A letter of Intent was inked between Pakistan and Turkey for the sale of four Hi-tech Turkish MILGEM Ada Corvettes to the Pakistan Navy. Pakistan will use these MILGEM Ada Corvettes to guard its both Gwadar and Karachi ports from external threats.
The letter was signed by Pakistan’s Minister of Defense Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, Turkey’s Minister of Defence Fikri Işık and Turkish defense contractor Savunma Teknolojileri Muhendislik Ve Ticaret. The contract will be finalized by June 30, 2017.
About MILGEM Ada Corvette
It is a modern combat warship with indigenous anti-submarine warfare and high-seas patrol capabilities. The design of the ship helps it to remain hidden. It has 2 squad anti-ship missile launchers with a 76 mm main gun and a point-defense missile system in the Rolling Airframe Missile.
“Each MILGEM Ada would have cost $300 million but Pakistan is planning to use its own industry for some of the equipment, the price will drop to $250 million per ship”, said STM CEO Davut Yilma.
Apart from Pakistan, many other countries are trying to buy these Corvette from Turkey which includes countries like Bangladesh, Ukraine, and Canada.
Moreover, security has been tightened in Gwadar due to the terrorist attack by unknown assailants on workers. In the aftermath of that attack, 8 workers were killed by terrorists.
The Chief Minister of Balochistan, Sanaullah Zehri said, “the conspiracy of creating obstacles in the way of progress and prosperity in Balochistan will be foiled at all costs”.
Government’s recent move indicates that Pakistan is looking to replace US subsystems with the alternate technology from Turkey and China. Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW) will be involved in MILGEM Ada Corvette project and will assemble the ships using manufactured kits from Turkey and integrate its own weapon into the ships.
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