Author Profile: Usman Ansari is a journalist specializing in defence issues and presently based in Pakistan. He is Pakistan Correspondent for the US media group Defense News, and Chief Analyst for the British naval news monthly Warships – International Fleet Review. He has a BA in International History and International Politics, and MA in Global Security, both from Keele University, UK.
By Usman Ansari
The Pakistan Navy (PN) operates in a dense missile and electronic warfare (EW) threat environment, but ongoing obsolescence issues limit the effectiveness of its frontline warships in performing their primary territorial defence role.
The main shortcomings of Pakistani warships are their ineffective defences against aerial threats, especially the current generation of stealthy sub-sonic and supersonic anti-ship missiles. Presently, these missiles may overwhelm Pakistani warship defences if fired in salvo.
Pakistani frigates are presently equipped with six or eight round surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers. These launchers have no reloads, and though potentially capable against single inbound threats, these SAMs are dependent on launcher orientation. This in itself supposes the ship will not first need to manoeuvre to allow the launcher to be brought to bear, which would reduce the engagement and reaction time against an incoming target that may arrive before this can be achieved.
Present close-in-weapon-system (CIWS) types – of which there are three different systems in service with a fourth to follow – are also limited in the coverage they provide due to their physical position. Like most such systems, they may also need more than one burst to bring down a threat, and in general, the end-user should view them as the final line of defence against a single threat penetrating all other defences.
Alongside the development of advanced combat management systems (CMS) – such as the Aegis –
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