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PNS Zulfiquar (F251)

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For other ships with the same name, see PNS Zulfiqar.

PNS Zulfiquar (FFG-251), a F-22P Zulfiquar-class frigate anchored in the Port Klang in Malaysia in 2009.
History
Pakistan
NamePNS Zulfiquar
NamesakeZulfiqar (lit. Sword)
BuilderHudong-Zhonghua Shipyard Co. in China
Laid down12 October 2006
Launched7 April 2008 [1]
Acquired30 July 2009
Commissioned19 September 2009[2]
In service2009–present
HomeportKarachi Naval Base
StatusIn active service
General characteristics
Class and 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 enlists.
Sensors and
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 since 2009.[5] She was designed and constructed by Chinese firm, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai, for the Pakistan Navy. The vessel's design is primarily influenced from the Type 053H3 frigate.[6]

Design and construction

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

She was officially laid down on 24 July 2007 and was 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 base, Naval Base Karachi and commissioned in the Navy.[9][10]

The induction ceremony was held on 19 September 2009 with former Chairman joint chiefs General Tariq Majid visiting the ship and presented her with military colors.[2] The warship was later visited by General Ashfaq Pervez, the army chief and Admiral Noman Bashir who went to visit senior American officer, possibly Adm. Mike Mullen, abroad on the American aircraft carrier.[11]

Deployments and war service

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Main articles: War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), War in North-West Pakistan, Piracy off the coast of Somalia, and War on Terror

Following her commissioning, Zulfiquar has been deployed to witnessed actions in the War on Terror in Afghanistan and the piracy off the coast of Somalia, when she was deployed to lead military operation to provide rescue and sealift of the personnel of MV Suez in 2011.[12]

On 6 September 2014, a serious incident took place involving Zulfiquar when al-Qaeda's Indian subcontinent branch attempted to take control of the vessel after penetrating the Naval Base Karachi. The Navy Special Service Group's Navy SEAL Teams and 1st Marines responded by engaging the attackers and succeeded in capturing four assailants alive who were locked away in the ship's compartment.[13] The motive appeared to be that the attackers, still on active duty with the Navy, wanted to engage the U.S. Navy's fleet in the Indian Ocean with its cruise and anti-ship missile system.[14]

Several Western sources reported that 11 people were killed following a gunfight and a suicide attack: 10 attackers—four on the Zulfiquar, including the organizers of the attack (Lieutenant Zeeshan Rafiq and Owais Jakhrani, a former lieutenant), and six more dressed as marines who attempted to infiltrate the ship via a nearby dinghy—and one petty officer.[15][16][17]

On 13 September 2014, the Navy confirmed that it had detained 17 naval personnel including three key naval officers who were trying to flee to Afghanistan through Mastung in Balochistan in Pakistan.[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 Steve Coll that India's Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) has evidence indicating that, unbeknownst to the attackers, the Zulfiquar was carrying a nuclear warhead during the incident. However, this intelligence reporting is uncorroborated and notably inconsistent with public information regarding Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, its delivery systems, and its methods of handling nuclear materials.[17][19]

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References

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  1. ^ a b Wendell Minnick (10 April 2008). "Pakistan Gets New Chinese Frigate". DefenseNews. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  2. ^ a b "PNS Zulfiquar inducted in Pakistan Navy Fleet". AAJ News. Naval Base Karachi. 20 September 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  3. ^ F 2 2 P Frigate Archived 2009-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ http://www.navy.lk | Commanding Officer of Pakistan Navy Ship 'Zulfiquar' calls on Commander of the Navy Archived 2011-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "PNS Zulfiquar (251) Guided-Missile Frigate Warship - Pakistan". www.militaryfactory.com. militaryfactory. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  6. ^ "Sword / F-22P Class Frigates, Pakistan". Naval Technology. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  7. ^ Fagoyinbo, Joseph Babatunde (2013). "§Pakistan Navy PN". The Armed Forces: Instrument of Peace, Strength, Development and Prosperity (google books). UK: AuthorHouse. p. 475. ISBN 9781477226476. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  8. ^ a b Agencies, NNI (12 May 2017). "Pakistan naval ship PNS Zulfiquar to reach Singapore tomorrow". The Nation. Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan: The Nation. The Nation. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Pakistan gets Chinese F-22P frigates". Rediff. Rediff. Rediff. 12 September 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  10. ^ Reporter, Our Staff (13 September 2009). "F-22P frigate boost for Pak Navy". The Nation. The Nation. 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 | FDD's Long War Journal". www.longwarjournal.org. longwarjournal. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  12. ^ "MV Suez sinks: All crew members board PNS Zulfiqar". The Express Tribune. The Express Tribune. The Express Tribune. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  13. ^ a b Zaman, Fahim; Ali, Naziha Syed (13 September 2014). "Dockyard attackers planned to hijack Navy frigate". DAWN.COM. Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan: Dawn Newspaper. Dawn Newspaper. 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 Newspaper. Dawn Newspaper. Retrieved 20 December 2018. 'The suspects are Navy officials,' he added, giving no details about their ranks.
  15. ^ Hasan, Syed Shoaib; Shah, Saeed; Gorman, Siobhan (16 September 2014). "Al Qaeda Militants Tried to Seize Pakistan Navy Frigate". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 February 2022. The Sept. 6 raid, which was foiled after a fire fight and a suicide bombing, was carried out in part by Pakistan Navy personnel who had been recruited by al Qaeda, these officials said. The raid, in which 10 militants and one petty officer died, raised fears about terrorist infiltration of the nuclear-armed nation's military forces.
  16. ^ a b Hundley, Tom (4 April 2018). "India and Pakistan are quietly making nuclear war more likely". Vox. Retrieved 19 February 2022. But an alert sailor on board the frigate noticed something was wrong. The men in the dinghy were armed with AK-47s—not the standard weapons used by Pakistani marines. When he challenged the group in the dinghy, a gunfight quickly erupted. While the attackers fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, the sailor shredded the dingy with an anti-aircraft gun, killing all six. Hearing the commotion, navy commandos from another vessel rushed to the scene, but it still took several hours to regain control of the ship from the four rogue officers already on board. Eventually all of them were killed, the last one blowing himself up after he was cornered.
  17. ^ a b 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. ^ AFP News Desk (25 May 2016). "PNS Zulfiqar attack: Five navy officers get death penalty". The Express Tribune. The Express Tribune. The Express Tribune. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  19. ^ Panda, Ankit (20 February 2018). "A Nuclear Angle to the 2014 PNS Zulfiquar Attack?". The Diplomat. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
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