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Pakistan to raise 12,000 Marines in a new branch of Navy

Hi,

That is a very good decision---so basically it is going to be a division strength or is it a division and a half strength----.

Navy needs to mark its territories and in the years to come---a lot more would be required of the navy than it is now---.

Gwadar will have new issues as well----a naval base with majority of the naval assets---close to the border of iran---a much vaster area to cover now----so over all it is a good decision.

And those of you balming the military for fata and Karachi---from day one if Pakistanis had gone ahead and forced the military to kill all the al Qaeda and criminals coming in and cleared the red mosque----you would not have had these problems---.
 
I know you will not agree but for the people in Pakistan we need to reduce our police force and introduce MPs everywhere. An area which learns decency can get civilian police back. We are too hard headed and corrupted ourselves, how many times have we seen corruption being condemned until you break a signal yourself. Or the police trained by the military, the ATS that we have could be another solution. IF the terrorists have automatic weapons the police should have them also. And until we have gun control in this country whatever else we do will be useless.
Well, a better solution would be to induct at-least 60% of ex-military in the Police department and gradually purge Police from black sheep. Secondly, the appointment of IG should be at the disposal of the federal government and must be following the advice from GHQ. As long as the Police is under the control of the bloody politicians, nothing positive will come out.
 
Many questions remain unanswered. All we know so far is that it will be headed by a 3 star Admiral.

What will be the purpose of such force?
Why the sudden need for Marines?
Where will they operate? Are they meant to guard Gwadar?
What equipment will they have? Is Pakistan finally getting Amphibious assault ships which are considered vital for any amphibious military to effectively operate?

Pakistan Seeks New Force for Sea Boundaries
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan is to raise a new force to help safeguard its sea boundaries, but analysts are perplexed as to how the force is to be raised even though there is a need to improve security.

The move was announced Tuesday by Pakistan's Minister for Ports and Shipping Senator Kamran Michael who said a force of 12,000 Marines was to be raised and headed by a three star general. He added the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had sanctioned the program and the defense ministry had commenced work on establishing the force.

However, neither the defense ministry nor the Pakistan Navy would provide details of the proposed force when contacted by Defense News.

It is not understood how this Marine force will be established, whether it will be an entirely new force, drawn from other Marine units, or an expansion of existing units that will be re-tasked.

There is no time frame given for when it will become operational.

Pakistan's maritime area of interest has been very topical of late.

The move to establish the new force comes as work on the US $36 billion Sino-Pakistani economic corridor to connect Pakistan's deepwater port of Gwadar with western China gets underway, and against the backdrop of an expansion in the size of Pakistan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

In March the United Nations' Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf also accepted Pakistan's claim to extend its EEZ to the continental shelf limits and extended it from 200 nautical miles to 350. This amounts to an additional 50,000 square kilometers, taking the total EEZ from 240,000 square kilometers to 290,000 square kilometers.

Regarding the establishment of this new force, former Australian defense attache to Islamabad Brian Cloughley says an initiative of this size will take a monumental level of organization and training, the scale of which may not yet be apparent.

"Recruiting, alone, will take years. Of course it's an excellent idea, but it would be better to build on the Coast Guard and the [Maritime Security Agency] — combine and expand the two, under the legal cover of the latter."

Asked as to whether this may be part of the recently announced Sino-Pakistani economic corridor program and if the Chinese would help equip the new force he said, "I have no doubt that the Chinese will be most supportive and will probably provide equipment."

There could yet be another theory as to how the force will be established however. Though the move was announced by the Minister for Ports and Shipping, Cloughley does not believe the force will be tasked solely with port security.

"I think the new force is intended to assume the duties currently performed by the Coast Guard and the Maritime Security Agency (MSA), not just to concentrate on ports."

Similarly, analyst Haris Khan of the Pakistan Military Consortium think tank agrees there needs to be some form of change, but that this should focus on capacity building for the MSA.

"What is required is that the MSA needs expansion and it needs to incorporate the Coast Guard," he said. "There is already a viable structure of command and control of the MSA which operates under the supervision of Pakistan Navy."

Highlighting the MSA's assets in having "close to 2,500 personal, four Barkat class OPVs, three Shanghai II class FAC, ten 13 meter interdiction patrol craft, and three BN Defender aircraft", Khan says this provides a good core capability.

The Coast Guard is a land-based paramilitary force currently under control of the Army. The MSA is a maritime paramilitary unit under the control of the Navy.

Analysts dispute the effectiveness of the Coast Guard, but it made headlines this month when it seized just over 3,000kg of hashish during a raid in the town of Pasni, Balochistan. It was destined for the gulf where it would have been worth an estimated US $50 million and is one of the largest ever seizures of the drug.

There is, however, an apparent shortage of assets to effectively patrol the EEZ, and Khan believes "the MSA should be provided more sea vessels for interdiction, more fixed wing aircraft should be added, and particularly helicopters."

There is already some indication of more assets on the way for the MSA.

Last October, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency sent notification to Congress of the State Department's intention to provide eight GRC43M cutters to Pakistan under a foreign military sales transfer.

These are intended to help Pakistan ensure security in its coastal waters and the EEZ.

Though nothing has been heard of this proposal since then, Khan understands it may have progressed to the stage where Pakistani personnel have traveled to the US to undergo training on the type.

Ultimately, however, Khan is unconvinced of the wisdom of establishing a new force, and highlights that there are already a number of organizations of overlapping responsibility including various provincial level Anti Narcotics Force units that complicate matters and drain resources.

"Establishing a brand new organization will take a lot of time and energy and the financial burden would be something the already weak finances of the country cannot bear. This hodgepodge of several different paramilitary forces only creates financial burden."
Another Good news although I would love to see a 60000 Marine Force but this is great start and they should be equipped with APC and IFV and Anti Tank 8 X 8 Vechiles
 
I know but the money would be better spent in securing law and order in hotspots like FATA and Karachi. I guess it is all about priority. I at any rate regard law and order and security of life and property to be No 1 problem in Pakistan right now. Look at those Shia that got killed ...
Both the Marines Force and internal security needs to move in parallel. The corridor needs to be secured internally and the shipping and the 350 miles EEZ needs to be secured at sea. These 2 programs are independent and the needs are distinct.
 
^
Finances? One is now and urgent and under threat. The other is future and not as much under threat.

@syedali73

Yes, your right our politicians have destroyed this country.The most urgent thing we need to address is internal security or you can forget about any corridor.
 
Finances? One is now and urgent and under threat. The other is future and not as much under threat.

@syedali73

Yes, your right our politicians have destroyed this country.i amo address is internal security or you can forget about any corridor.
Yes, at this point of time internal security is the priority.
 
And you are going to bear the cost right? Why are you so stupid? got infected with 'nishan' virus?
I stand by that number and that is minimum and I hope its done as economy improves and defence budget is increased. A much bigger Navy and massive Marine Force is our future need, also other Armed Forces have to be increased, but yes it can be done only when economy is improved.
 
Who is going to pay for it :o:

Who is going to pay for it :o:
 
@Atanz It's not that Pakistan decided to increase PN marines number out of blue. It's an ongoing process which is been occuring since last 5 or so years. This is from 2012. New radar, AA defense system and new batch of marines were inducted

Analyzing notable additions to the Pakistan Navy

The purpose of raising this division is to reduce dependence on PA to provide coastal defense in sir creek and adjoining disputed coastal areas. India is expanding it's numbers to defend such disputed lands. We can't expect PA to efficiently handle these lands.
 
its mean, that our focus is to defend our sea territory , which reflect our defensive attitude towards our Naval Forces.

My suggestion is to keep focusing on aggressive platforms which are capable enough to hit enemy inside its territory.
 
I foresaw this in a Dream it's is indeed a miracle. Niw lets hope Pakistan gets those two type 56 corvette ans 4 additional frigate
3 destroy
2 type 55 destroy
and 1 custom built Juan Carlos LHD.


oh boy oh boy:pakistan::yay::lazy::victory:
 
Spot on there. Don't tell me I am the only one embarrased about our cops. The only "fear" about them is the stupid "No Fear" labels stuck on their backside. I mean which idiot came up with that idea. I swear there is some joker in Pakistan fully employed to come up with most banal names like "Elite mother*** Police" the only elite thing about them is they are No. 1 as*holes.

Sloppy, lazy, overweight, singularly lacking in any prefessionalism and corrupt to boot. We need to raise new police force across the country, minimum height and build, not fat slobs or stick insects, men with some gravitas, some decent education and give them proper conditions of work including training, equipment and no offence buy them decent friggin uniforms. No infant game outfits.

I would reduce the army by 50,000 men and the money transferred into new upgraded police force. We also need lots of police armoured vehicles.



I was being charitable in case we have some Omani members. Trust me, you, I, and Save ghenda could do it ......

Edit: We don't need a massive army now that we have nuclear weapons.

Dear Think Tank ur remarks are not making sense , by decreasing military strength how Pak security will be strengthened. By the way elite force is trained by SSG personnel their physical standards are much higher than ordinary police. Further Police and Army have different roles but now even SSG personnel are also directly involved in counter terrorism campaign. Meanwhile as army is raising separate force force to protect roads and infrastructure of economic corridor same is case with our ports we require dedicated force which shall be able to exclusively protect naval assets, instead of diverting already limited naval defense resources towards protection ports.

We shall get lot of economic/defense related benefits if economic corridor project is completed despite conspiracies by our neighbors which also include our so called Muslim brotherly countries.

Please do not make fun of people performing their duties in harsh conditions.
 
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