Monthly Defense News Recap – April

This week’s Quwa Premium article is a recap of some defence news items from around the world. Besides a basic overview of the news, this article also offers short-form analysis of each issue.

ASFAT A.Ş. Selects SSI’s ShipConstructor Solution for Jinnah-Class Frigate

To support the engineering process of the Pakistan Navy’s (PN) Jinnah-class frigate program, the Turkish defence contractor ASFAT A.Ş. selects SSI’s ShipConstructor suite.

ShipConstructor is a software platform that works within AutoCAD. Its selection indicates that the PN has frozen the design requirements of the Jinnah-class frigate. Thus, ASFAT A.Ş. and the PN’s in-house design bureau, the Navy Research and Development Institute (NRDI), will now implement the ship’s final design work. SSI’s ShipConstructor will play a part in the modelling and engineering work of the hull.

Pakistan initiated the Jinnah-class frigate (JCF) as part of its MILGEM corvette acquisition from Turkey back in 2018. Under the contract, the PN is slated to receive four MILGEM corvettes (designated as the Babur-class corvette) and an indigenous, jointly-designed frigate.

It seems that the JCF will play a key part in driving the PN’s goal to build a 50-strong surface fleet, of which 20 ships will be “major surface vessels.” The latter refers to frigates and, potentially, corvettes. Given that it is investing in an original design program, the PN likely intends to construct a large number of JCFs.

However, a potentially more crucial point is that the NRDI is learning about the ship design process directly from ASFAT A.Ş. The NRDI could re-apply the knowledge it gains to future surface warship programs. The JCF’s size and capability set open the door for the NRDI to try its hand at designing frigates, offshore patrol vessels (OPV), corvettes, and fast attack crafts (FAC) in the future.

It will be interesting to see if the PN extends this focus on original design work to submarines. While China was supposed to have been a guaranteed supply avenue, it is not entirely immune.

The Hangor submarine program may have been victim to the West’s efforts to pressure China (as Germany denied diesel engines for Thailand’s order as well). However, would Pakistan have faced the same issue for an original submarine designed in collaboration with Turkey?

Pakistan Navy Inducts 4^th Azmat-Class Fast Attack Craft, PNS Haibat

On April 01, 2022, the Pakistan Navy (PN) inducted the fourth Azmat-class fast attack craft-missile (FAC-M), PNS Haibat. According to the PN, the PNS Haibat is the first craft designed by Maritime Technologies Complex (MTC) and built at Karachi Shipyards & Engineering Works (KSEW).

While evidently a direct variant of the Azmat-class FAC-M, Pakistan likely completed the PNS Haibat with its own original design and production effort. In other words, it did not use pre-defined kits of materials, but carried out its own engineering work and sourced the inputs from abroad directly.

The most obvious external trait of the PNS Haibat is that it is armed with six Harbah dual-land-attack and anti-ship cruising missiles. This would make the PNS Haibat the second of the Azmat-class FAC-M line (i.e., after PNS Himmat) to be configured in this manner.

The PNS Haibat is also heavier displacement – i.e., 673 tons to 560 tons – compared to the preceding three Azmat-class FAC-Ms. In terms of its size, the PNS Haibat can double as a small patrol corvette.

The PNS Haibat is an interesting project on multiple levels.

First, it is an example of the PN pushing its in-house bureaus (MTC and NRDI) to take more ownership of the ship procurement process. The PN wants to have an active say in the design and input sourcing.

Second, the PN is trying to deploy long-range strike capabilities from smaller ships, including those with a displacement of less than 1,000 tons. This is a sign of relying more on a network-enabled environment to offset a platform’s lack of sensors. Thus, even though the PNS Haibat lacks a long-range radar, it can rely on other ships through data-links to provide situational awareness and targeting support.

In turn, the PN can potentially roll out low-cost ships with minimally viable sensor and electronics, yet also arm them with long-range subsonic – or potentially supersonic – cruising missiles. It is not clear if the PN will acquire additional FAC-Ms, but it could form a credible anti-access/area-denial strategy.

In 2016, the PN reportedly stated that it was seeking four to six additional FACs. By leveraging the JCF and PNS Haibat programs, the PN can potentially produce an original FAC for its requirements.

However, it would be ideal if the PN leverages the design experience it is gaining from the JCF to develop an efficient FAC or small corvette design. There are ships on the market of the size of the PNS Haibat that have surface-to-air missile (SAM)-based anti-air warfare (AAW) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) suites comparable to that of larger corvettes. Ultimately, the PN’s requirements will dictate the design outcome, but there may be an export market for such small corvettes.

Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 Furthers its Wartime Utility

Not only has the Bayraktar TB2 been a commercial success, but it has risen to folk hero status in both the Ukrainian military and populace. However, the TB2 has reportedly notched another key success point to its operational history by playing a role in the loss of the Moskova, a Russian Navy Slava-class cruiser.

Granted, the TB2 was not directly responsible for the Moskova’s loss. In fact, it seems operational issues on Russia’s part that largely led to the ship’s destruction.

However, the fact that TB2 is making its way to naval operations is not surprising. Turkey itself envisioned using drones in the naval theater (albeit through the improved TB3 and jet-powered Kızılelma/MIUS). The TB2 is not an attack option for large ships, but it can support naval operations by serving as a sensor option and, as alleged in the case of the Moskova, as a decoy option.

That said, the TB2 could still emerge as a key anti-access and area-denial (A2/AD) asset in some contexts.

For example, TB2s are a genuine threat for amphibious landing forces, especially infantry and light armour. Likewise, the TB2 can also potentially threaten small and/or lesser-equipped surface warships, especially if the drone operator can deploy stand-off range weapons (SOW).

Overall, Ukraine has emerged as a pivotal environment for several drone vendors to validate their designs across a range of applications. Besides the TB2, loitering munitions have also emerged as important assets in this conflict. Not only is Ukraine receiving upwards of 700 Switchblade loitering munitions, but it is also slated to receive a new design called the ‘Phoenix Ghost.’ The U.S. Air Force commissioned the design and development of the Phoenix Ghost specifically for Ukraine for use against Russia.