PNS Zulfiquar (F251)

PNS Zulfiquar (FFG-251), a F-22P Zulfiquar-class frigate anchored in Port Klang in Malaysia in 2009.
History
Pakistan
NamePNS Zulfiquar
NamesakeZulfiqar (lit. Sword)
BuilderHudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co., China
Laid down24 July 2007
Launched7 April 2008[1]
Acquired30 July 2009
Commissioned19 September 2009[2]
In service2009–present
Home portKarachi Naval Base
StatusIn active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class & typeF-22P Zulfiquar-class frigate
Displacement
  • 2,500 tonnes (standard)[3]
  • 3,144 tonnes (full load)[4]
Length123.2 m (404 ft 2 in)
Beam13.8 m (45 ft 3 in)
Draught3.76 m (12 ft 4 in)
Propulsion
  • CODAD (Combined Diesel and Diesel)
  • 2 × Tognum MTU 12V 1163 TB 83 at 10.5 MW
  • 2 × MTU cruise diesels at 6.6 MW
Speed29 kn (54 km/h) maximum
Range4,000 nmi (7,400 km)
Complement215 (15 officers and 200 enlisted personnel)
Sensors &
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys
Armament
Aircraft carried1 × Harbin Z-9EC ASW helicopter
Aviation facilitiesFlight deck and enclosed hangar

PNS Zulfiquar (FFG-251) is the lead ship of the F-22P Zulfiquar-class guided missile frigates, in service with the Pakistan Navy since 2009.[5] She was designed and constructed by the Chinese firm Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai. The vessel's design was primarily influenced by the Type 053H3 frigate.[6]

Design and construction

After a bilateral contract was signed between Pakistan and China on 4 April 2006,: 391 [7] she was designed and constructed by Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co. in China, with steel cutting held on 10 October 2006 in Shanghai.[8]

She was officially laid down on 24 July 2007 and launched on 7 April 2008 to complete several sea trials in China.[8] She is the lead ship of her class and was acquired by the Pakistan Navy on 30 July 2009.[1]

On 12 September 2009, she arrived and reported to her home base, Naval Base Karachi, ahead of her formal induction into the fleet.[9][10] The induction ceremony, marking her commissioning into the Pakistan Navy, was held on 19 September 2009, with the then-Chairman joint chiefs, General Tariq Majid, visiting the ship and presenting her with military colours.[2] The warship was later visited by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the army chief, and Admiral Noman Bashir, who boarded a United States aircraft carrier to meet a senior American officer, possibly Admiral Mike Mullen.[11]

Deployments and war service

Following her commissioning, Zulfiquar has been deployed in operations connected to the war on terror in Afghanistan and to counter piracy off the coast of Somalia, including leading a military operation to rescue and transport the crew of the merchant vessel Suez in 2011.[12]

On 6 September 2014, al-Qaeda's Indian subcontinent branch attempted to seize control of Zulfiquar after infiltrating Naval Base Karachi. The Navy Special Service Group's Navy SEAL teams and the 1st Marines responded by engaging the attackers, capturing four assailants alive who were confined in a compartment of the ship.[13] Investigators concluded that the attackers, who remained on active duty with the Navy, intended to use the ship's cruise and anti-ship missile systems against a U.S. Navy fleet in the Indian Ocean.[14]

Western sources reported that eleven people were killed in the ensuing gunfight and a suicide attack: ten attackers, of whom four were aboard Zulfiquar (including the organisers of the attack, Lieutenant Zeeshan Rafiq and Owais Jakhrani, a former lieutenant) and six more, dressed as marines, who attempted to infiltrate the ship by dinghy; and one petty officer.[15][16][17]

On 13 September 2014, the Navy confirmed that it had detained seventeen naval personnel, including three key naval officers who had attempted to flee to Afghanistan through Mastung, Balochistan.[13] On 25 March 2016, the Navy JAG Corps announced that five naval officers had been sentenced to death for their involvement in the attack.[16][18]

Unnamed officials told journalist Steve Coll that India's Research and Analysis Wing holds evidence suggesting that, unbeknownst to the attackers, Zulfiquar was carrying a nuclear warhead during the incident. This reporting is uncorroborated elsewhere and is inconsistent with publicly available information about Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, its delivery systems, and its handling of nuclear materials.[17][19]

References

  1. 1 2 Minnick, Wendell (10 April 2008). "Pakistan Gets New Chinese Frigate". DefenseNews. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  2. 1 2 "PNS Zulfiquar inducted in Pakistan Navy Fleet". aaj.tv. Naval Base Karachi: Aaj News. 20 September 2009. Archived from the original on 20 December 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  3. ↑ "F-22P Frigate". karachishipyard.com.pk. Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009.
  4. ↑ "Commanding Officer of Pakistan Navy Ship 'Zulfiquar' calls on Commander of the Navy". navy.lk. Sri Lanka Navy. Archived from the original on 3 November 2011.
  5. ↑ "PNS Zulfiquar (251) Guided-Missile Frigate Warship - Pakistan". militaryfactory.com. Military Factory. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  6. ↑ "Sword / F-22P Class Frigates, Pakistan". naval-technology.com. Naval Technology. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Fagoyinbo, Joseph Babatunde (2013). "Pakistan Navy PN". The Armed Forces: Instrument of Peace, Strength, Development and Prosperity. UK: AuthorHouse. p. 391. ISBN 9781477226476. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  8. 1 2 Agencies, NNI (12 May 2017). "Pakistan naval ship PNS Zulfiquar to reach Singapore tomorrow". nation.com.pk. Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan: The Nation. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  9. ↑ "Pakistan gets Chinese F-22P frigates". rediff.com. Rediff. 12 September 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  10. ↑ Reporter, Our Staff (13 September 2009). "F-22P frigate boost for Pak Navy". nation.com.pk. The Nation. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  11. ↑ Joscelyn, Thomas (29 September 2014). "Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent claims attacks on Pakistani ships were more audacious than reported". longwarjournal.org. FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  12. ↑ "MV Suez sinks: All crew members board PNS Zulfiqar". tribune.com.pk. The Express Tribune. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  13. 1 2 Zaman, Fahim; Ali, Naziha Syed (13 September 2014). "Dockyard attackers planned to hijack Navy frigate". dawn.com. Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan: Dawn. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  14. ↑ Sherazi, Zahir Shah; Shah, S. Ali (11 September 2014). "Navy officials arrested in connection with dockyard attack". dawn.com. Dawn. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  15. ↑ Hasan, Syed Shoaib; Shah, Saeed; Gorman, Siobhan (16 September 2014). "Al Qaeda Militants Tried to Seize Pakistan Navy Frigate". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  16. 1 2 Hundley, Tom (4 April 2018). "India and Pakistan are quietly making nuclear war more likely". vox.com. Vox. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  17. 1 2 Coll, Steve (2019). Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Penguin Group. pp. 653–660, 726. ISBN 9780143132509.
  18. ↑ News Desk, AFP (25 May 2016). "PNS Zulfiqar attack: Five navy officers get death penalty". tribune.com.pk. The Express Tribune. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  19. ↑ Panda, Ankit (20 February 2018). "A Nuclear Angle to the 2014 PNS Zulfiquar Attack?". thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
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