOAWIN, at present is one of the dynamic units of Pakistan Fleet and pride of the 9th Auxiliary Squadron. The ship had the opportunity to visit East/ South Africa & South East Asia.
Specifications
Propulsion Power 2 steam turbines (~22000 hp)
2 boilers
1 shaft
Speed 21 knots
Displacement 16800 tons
Cargo Capacity 10300 tons
Complement 15 officers, 200 sailors
Guns Vulcan Phalanx CIWS
Radars Navigational Decca 2459
Decca 1229C
Sonar CWE 10, Hull Mounted, active search
Helicopter Sea King
For replenishment at sea PNS MOAWIN (A 20) was acquired MOAWAIN (Ex HMS POOLSTER) was transferred in July 1994 from the Dutch Navy. The ship has underway replenishment capabilities. PNS MOAWIN was commissioned as HNLMS POOLSTER on 10 September 1964. Her first trip after commissioning was of USA and Caribbean Sea in 1965. In 1967 the ship underwent modernization in which RAS stations 5 & 6 were modified and in 1972 Derrick rig was replaced by the Tension rig at station 5 & 6.
During her services in the Dutch Navy she participated in NATO Exercises. From 1964 to 1994 she carried out about 700 replenishments at sea. The ship was handed over to Pakistan Navy and re-commissioned as PNS MOAWIN on 28 July 1994 at Den Helder, Netherlands. MOAWIN, at present is one of the dynamic units of Pakistan Fleet and pride of the 9th Auxiliary Squadron. The ship had the opportunity to visit East/ South Africa & South East Asia.
Specifications
Propulsion Power 2 steam turbines (~22000 hp)
2 boilers
1 shaft
Speed 21 knots
Displacement 16800 tons
Cargo Capacity 10300 tons
Complement 15 officers, 200 sailors
Guns Vulcan Phalanx CIWS
Radars Navigational Decca 2459
Decca 1229C
Sonar CWE 10, Hull Mounted, active search
Helicopter Sea King
Hurter
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Reports: Increase in Pakistan Defense and Nuclear Budgets Likely
May. 19, 2014 - 05:22PM | By USMAN ANSARI |
Media reports indicate a budget increase is coming for the Pakistani military. (Aamir Qureshi / AFP)
ISLAMABAD — Media reports here have outlined that Pakistan is set to increase funding for the armed forces and the national nuclear body, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), under the forthcoming 2014-FY2015 budget.
The budget would be just over US $81 million for the PAEC, up from nearly $63 million the previous year (which was later increased to $66 million).
Mansoor Ahmed, from Quaid-e-Azam University’s Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, who specializes in Pakistan’s national deterrent and delivery programs, said although the figures earmarked for the national nuclear body are mainly for a civilian power generation project, there are national security implications.
“This sum is primarily geared toward the construction of the two 1,000-megawatt generation-III safeguarded Chinese nuclear power reactors to be established at Karachi, K-1 and K-2, that were recently initiated by the prime minister,” he said.
However, he added, “Additional financial allocations are most likely earmarked for the unsafeguarded Khushab Nuclear Complex where the fourth plutonium production heavy water reactor is reportedly nearing completion.”
Ahmed said the Khushab Nuclear Complex has been vital in allowing Pakistan to modernize its national deterrent due to its central role in the production of plutonium.
“These and other classified projects are presumably aimed at the development of a new variety of lightweight, compact and more powerful and efficient weapon designs, suitable for a variety of ballistic and cruise missiles, that require additional fissile material [plutonium] production, and fuel fabrication in addition to maintaining and improving existing infrastructure.
“All this has been possible due to the steady enhancement of indigenous manufacturing capabilities developed by the PAEC during the past 35 years,” he added.
The budget increase for the armed forces is also significant.
The new defense budget proper is said to be just over $7.6 billion. This is an increase from the nearly $6.4 billion the previous year, (revised later to $6.6 billion).
The budget is broken down to nearly $3.8 billion for the Army, about $1.6 billion for the Air Force and slightly more than $760 million for the Navy.
This puts the “operational” aspect of the budget at some $6.1 billion for the services and the remaining $1.5 billion earmarked for various defense and defense production bodies.
Former Australian defense attache to Islamabad, Brian Cloughley, says while the sources for the figures reported in the media “seem to be pretty good,” he cautions, “it’s still conjecture rather than hard fact.”
The possible increases “may well be because the Army and Air Force have asked for more in order to pay for the Waziristan operation” to root out the Pakistani Taliban, “which has got to take place, irrespective of what [Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif] thinks or says,” he said.
But this will not necessarily translate into acquisition of new equipment, he said.
“I think they’ll maintain the balance between operating costs and capital equipment acquisitions,” he said.
The Navy in particular could use a capital upgrade, he said.
“I don’t think it’s looking too good for the Navy” Cloughley said. Adding, “Pakistan has simply got to get some more submarines.”
The Navy operates two aging Agosta-70 submarines acquired in the 1970s and three more modern Agosta-90Bs equipped with air independent propulsion (AIP) under a deal signed in the 1990s, and which entered service in the last decade.
However, a deal for three German HDW Type-214 submarines fell through in 2008 due to a lack of finances, and negotiations have been underway for some time with China for six AIP-equipped diesel electric boats.
Analysts said these are likely the S-20 development of the Chinese Type-041 Yuan class, with government officials expecting a deal to be signed by the end of the year.
Analyst Usman Shabbir of the Pakistan Military Consortium think tank said too much cannot be read into the small size of the Navy’s budget, as it has generally been small compared with the other services.
“Large buys are not part of specific force budgets, so Navy’s budget will not tell you if [it] has money for subs or not”, he said.
There is more optimism among analysts over the possible acquisition of Chinese submarines than obtaining further Perry-class frigates from the US. These are desperately required to replace the aging ex-British Type-21 frigates.
One of the six Type-21s, Badr (ex-Alacrity), has already been decommissioned and the remainder will pay off by the end of the decade. Officials had hoped to acquire up to six Perrys to replace these, but to date only one, Alamgir (ex-McInerney) has been acquired. Recent proposals for three more are effectively being blocked by the US Congress.
Though US Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert was in Pakistan last week, it is not known if transfer of equipment was discussed in addition to the reported talks about regional security. ■
Email: uansari@gannettgov.com.
The Budget has to be atleast $20 Billion if these politicians stop taking loans from IMF and stop doing their ayashis.
![MuZammiL Dr. s[1]n](/data/avatars/m/32/32258.jpg?1370382459){kind=avatar}
MuZammiL Dr. s[1]n
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are these drones in active service ?
MuZammiL Dr. s[1]n
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Pak navy needs a.d.-destroyers more than anything else ...
nomi007
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no bro in past pakistan was interested but did purchase them
MuZammiL Dr. s[1]n
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allright bro.
fatman17
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Base Security, Sub Fleet Improvement Among Challenges for Pakistan's New Navy Chief
Oct. 8, 2014 - 07:49PM | By USMAN ANSARI |
Pakistan Navy frigate Shamsheer 252 docks at Port Sudan, in the Red Sea. Pakistan's new Navy chief said he wants to improve the service's operational capabilities. (ASHRAF SHAZLY/ / AFP)
ISLAMABAD — Adm. Muhammad Zakaullah, the new head of Pakistan’s Navy who took office on Tuesday, is viewed as a highly experienced officer who will have to focus on base security and improving Pakistan’s submarine force.
Zakaullah, the serving deputy chief of the Naval Staff, followed Adm. Muhammad Asif Sandila, who retired after completing his three-year term, which began in October 2011.
On assuming office Zakaullah said, “In all areas of Pakistan’s Navy, development and merit will be first priorities,” adding that he would strive to improve the Navy’s operational capabilities.
According to the Navy’s media branch, Zakaullah joined the Navy in 1975 and was commissioned as an officer in 1978.
His operational commands include that of a destroyer and the command of the 25th Destroyer Squadron. He was also commandant, Pakistan Naval Academy, commander Pakistan Fleet, and took command of the Multinational Maritime Task Force “Combined Task Force 150,” combating illegal activity in the Arabian Sea and western Indian Ocean region to the Horn of Africa.
He attended Royal Naval Staff College in the UK and National Defence University Islamabad.
Analyst, author and former Australian defense attache to Islamabad, Brian Cloughley, says Zakaullah is a safe pair of hands on the tiller who is likely to focus on matters such as the long-delayed efforts to modernize and expand Pakistan’s submarine flotilla.
“So far as I can gather he will not make any waves politically, although he is bound to fight strongly for an increase to the submarine fleet,” he said.
“He is especially interested in development of young officers and seamen and can be expected to concentrate on that too. So, no great changes, but another officer who is well-suited to his important appointment and can be expected to do his best for the Navy.”
Nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, Claude Rakisits, says Zakaullah will have to improve security and further develop the sea-based arm of Pakistan’s nuclear triad.
“He will need to seriously tighten the security of the naval facilities in Karachi so as to prevent another terrorist attack on its facilities such as the ones that took place in May 2011 and more recently in September of this year. While the latter one was foiled, the previous one caused much damage, including the destruction of 2 P-3C Orion maritime surveillance planes,” he said.
“Tightening security will also mean implementing tighter security checks on the naval personnel because it is difficult to believe that the May 2011 attack could have been done without inside assistance,” he added.
Regarding the sea-based arm of the nuclear deterrent, Rakisits says, “If Pakistan were able to develop such a missile capability, deployed either on a warship or on one of its diesel-powered submarines, this would effectively give Islamabad a second-strike nuclear capability,” he said.
He says this “would completely change the nuclear equation between the only two nuclear-armed states of South Asia.”
Though he is uncertain if Pakistan has the ability to develop small enough warheads to fit in a sea-based weapon, he says Washington would be concerned at such a move.
“The real worry for Washington would be the safety of such sea-based nuclear weapons given that, as opposed to land-based weapons, the nuclear warhead would not be separated from the launcher. And given the numerous terrorists threats Pakistan is presently under, this is a very legitimate concern.”■
Email: uansari@defensenews.com.
Oct. 8, 2014 - 07:49PM | By USMAN ANSARI |
Pakistan Navy frigate Shamsheer 252 docks at Port Sudan, in the Red Sea. Pakistan's new Navy chief said he wants to improve the service's operational capabilities. (ASHRAF SHAZLY/ / AFP)
ISLAMABAD — Adm. Muhammad Zakaullah, the new head of Pakistan’s Navy who took office on Tuesday, is viewed as a highly experienced officer who will have to focus on base security and improving Pakistan’s submarine force.
Zakaullah, the serving deputy chief of the Naval Staff, followed Adm. Muhammad Asif Sandila, who retired after completing his three-year term, which began in October 2011.
On assuming office Zakaullah said, “In all areas of Pakistan’s Navy, development and merit will be first priorities,” adding that he would strive to improve the Navy’s operational capabilities.
According to the Navy’s media branch, Zakaullah joined the Navy in 1975 and was commissioned as an officer in 1978.
His operational commands include that of a destroyer and the command of the 25th Destroyer Squadron. He was also commandant, Pakistan Naval Academy, commander Pakistan Fleet, and took command of the Multinational Maritime Task Force “Combined Task Force 150,” combating illegal activity in the Arabian Sea and western Indian Ocean region to the Horn of Africa.
He attended Royal Naval Staff College in the UK and National Defence University Islamabad.
Analyst, author and former Australian defense attache to Islamabad, Brian Cloughley, says Zakaullah is a safe pair of hands on the tiller who is likely to focus on matters such as the long-delayed efforts to modernize and expand Pakistan’s submarine flotilla.
“So far as I can gather he will not make any waves politically, although he is bound to fight strongly for an increase to the submarine fleet,” he said.
“He is especially interested in development of young officers and seamen and can be expected to concentrate on that too. So, no great changes, but another officer who is well-suited to his important appointment and can be expected to do his best for the Navy.”
Nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, Claude Rakisits, says Zakaullah will have to improve security and further develop the sea-based arm of Pakistan’s nuclear triad.
“He will need to seriously tighten the security of the naval facilities in Karachi so as to prevent another terrorist attack on its facilities such as the ones that took place in May 2011 and more recently in September of this year. While the latter one was foiled, the previous one caused much damage, including the destruction of 2 P-3C Orion maritime surveillance planes,” he said.
“Tightening security will also mean implementing tighter security checks on the naval personnel because it is difficult to believe that the May 2011 attack could have been done without inside assistance,” he added.
Regarding the sea-based arm of the nuclear deterrent, Rakisits says, “If Pakistan were able to develop such a missile capability, deployed either on a warship or on one of its diesel-powered submarines, this would effectively give Islamabad a second-strike nuclear capability,” he said.
He says this “would completely change the nuclear equation between the only two nuclear-armed states of South Asia.”
Though he is uncertain if Pakistan has the ability to develop small enough warheads to fit in a sea-based weapon, he says Washington would be concerned at such a move.
“The real worry for Washington would be the safety of such sea-based nuclear weapons given that, as opposed to land-based weapons, the nuclear warhead would not be separated from the launcher. And given the numerous terrorists threats Pakistan is presently under, this is a very legitimate concern.”■
Email: uansari@defensenews.com.
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