Pakistan Navy

Pakistan Navy
پاکستان بحریہ
The Crest of the Pakistan Navy
Active	August 14, 1947 (1947-08-14)
Country	Pakistan
Type	Navy
Role	Naval warfare, force projection, defense and nuclear deterrence
Size	26,000 active-duty personnel 5,000 Reserves personnel 5,000 Marines personnel 2,500 MSA active-duty personnel 2,000 Coast Guards personnel 2,000 civilian personnel 100 warships and 145 aircraft
Part of	Ministry of Defense Pakistan Armed Forces
Headquarters	Navy NHQ in Islamabad, Pakistan
Motto(s)	Urdu: ہمت كا عالم,الله كا كرم, لہریں پ‬ے‬ قدم English: "Of courage, God's grace, tread on the waves"
Colors	Navy blue and White
Anniversaries	Navy Day: 8 September
Engagements	Major conflicts and wartime operations Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Civil war in East Pakistan Kargil War in 1999 Indo-Pakistani standoff in 2001 Indo-Pakistani standoff in 2008 Indo-Pakistani border skirmishes Conflict in Arab world First Persian Gulf War Blockade of Yemen Pakistan Armed Forces deployments in Saudi Arabia War in Afghanistan NATO logistics in the Afghan War War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Somali Civil War Operation Restore Hope Sri Lankan Civil War Military assistance to Sri Lanka War on Terror War in Afghanistan (2001–present) War in North-West Pakistan Balochistan insurgency Operations Near the Horn of Africa UN Peacekeeping missions 2004 Tsunami relief operations Operation Madad
Website	www.paknavy.gov.pk
Commanders
Chief of Naval Staff	Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi
Vice Chief of Naval Staff	Vice-Admiral Kaleem Shaukat
Insignia
Flag
Jack
Ensign
Roundel
Aircraft flown
Attack	Mirage 5V
Electronic warfare	Hawker 850–XP
Helicopter	Westland Sea King, Aérospatiale Alouette III, Harbin Z-9
Patrol	Lockheed P-3C Orion, Fokker F27-2000, Breguet Atlantique I, ATR-72-500
Reconnaissance	GIDS Uqab, EMT Luna X

The Pakistan Navy (Urdu: پاکستان بحریہ; Pɑkistan Bahri'a) (reporting name: PN) is the naval warfare uniform service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It came into its modern existence from the Royal Indian Navy that ceased to exist following the partition of British India through a parliamentary act that established the independence of Pakistan from the United Kingdom on 14 August of 1947.

Its primary objective and mission statement is to ensure the defense of sealines of communications of Pakistan and safeguarding the maritime interests by executing national policies through the exercise of military effect, diplomatic and humanitarian activities in support of these objectives. In addition to its war service, the Navy has mobilized its war assets to oversee to conduct the humanitarian rescue operations at home as well as taking participation in multinational task forces mandated by the United Nations to prevent seaborne terrorism and privacy off the coasts.

The Pakistan Navy is a volunteer force which has been in mainly in conflict with neighboring India twice on its sea borders, and has been repeatedly deployed in Indian Ocean to act as a military advisory in the Arab states and other friendly nations during the events of multinational conflict as part of its commitment to the United Nations. Overall manpower strength in the Navy is supported by the various branches within the Navy, including the Aviation, Marines and the Maritime Security Agency– the coast guard branch within the Navy. Since its commencement on 14 August of 1947, the defensive role of the Navy has expanded from securing the sealines and becoming the custodian of Pakistan's second strike capability with an ability to launch underwater missile system to target enemy positions.

The Constitution of Pakistan establishes the role of the President of Pakistan as an elected civilian Commander-in-Chief, and the Navy is commanded by the appointed Chief of Naval Staff, by statue a four-star rank admiral, who is a senior member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee is appointed by the Prime Minister and confirmed by the President of Pakistan. The Pakistan Navy is currently in command under Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi who was in this command position on appointed on 7 October 2017.

Mission

Main article: Constitution of Pakistan

Existence and its constitutional role is protected by the Constitution of Pakistan, where its role to serves as naval-based uniform service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. In the Chapter 2: Armed Forces in the PartXII: Miscellaneous codified the mission and purpose of the army as alongside with the other parts of the Armed Forces as such: The Constitution of Pakistan establishes the principal land warfare uniform branch in the Pakistan Armed Forces as its states:

The Armed Forces shall, under the directions of the Federal Government, defend Pakistan against external aggression or threat of war, and, subject to law, act in aid of civil power when called upon to do so

— Constitution of Pakistan.

History

Division of Royal Indian Navy in 1947

Main articles: Royal Indian Navy, India in World War II, and Partition of India

Today is a historic day for Pakistan, doubly so for those of us in the Navy. The Dominion of Pakistan has come into being and with it a new Navy – the Royal Pakistan Navy – has been born. I am proud to have been appointed to command it and serve with you at this time. In the coming months, it will be my duty and yours to build up our Navy into a happy and efficient force

— Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, addressing the Naval Academy in March 1948.,

The Royal Indian Navy's rating sailors breaching the Gates of Delhi during the rebellion against the British rule in India in 1857.

The Pakistan Navy came into its modern existence on the Fourteenth of August in 1947 from the Royal Indian Navy with the establishment of Pakistan as an independent state from the United Kingdom. The Armed Forces Reconstitution Committee (AFRC) under British Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck divided the shares and assets of the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) between the India and Pakistan with ratio of 2:1, as Pakistan receiving the assets of two sloops, two frigates, four minesweepers, two naval trawlers, four harbour launches. The Armed Forces Reconstitution Committee (AFRC) allocated about the two-thirds of the assets of the Royal Indian Navy to the India while the one third was given to Pakistan despite Pakistan having inherited the high percentage of delta areas on its coast and the large maritime area covering the Arabian sea on West and the Bay of Bengal on East. In addition, India also objected to transfer any machinery at the Bombay Dockyard to Pakistan and further refused to part the machinery that happened to be on its soil.

Due to the absence of the Constitution, the Ministry of Defense ran under the government act of 1935 with British monarchy overseeing the armed forces development, leading the Pakistan Navy to fall under the Royal patronage until the Constitution was promulgated that established the Navy as a federal institution in 1956.

The Navy endured a difficult history— with only 200 officers and 3,000 sailors were inherited to the Navy– the most senior being Captain HMS Choudri who had little experience in the military staffing. Of the ~200 officers, twenty of these had come from the Executive Branch of the Royal Indian Navy, and only six officers were the mechanical engineers while there were none electrical engineers or specialists to care for the electrical systems needed to be look after in the weapons systems or the powering up the machinery in the vessels as whole. The Navy suffered perennial problems with inadequate staff, lack of operational bases, lack of financial support, and poor technological and personnel resources. Secondly, it grew out as the smallest military uniform branch that contributed in its lack of importance in federal budgets as well as the problems relating to its institutional infrastructure.

The Army and the Air Force were the dominant forces where the defense planning were based wholly on army and air force point of view. Additional problems relating to the Navy were the lack of facilities and maintenance machinery, as the only naval dockyard on the subcontinent was located in Bombay in India.

To overcome these difficulties, the Navy had to launch a recruitment program for the young nation, starting in the East-Pakistan which proved to be very difficult to sustain the program; therefore, it was moved back to West-Pakistan to concentrate recruitment on Western Pakistanis. Furthermore, the Navy's procurement was greatly determined by its war role and it had to struggle for a role for itself throughout its history from its beginning.

The beginning: 1947–64

Reorganization under the United States Navy (1947–64)

Main articles: Pakistan-United Kingdom military relations, Pakistan-United States military relations, Indo-Pakistani war of 1947, British Admiralty, and Military Advisory Assistance Group

PNS Shamsher visiting Australia in 1951. The frigate was transferred to Pakistan by the Royal Indian Navy in 1947 as a training ship.

The Navy's combat actions largely remained in absence during the first war with India in 1947–48 as all the fighting was restricted to land and aerial combat missions. On operational planning, Captain HMS Choudri had engaged on commanding a former RIN destroyer from Karachi to Bombay to oversee the evacuation of Indian emigrants to Pakistan. In 1948, the Royal Pakistan Navy had to engaged in humanitarian missions to evacuate Indian immigrants trapped in disputed and hostile areas, with its frigates operating continuously.

Command and control of the new Navy was extremely difficult as Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan's administration had to extend the employment of large number of the Royal Navy officers from the British admiralty with Rear admiral James Wilfred Jefford appointed as the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) who worked on creating the contingency plan, "Short-term Emergency Plan (STEP)", to work up the frigates and naval defenses in case of escalation of the war at sea. In 1948, the Directorate-General for the Naval Intelligence (DGNI), a staff corps, was established under Lieutenant S. M. Ahsan, who served as its first Director-General, in Karachi. When the first war came to an end in 1948, the Navy temporarily established its Navy NHQ in Karachi and acquired its first O-class destroyer from the transfer by the Royal Navy.

The Royal Pakistan Navy greatly depended on the generous donations from the British Royal Navy with two Template:Sclass2-s, PNS Tippu Sultan and PNS Tariq. Tippu Sultan was commissioned on 30 September 1949, under Commander P.S. Evans, whilst Tariq was placed under the command of Lieutenant-Commander A. R. Khan. The two destroyers formed the 25th Destroyer Squadron, as PNS Jhelum and PNS Tughril, under Commander Muzaffar Hasan, also joined the Royal Pakistan Navy.

In 1950, the Navy's nationalization took place when many officers from the air force and army volunteered to join the navy and NCOs gaining commission as an officers. Support from the army and air force to the navy led to the establishment of logistics and maintenance machinery with vigorous efforts directed towards integrating the navy presence in East Pakistan, thereby creating opportunities for people in East Pakistan to participate in the build-up.

In 1951, the Pakistan government called for appointing native chiefs of staff of the armed branches, but it was not until 1953 that a native chief of naval staff was appointed. The British Admiralty, however, maintained the command of the Navy through Rear-Admiral Jefford who had native deputy chiefs of staff including Commodore HMS Choudhri, Commodore Khalid Jamil, and Commander M.A. Alavi.

PNS Badr, a destroyer, visiting the Great Britain on a goodwill mission in 1957.

During this time, a number of goodwill missions were carried out by the navy's warships, and non-combat missions were conducted under the auspices of the Royal Navy. In 1951, HMS Choudhri's promotion papers as naval chief were approved by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan but it was not until 1953 when HMS Choudhri was promoted as vice admiral and commander with the support from army commander Lieutenant-General Ayub Khan. He handed over the command of 25th Destroyer squadron to a Polish naval officer, Commander Romuald Nalecz-Tyminski.

In the mid 1950s, the Ministry of Finance awarded contracts to the Corps of Engineers for the construction of the Karachi Naval Dockyard. In 1954, several efforts were made to procure a Ch-class submarine from the Royal Navy but was rejected by British Admiralty which agreed to loan the Template:Sclass2-, HMS Chivalrous, which was renamed PNS Taimur. From 1953–56, HMS Choudri bitterly negotiated with the United States over the modernization of the navy and convinced the U.S. government to provide monetary support for modernization of aging O–class destroyers and minesweepers, while commissioning the Ch–class destroyers from the Royal Navy. British naval tradition was disbanded and cancelled when the United States Navy's advisers were dispatched to the Pakistani military in 1955.

With the promulgation of the Constitution of Pakistan that established the republicanism featuring the federalized government, the prefix Royal was dropped, and the service was re-designated the Pakistan Navy ("PN") with the Jack replaced the Queen's colour and the White Ensign respectively in 1956. The order of precedence of the three services changed from Navy–Army–Air force to Army–Navy–Air Force.

In February 1956, the British government announced the transfer of several major surface combat warships to Pakistan Navy, including a cruiser and four destroyers to be purchased with funds made available under the U.S. Military Assistance Program. In 1957, the Navy finalized the purchase of a cruiser from the United Kingdom and used the government's own funds for the purchase which caused a great ire against Admiral Choudhri in the Finance Ministry.

In 1958, the Navy made an unsuccessful attempt to obtain Template:Sclass-s from Sweden using the American security funds; it was halted by the United States and Pakistan's Finance Ministry despite the fact that the idea had support from Army GHQ. In 1958–59, the Navy NHQ staff began quarreling with the Army GHQ staff and the Ministry of Defense (MoD) over plans regarding the modernization of the navy that resulted in bitter interservice rivalry between army and navy and ended with Admiral Choudri's resignation to the Presidency in 1959.

Proposal of attaining the aircraft carrier was deferred due to financial constraints, forcing Pakistan to move towards establishing the formidable submarine command. From 1956 to 1963, two destroyers, eight coastal minesweepers, and an oiler were procured from the United States and United Kingdom as a direct result of Pakistan's participation in the anti-Communist defense pacts SEATO and CENTO.

War with India and subsequent war deployments (1965–70)

Main articles: Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Operation Somnath, and 1967 PNS Ghazi's circumnavigation

After the bitter resignation of Vice-Admiral HMS Choudri in 1959, Vice-Admiral Afzal Rahman Khan was appointed as the Commander in Chief in Navy who worked towards building relations with President Ayub Khan in retaining hopes for procuring a submarine despite financial constraints. The Royal Navy accepted the long awaiting requests from the Pakistan Navy for a regular visit to Karachi Naval Dockyard to provide first hand experience in submarine operations in 1960–61. The Ayub administration did not increase the financial funding of the navy at the expense to army and air force but he did not object to American contributions to train the Pakistan Navy in submarine operations. It was the U.S. Navy that provided an insightful and crucial training support to Pakistan Navy enabling it to conduct operations in long range in the Indian Ocean and the proposal of procuring the submarine was met with favorable views in 1963 due to the prospect of the Soviet Navy leasing a submarine to the Indian Navy. After seeing the U.S. contribution, the United Kingdom decided to provide training and education to Pakistan Navy on submarine operations, and in 1964, PNS Ghazi was commissioned from the United States under the Security Assistance Program (SAP).

PNS Ghazi in war theater in 1965. In 1968, she executed a circumnavigation of Africa and Southern Europe in order to be refit in Turkey. Sunk in 1971 under mysterious circumstances.

Even though, neither the Navy nor the Air Force was notified of the Kashmir incursion in 1965, the Navy was well-prepared at the time when the second war broke out between Pakistan and India in 1965. The naval chief Admiral Afzal Rahman Khan ordered all war units of the Pakistan Navy to take up defensive positions off the coast, but did not order any offensive operations in the Bay of Bengal. As the Indian Air Force's repeated sorties and raids disrupted PAF operations, the Navy assumed a more aggressive role in the conflict. On 2 September, the Navy deployed its first long-range submarine, PNS Ghazi under Commander K. R. Niazi which was charged with gathering intelligence on Indian naval movements that stalked the diverting threats posed by the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

On the night of 7/8 September, a naval squadron comprising four destroyers, one frigate, one cruiser, and one submarine, under the command of Commodore S. M. Anwar, launched artillery operation— an attack on the radar facilities used by the Indian Air Force in the small coastal town of Dwarka. The operation ended with limited damage to the area. After gunnery bombardment, Ghazi was deployed against the Indian Navy's Western Naval Command at Bombay on 22 September and ended her operations and reported safely back to Karachi Naval Dockyard on 23 September 1965.

PNS Alamgir in 1947. The Pakistan Navy explored the idea of installing Russian missile system on former British frigates but Soviets refrained from doing so due to objections from India.

The naval operation in Dwarka had greatly increased the prestige of the Pakistan Navy and it had also alerted Indian Navy commanders to the significant threat posed by the Pakistan Navy, and to its own naval shortcomings. After the war, the United States imposed an arms embargo on Pakistan and Pakistani military began exploring options for military procurement from China, France, and Soviet Union. The United Kingdom offered the Navy to jointly built the Type 21 frigate but was rejected by Ayub administration that would only allow the financial capital to be spent on submarine procurement.

In 1966, the Pakistan Navy established its own special operations force, the Navy Special Service Group (Navy SSG) after the recommendations from the United States Navy. In 1966–70, Pakistan Navy had been well aware of massive procurement and acquisitions of weapon systems being acquired from the Soviet Union and United Kingdom, and the danger it will posed to Pakistan. In 1966–69, there were series of unsuccessful talks of acquiring the warships from the Soviet Navy which ended with no yielding results. The Soviet Union offered to sell their Template:Sclass2- but Pakistan Navy wanted the Styx missiles to be installed in frigates in a believe that the missile boats were big enough to meet the Pakistani requirements in operating in the Indian Ocean. The Russians later determined to their strategic interests lay with India and allowed the developing relationship with Pakistan to wither.

Difficulties arose between and after the arms embargo was lifted by the United States which lifted based strictly on cash-and-carry basis. Pleas for strengthening the Navy in East Pakistan were ignored due to monetary issues and financial constraints restricted the Navy's capabilities to function more efficiently. In 1968, the Template:Sclass-s were procured from France while operating Template:Sclass-s that was refitted and upgraded by the Turkish Navy. Due to the Egyptian blockade of the Suez Canal, the Navy had to execute a notable submerged circumnavigation operation from the Indian Ocean through the Atlantic Ocean in order to undergo a refit program at the Gölcük Naval Shipyard in Turkey which was the only facility to manage the refitting and mid-life upgrades of military computers of the Tench class. Despite reservations harboring by the Navy NHQ about the aging Ghazi, she was sailed under the command of Commander Ahmed Tasnim starting from the Karachi coast in Indian Ocean to Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, through the Atlantic Ocean and ended at the east coast of the Sea of Marmara where the Gölcük Naval Shipyard was located.

In 1968–69, the Navy NHQ staff began its tussle with the Air AHQ staff over the issue establishing the naval aviation who feared the loss of fighter jets and their pilots in the sea and was hostile towards this idea. The United States entered in discussing the transfer of P3B Orion aircraft to the Navy in 1970 with Yahya administration but were not procured until the end of the 1970s. In 1970, the foreign relations between Pakistan and East Pakistan further deteriorated and the Navy knew that it was impossible to defend East Pakistan from approaching Indian Navy. Series of reforms were carried when Navy's serious reservations were considered by the Yahya administration and East Pakistanis were hastily recruited in what was known as East Pakistan Navy but this proved to be disaster for Navy when majority of East Pakistani naval officers and ~3,000 sailors defected to India to join the Awami League's military wing– the Mukti Bahini. Such events had jeopardized the operational scope of the Navy and the Navy NHQ staffers and commanders knew very well that it (Navy) was ill-prepared for the war and Pakistan was about to have a sharp lesson from India in the consequences of disconnecting strategy from reality.

Indo-Pakistan war of 1971

Main articles: Operation Barisal, Operation Jackpot, and Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971

By 1971, the Navy NHQ staffers and their commanders knew very well that the Pakistan Navy was poorly represented in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and there was no main infrastructure to conduct defensive operation against the Eastern Naval Command of Indian Navy in Bay of Bengal. The Navy was only able conducted the riverine-based operations that was being undertaken by the Pakistan Marines with the assistance from the Navy Special Service Group, codenamed Barisal in April 1971. Although, the Governor of East Pakistan, Vice-Admiral S.M. Ahsan, made efforts to increase the naval presence and significance in 1969 but the Indian Navy's Eastern Naval Command continued to pose a significant threat since it had capability of conduct operations in long-range areas.

Furthermore, the defections from Navy's Bengali officers and sailors had jeopardize the Navy's operational scope who went onto join the Awami League's militant wing, the Mukti Bahini in a program known as Jackpot. Though, the program was disrupted by the Navy from further annihilation but the naval facilities were severely damaged due to this operation on 15 March 1971. East-Pakistan's geography was surrounded by India on all three landward sides by the Indian Army as the Navy was in attempt to prevent India from blocking the coasts.

During this time, the Navy NHQ was housed in Karachi that decided to deploy the newly MLU Ghazi submarine on East while Hangor in West for the intelligence gathering purposes.

At the end of East-Pakistan crisis.... We (Pakistan Navy, Eastern Command) had no intelligence and hence, were both deaf and blind with the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force pounding us day and night....

— Admiral Mohammad Sharif, to U.S. Admiral Zumwalt in 1971, .

PNS Nazim, which previously took part in the Vietnam and Korean Wars in the U.S. Navy as USS Wiltsie. She is now serving in the Maritime Security Agency as its "on-sea" headquarters.

With no naval aviation branch to guard the Karachi port, the Indian Navy breached the seaborne borders of Pakistan and successfully launched the first missile attack, consisting of three Soviet-built Template:Sclass2-s escorted by two anti-submarine patrol vessels on 4 December 1971. Nearing Karachi's port area, the Indian Navy's squadron launched Styx missiles anti-ship missiles, which the obsolescent Pakistan naval warships had no viable defense against. Two of the warships, PNS Muhafiz and PNS Khaibar, were sunk, while PNS Shahjahan was damaged beyond repair. Outcomes were stunning for both sides with Pakistan suffering the loss of imported warships, and while India sustained no damage to their attacking squadron.

On 8 December 1971, Hangor commanded by its Commander Ahmed Tasnim, sank the Indian frigate INS Khukri off the coast of Gujarat, India. This was the first sinking of a warship by a submarine since World War II, and resulted in the loss of 18 officers and 176 sailors of the Indian Navy while the inflicting severe damages to another warship, INS Kirpan, by the same submarine. The Pakistan Air Force now covering for Karachi made several of the unsuccessful attempts to engage the Indian Navy's missile boat squadron by carrying out the aerial bombing missions over the Okha Harbor– the forward base of the Indian Navy's missile boat squadron. The Indian Navy retaliated with a second missile attack on Pakistan's coast on the night of 8 December 1971. when a small flotilla of Indian vessels, consisting of a missile boat and two frigates, approached Karachi and launched a missile attack that sank the Panamanian cargo ship Gulf Star, PNS Dacca and the British merchant ship SS Harmattan were damaged.

The missile-based attacks were the complete success for the Indian Navy, and a psychological trauma for Pakistan Navy, the human and material cost severely cutting into its combat capability, nearly 1,700 sailors perished at the barracks.

PNS Zulfiqar in 1947: She was subjected to a serious friendly fire incident when the senior naval observers misidentified their own ship as a smaller missile boat, giving clearance to the PAF to mount a missile attack. She was scrapped in metal in 1983.

The commercial pilots from the Pakistan International Airlines volunteered to conduct air surveillance missions with the Pakistan Air Force, but this proved less than helpful when the Pakistan Navy's forward observer team misidentified their own frigate, PNS Zulfiqar, as an Indian missile boat. The PAF planes made several attack runs before finally identifying Zulfiqar by the Navy NHQ. The friendly fire resulted in further loss of navy personnel, as well as the loss of the ship, which was severely damaged and the Pakistan Navy's operational capabilities were now virtually extinct, and morale plummeted. The Indian Navy observers who watched the raid nearby later wrote in their war logs that the "PAF pilots failed to recognize the difference between a large PNS Zulfiqar frigate and a relatively small Osa missile boat." After the friendly attack, all naval surface operations came to a halt under the orders of chief of naval staff.

The Navy's only long range submarine, Ghazi, was deployed to the area but, according to neutral sources, it sank en route under mysterious circumstances. Pakistani authorities state that it sank either due to internal explosion or detonation of mines which it was laying at the time. The Indian Navy claims to have sunk the submarine.

The submarine's destruction enabled the Indian Navy to enforce a blockade on then East Pakistan. According to the defence magazine, Pakistan Defence Journal, the attack on Karachi, Dhaka, Chittagong and the loss of Ghazi, the Navy no longer was able to match the threat of Indian Navy as it was already outclassed by the Indian Navy after the 1965 war.

The damage inflicted by the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force on the Navy stood at seven gunboats, one minesweeper, two destroyers, three patrol craft, eighteen cargo, supply and communication vessels, and large-scale damage inflicted on the naval base and docks in the coastal town of Karachi. Three merchant navy ships; Anwar Baksh, Pasni and Madhumathi; and ten smaller vessels were captured. Around 1,900 personnel were lost, while 1413 servicemen (mostly officers) were captured by Indian forces in Dhaka. The Indian Navy lost 18 officers and 176 sailors and a frigate, while another frigate was damaged and a Breguet Alizé naval aircraft was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force.

According to one Pakistan scholar, Tariq Ali, the Pakistan Navy lost half its force in the war. Despite the limited resources and manpower, the Navy performed its task diligently by providing support to inter-services (air force and army) until the end.

According to the testimony provided by the [Rear-Admiral]] Mohammad Shariff in 2015, the primary reason for this loss has been attributed to the High Command's failure in defining a role for the Navy, or even considering Navy as military in general. Since then the Navy has sought to improve the structure and fleet by putting special emphasis on sub-surface warfare capability as it allows for the most efficient way to deny the control of Pakistani sea lanes to an adversary. In a thesis written by Dr. P. I. Cheema in 2002, Ayub Khan, who had enjoyed considerable influence on Pakistan's national politicians, did not fully understood the Navy as a military service or neither comprehend the importance of safeguarding the sea lines of communication, which prevented the development of the Navy as a potent force as it should have in 1970s.

Restructuring and building towards modern Navy: 1972–89

Main article: Pakistan-United States military relations

The Template:Sclass- PNS Ghazi deployed during the Operation Restore Hope in 1991. She was purchased from the Portuguese Navy in 1975 and joined the Pakistan Navy in 1977.

After surrendering of Pakistan Eastern Command in East and unilateral decision of ceasefire in West, Pakistan learned a sharp lesson from India in the consequences of disconnecting strategy from reality, and the war turned out to be turning point as a "naval consciousness" for the federal government which begin to pay attention by taking series of step to modernize and increase the operational scope of the Navy. Unlike the army or the air force, the naval officers were able to continue their military service with the Navy, and their promotions were relatively quicker than the any other military uniform branches in 1972–74.

In January of 1972, the Bhutto administration formed the POW Commission to investigate the number of war prisoners held by the Indian Army in East and submitted the request to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to investigate the causes of the war failure with India in 1971. After concluding a quick visit in the United States in 1972, President Bhutto used his administrative powers to dishonorably discharge the commission of five senior admirals in the Navy, appointing the junior most H. H. Ahmed as the first Chief of Naval Staff of the Navy. In 1973, the Navy NHQ was permanently moved to Islamabad to provide synergy with the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi.

The Gearing-class PNS Taimur (former USS Epperson) was acquired from the United States in 1977. She was sunk as a target in during a naval exercise in 2000.

In 1974, the Naval Aviation branch was established with the transfer of the Westland Sea King helicopters from the United Kingdom in 1975, followed by test firing the surface-to-ship Exocet missile as a befitting response to the Indian Navy in 1979. With the ability to fire the land-based Exocet missile from a reconnaissance aircraft, the Navy became the first of its king in the South Asia to acquire land-based ballistics missile capable long range reconnaissance aircraft.

In 1976, the Navy moved towards successfully acquiring the military computers from the British firm, the Ferranti, to increase its defenses for its coastlines. The War Enquiry Commission noted the lack of strategic communication and the grand strategy between the four-branches of the military during the conflict and wars with India, recommending the establishment of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee to maintain strategic military communication between the inter-services and the federal government, that is to be chaired by the appointed Chairman joint chiefs as the government's principal military adviser. In 1976, Navy saw its first four-star rank admiral when Mohammad Shariff was promoted to this rank, and later becoming the first admiral to be appointed as the Chairman of Joint Chiefs Committee in 1977. In 1977, the United States reportedly transferred the two refitted Template:Sclass- to the Pakistan Navy, which were much superior to the British frigates, followed by obtaining more destroyers from the U.S. Navy in 1982–83.

During this time, the Navy to diversify its procurement with defense deals made with China, France, and the United Kingdom but the dependence grew on China when the Navy acquired the anti-submarine warships that gave the Navy credible sea-denial capability. In 1979, the France offered to sell their Agosta-70A-class submarine and was immediately acquired which were commissioned as Hurmat and Hashmat. Induction of the Agosta-70A class gave Pakistan Navy a depth advantage over the Indian Navy, and gave the Navy an ability to conduct operations in deeper Indian Ocean at wider range.

In 1982, the Reagan administration submitted the proposal of US$3.2 billion aid for Pakistan that was aimed towards economic uplift and security assistance to the United States Congress as the Navy entered in successful negotiation of obtaining the Harpoon system, despite the strong Indian lobby opposing and objecting of this deal. In 1985, the Navy bought the Mirage 5V aircraft for the naval role and were equipped with the Exocet A39 missile that gives the capability of sea denial to the Pakistan Navy. With the induction of the missile systems, long-range and depth endurance submarines, missiles destroyers, fighter aircraft, and establishment of the Maritime Security Agency, the Pakistan Navy eventually ended the Indian Navy's control over the Indian Ocean, and the Indian Navy's confidence that it could contained the Pakistan Navy at shorelines.

Eventually, the Pakistan Navy began its wartime deployment in Middle Eastern countries through the Persian Gulf and deployed its war assets in Saudi Arabia in support of the U.S. Navy's fleet in wake of the events involving the Iran-Iraq War and tensions with Libya. In 1982, the Reagan administration approved US$3.2 billion military and economic aid to Pakistan with Pakistan acquiring eight Template:Sclass- and Template:Sclass- frigates from the United States Navy on a five-year lease in 1988. A depot for repairs, USS Hector followed the lease of these ships in April 1989. This was done due to the Zia administration's cooperation with the Reagan administration against the Soviet Union's invasion in Afghanistan.

Self reliance, engagement and covert operations (1990–1999)

Main articles: Karachi Affair, Atlantique Incident, Indo-Pakistani War of 1999, and Revolt of the Admiral

The Template:Sclass- and Template:Sclass- guided missile destroyer (FFG) being transferred to Pakistan Navy in 1986. All were returned to United States in 1993–95 when the renewing of lease with an option of purchase was denied by the United States.

After the Russian troops withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, the Bush administration imposed the arms embargo on Pakistan by uncovering the existence of the covert atomic bomb program to the United States Congress, which ultimately refrained the transfer of the maritime patrol aircraft, missile systems, and defense softwares on 1 October 1990. With the expiration of the lease of the Template:Sclass- and Template:Sclass- guided missile frigates, the Navy had to returned the frigates to the United States that were sold to India for scrapped metals, and Navy to faced the problems for adequate funding towards the modern Navy. The embargo seriously impaired the Navy's operational scope and paralyzed its ability to operate in the Indian Ocean, since the Navy's fleet was composed of entirely the former U.S.-built warships.

Since 1987, the Pakistan Navy had been interested in acquiring the Type 21 frigates from the United Kingdom, and the Navy turned to the Royal Navy for an immediate purchase which was approved in 1993 whose expensive refitting and technological upgrades had to carried out by Pakistan itself at their Naval Base in Karachi over the years. In 1994, the Pakistan Navy entered in lengthy, complicated, and controversial negotiation with France to acquire the long-range submarine technology by dismissing the idea of procuring nuclear-powered submarine from China due to noise issue that the Indian Navy was quiet able to track. Despite embargo, the United States Navy maintained its relations with Pakistan Navy, inviting the Pakistanis to participate in the Inspired Siren in 1994, and gave the Pakistan Navy instructions and run down on the nuclear submarine and aircraft carrier operations. In an attempt to warm the political relations with the United States, the Pakistani military joined the U.S. actions in the Somali Civil War, conducting wartime patrol in the Somali coast.

The Navy's P3C Orion taking a flight in 2010. One of its sister aircraft was involved in serious crash during its routine mission in 1999, claiming valuable lives.

In 1994, the Navy was deployed in support of the U.S. Navy and extended its support in 1995 to took participation in Operation United Shield to concluded its side of operation after evacuating personnel and equipment of army, marines, and air force. By 1996, the Brown amendment was introduced that allowed the uplifting of the embargo on Pakistan, allowing the transfer of the maritime patrol aircraft to the Navy.

By 1997, the controversy over the technology transfer from France had tarnished the public image of the Navy with the arrest of naval chief when several cases were leveled on political and naval leadership. Despite India's strong objections in France, the air-independent propulsion was transferred to Pakistan which built the Template:Sclass-, capable to operating in Indian Ocean and at higher submarine depth. In 1999, the Navy saw the public disagreement with the federal government over the issue of Pakistan Army's engagement with Indian Army in Kashmir and over the rightful appointment of the Admiral Fasih Bokhari as Chairman joint chiefs. Pakistan Navy was forced to deploy its existing war assets when the Indian Navy deployed its warships near Korangi Creek Cantonment and Port of Karachi with their codename: Operation Talwar.

On 10 August 1999, a serious incident took place in Sir Creek region when the Indian Air Force shot down the Naval Aviation aircraft that resulted in deaths of 16 naval personnel, mostly officers. On 29 August 1999, another aircraft of the Navy, P3C Orion, was lost due to an accident and resulted in lost of twenty one lives.

When Gen. Pervez Musharraf was confirmed as the Chairman Joint Chiefs, Admiral Fasih Bokhari reportedly submitted his resignation from his commission in protest, and left the command to Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza.

Over the issue of the Indian Air Force's shot down of the aircraft, the Navy filed a lawsuit against the Indian Air Force at the International Court of Justice, but the claim was later dismissed due to overreaching of the court's mandate.

Pakistan fully endorse the requirements of a strong navy, capable of safeguarding Pakistan's sea frontiers and her Lines of Communication, monitoring and protecting her exclusive economic zone. Continuous efforts are at hand to provide the best available equipment to the Navy despite all economic constraints.

— Pervez Musharraf, 1999,

After his incident in 1999, another proposal was raised to switched the air-independent propulsion of Agosta submarine to substitute with nuclear propulsion, however the proposal was dismissed.

War on Terror in Afghanistan and operations in North-West (2001–present)

Main articles: PNS Mehran Operation, Operation Rah-e-Nijat, PNS Mehran Operation, Operation Black Thunderstorm, Operation Umeed-e-Nuh, and Blockade of Yemen

PNS Shah Jahan and PNS Tippu Sultan, the Template:Sclass- guided missile destroyers, are participating in Exercise Inspired Siren in the Indian Ocean in 2002.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, the sanctions on Pakistan were eventually uplifted, allowing the Navy to procure the U.S.-built weapon systems and warships to regain its ability to operate in the Indian Ocean as it became involved in war preparations during the standoff with India in 2001–02. In 2001, the Navy took serious consideration of deploying the nuclear weapons on its submarines although none of the nuclear weapons were ever deployed in the submarines.

In 2003–04, there were several proposals made for acquiring the vintage aircraft carriers but the Navy itself had dismissed the idea since the country has not aspired to have an aircraft capability. In 2002–03, the Pakistan Navy deployment took place in the Indian Ocean, participating in the naval drills to combat terrorism from seaborne platforms, and eventually entered in defense negotiations with China for acquiring the technology to designing and building the guided missile frigates— the F-22P guided missile frigates were eventually built it in 2006–15.

An elite operative of the Navy Special Service Group (SSGN) is silhouetted by the setting sun abroad PNS Babur while under way in the Indian Ocean in 2007.

Since 2004, the Navy's deployment took place in Indian Ocean, playing a crucial role in the multinational NAVCENT in Bahrain, and took the leadership of the CTF-150 and CTF-151 as well as taking active participation in the Operation Enduring Freedom in 2006–10. In 2008, the task force group consisting of PNS Badr, PNS Shah Jahan, PNS Nasr, and the Pakistan Air Force's Explosive Ordnance Disposal participated in the Exercise Inspired Union with the U.S. Navy in the Indian Ocean to develop skills in a prevention of seaborne terrorism.

Its deployment in the War on terror also included their actions in the War in Afghanistan when the Navy's special forces were deployed to take participation in the Operations: Black Thunderstorm, Rah-i-Nijat, Mehran, and the Help.

Despite its seaborne mission, the Navy had played an active role in controlling the insurgency in former tribal belt in Western Pakistan, mostly taking roles in managing logistics and intelligence gathering as well as conducting ground operations with the army in Western areas to track down the al-Qaeda operatives. From 2010–11, the Navy was in a brief direct conflict with the violent TTP group and al-Qaeda, and its Naval Intelligence was able to track down the infiltrated militants within the ranks of the Navy.

In 2015, the Navy was deployed in support of the Saudi-led blockade of Yemen after accepting the request from the Saudi Arabia. As of current, the Navy continues increase its operational scope in the Indian Ocean and reportedly successfully entering in defense talks with Turkey to jointly built the MILGEM project in Pakistan in 2018–2019 while it had earlier announced to start the building the program of the nuclear submarine for its current operational capabilities in 2013.

Involvement in the civil society

Main article: Operation Madad (Pakistan Navy)

PNS Badr participating in the relief operations after the earthquake hit the northern parts of the country in 2005.

Adm. Bashir meeting with the U.S. Army General David Petraeus, top commander of ISAF in Afghanistan, to initiate peace initiatives and counter-terrorism operations against Taliban forces in Afghanistan in 2010.

The Pakistan Navy has played an integral part in the civil society of Pakistan, almost since its inception. In 1996, General Jehangir Karamat described Pakistan armed forces' relations with the society:

In my opinion, if we have to repeat of past events then we must understand that Military leaders can pressure only up to a point. Beyond that their own position starts getting undermined because the military is after all is a mirror image of the civil society from which it is drawn.

— General Jehangir Karamat on civil society–military relations,

In times of national calamities and emergencies, the Pakistan Navy has been deployed in relief operations and nation building programs in the country. In 2004, a tactical task force under then-Commodore Asif Sandila coordinated the peacetime relief operations in Maldives, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Bangladesh when the underwater earthquake caused a tsunami and struck the South Asian nations. In 2005, the Navy deployed the PNS Badr (D-184) to help assists the relief efforts for the earthquake that struck the northern part of the country on October 2005.

In 2010, the Navy coordinated its one the largest relief operation during the nationwide flash floods, with Navy divers rescuing and evacuating more than 352,291 people on August 2010. In addition, the Navy and Marines personnel provided 43,850 kg of food and relief goods to flood victims; 5,700 kg of ready-to-cook food, 1,000 kg of dates and 5,000 kg of food has been dispatched to Sukkur. As of January 2011, under the program PN Model Village, the Navy's civil engineering corps built the model houses in the affected areas for the internally displaced person (IDPs).

On 10 June 2018, Pakistan Navy and Maritime Security Agency rescued eleven Iranian crew members on an sunken Iranian boat in the Northern Arabian Sea, about 230 kilometres (140 mi) away from Karachi.

Corporate and business activities

Main articles: Bahria Foundation, Karachi Port Trust, and Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC)

The Pakistan Navy has the wider commercial and financial interests in the country, and is a forerunner of the Bahria Foundation (lit. Naval Foundation). From 1996–2000, the Navy was a major sponsor of the Bahria Town– the real estate enterprise– and reportedly received market shares for the use of its name in commercial building projects. In 2002, the Navy filed a civil lawsuit to refrain the Bahria Town using its name for profiteering– the lawsuit was eventually settled in civil court in favor of Navy in 2018.

For external billets appointment, the federal government takes the senior leadership of the Navy as secondment to manage the federal institutions such as the Karachi Port Trust, Port of Karachi, and the Port of Gwadar.

Organization

Command and control structure

Main articles: List of serving admirals of the Pakistan Navy, Chief of Naval Staff (Pakistan), and Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Navy

The American Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Gary Roughead, inspecting Pakistan Navy sailors at the Navy NHQ in Islamabad in 2009.

Leadership in the Navy is provided by the Minister of Defense, leading and controlling the direction of the department of navy from the Naval Secretariat-II at the Ministry of Defense, with the Defense Secretary who is responsible for the bureaucratic affairs of the army's department. The Constitution sets the role of the elected President of Pakistan as the civilian Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces while the Prime Minister of Pakistan served as the Chief Executive of the Pakistan Armed Forces, both the people-elected civilians, the President and Prime minister, maintains a civilian control of the military.

The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), an appointed four-star rank admiral, is a principal military adviser on the naval/maritime security affairs to the Federal government and is a senior member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC)— a military body that advises and briefs the elected civilian Prime Minister and its executive cabinet on national security affairs and operational military matters under the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

The war functions of the Navy is controlled from the single combat headquarters, the Navy NHQ, located in Islamabad at vicinity of the Joint Staff Headquarters and the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi Cantonment in Punjab in Pakistan. The Chief of Naval Staff controls and commands the Navy at all levels of operational command, and is assisted by number of Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) who are commissioned at the three-star rank admirals.

The military administration of the Navy under the naval chief based in the Navy NHQ includes its Principal Staff Officers:

• • • Vice Chief of Naval Staff (VCNS)
    • Chief of Staff of Personnel (COS-Personnel)
    • Chief of Staff of Operation (COS-Ops.)
    • Chief of Staff of Logistics (COS-Log.)
    • Comptroller of Civilian Personnel
    • Judge Advocate General
    • Naval Secretary
• See Chief of Naval Staff for more command PSO-level appointments

Naval components and branches

The senior military leadership of the Navy meeting with the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead at the Navy NHQ in Islamabad.

Due the influence from the Royal Navy and later by the United States Navy since its earliest inception, the Pakistan Navy has a unique command structure and the Navy's functionality is divided in various branches.

There are sixteen military branches in the Navy that are in fact administrative, directed by the several appointed deputy chief of naval staff (DCNS) and often assisted by the assistant chief of naval staff (ACNS). The deputy chiefs of naval staff directly reports to the chief of staff of their respected command– the deputy chiefs of naval staff are usually holding the either the two-star or three-star ranks, depending on assignments nature.

Navy NHQ in Islamabad

Chief of Staff of Operations (COS-Ops) Deputy Chief of Naval Staff of Operations (DCNS–Ops.) Deputy Chief of Naval Staff of Projects (DCNS–Proj.) Director-General Naval Intelligence and C4I (DG C4I) Chief of Staff of Personnel (COS-P) Deputy Chief of Naval Staff of Training and Evaluation (DCNS–Trig/E.) Deputy Chief of Naval Staff of Personnel (DCNS–P) Deputy Chief of Naval Staff of Administration (DCNS–Admin.) Naval Secretariat (Naval Secretary) Chief of Staff of Logistics (COS-Log) Deputy Chief of Naval Staff of Materials (DCNS-Mats) Deputy Chief of Naval Staff of Supply (DCNS-S)

Navy Staff Headquarters

Source: Organizations

The each and appointed deputy chiefs of naval staff headed their respected branches and report directly to the chiefs of staff their respected command at the Navy NHQ in Islamabad. The branches in the Navy are in fact administrative not combat service— therefore these branches imposes educational and medical qualifications its junior officers to be educated at the higher level of their knowledge once passed out from the naval academy. Each branches in the Navy offers the specialization and officers interested in joining the particular service have to pass the aptitude tests before attending the specialized school that usually last for two to three years, in which the officer is able to attain the college degree.

Military administration in the Navy

Administrative Branches in the Navy	Call Sign	Specialization and Qualification Badges		Administrative Branches in the Navy	Call Sign	Specialization and Qualification Badges
Naval Operations	Ops	Surface warfare Underwater warfare Electronic Warfare Communication Navigation NBCD		Mechanical	Mech	Ship Mechanical Engineering Badge
Logistics	Log	Logistics Badge		Education	Ed	Education Badge
Judge Advocate General Corps	JAG	JAG Badge		Naval Police	NP	Naval Police Badge
Weapons Engineering Branch	WEB	WEB Badge		Marine Engineering Branch	MEB
Aviation	AVN	Naval aviator badge		Music	MUS	Music Badge
Medical	MED	Medical Badge		Supply	S
Naval Intelligence	NI	Navy Intelligence Badge		Marines Corps	MC	Marines Badge
Navy SEALs	SSGN	SSGN Badge		Maritime Security Agency	MSA	MSA Badge
Special Branch	SB	IT Badge		Chaplain Service	CS

Sources: Professional Branch of Pakistan Navy. For other Enlisted Branch.

Commands

Main article: Structure of the Pakistan Navy

Since its restructuring and reorganization over the several years, the Pakistan Navy now operates eight operational and tactical field commands, two of the important commands of aviation and submarines are reporting directly to the senior Pakistan Fleet Command. Each command is headed by the senior commander who usually holds a ranks of three-star rank: Vice-Admiral. The appointment to the senior fleet commander known as s "Commander Pakistan Fleet" leads the navy's entire fleet with a responsibility of deploying the entire combat formations of the navy.

Each of the tens commands directly reports to the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), operating directly at the Navy NHQ in Islamabad in Pakistan.

Geographically, there three operational and tactical commands, such as Karachi Command (COMKAR), Northern Command (COMNOR), and Central Punjab Command (COMCEP), are administrating the bulk of naval installations, offshore establishments, and training facilities besides the seven oceanic based commands.

In 2012, the Pakistan Navy established the Naval Strategic Forces Command that has area responsibility of exercising the deployment of sea-borne nuclear weapons and is described by the military as the "custodian of the nation's nuclear second strike capability.

The peacetime commands and the Commands in the Navy allocated are given below.

Operational Commands in the Pakistan Navy

Headquarters	Navy NHQ, Islamabad in Pakistan
Operational and Tactical Commands	Call Sign	Subordinate combat squadrons and arms	Notes
Commander Pakistan Fleet	COMPAK	Subordinate squadrons 25th Destroyer Squadron 18th Destroyer Squadron 9th Auxiliary Squadron 21st Auxiliary Squadron 10th Patrol Squadron Fast Patrol Squadron Naval Aviation Submarine Service	The war-fighting command responsible for operational deployments of the Surface, Submarine, and Aviation Commands to ensure the operational readiness and assurances of the Navy.
Commander Karachi	COMKAR	Subordinate offshore establishments PNS Bahadur– Submarine school PNS Himalaya– Boot camp PNS Karsaz PNS Rahat Pakistan Naval Academy PNS Rahnuma – HR Department PNS Shifa School of Logistics and Management PNS Nigraan – Naval Police HQ	Directs the offshore establishments, training schools, military protocol, and ensuring coastal defense of Karachi coast.
Commander Coast	COMCOAST	Subordinate branches COS Marines Corps Naval Observatory PNS Iqbal PNS Qasim Marines Base Sir Creek Manora Base Pakistan Naval Air Defense Commander West– COMWEST	Directs the coastal command by ensuring the coastal defenses of Pakistan from Iranian border in West to Indian borders in East.
Commander Logistics	COMLOG	Subordinate establishments Naval Dockyard Weapons Depot PNS Dilawar– Logistics Base Commander Depot– COMDEP	Directs the logistics command to oversee the maintenance, military logistics and material readiness for construction warships at the shipyard.
Commander Central Punjab	COMCEP	Subordinate commands Naval War College– Lahore Pakistan Marines Corps– Punjab Detachment	Oversees the deployments of Marines battalions and operations of the War College in Punjab
Naval Strategic Forces Command	NSFC	Subordinate commands Navy Special Service Group Deployment of seaborne-nuclear weapons	This command was identified by the military as Custodian of nuclear second strike capability
Flag Officer Sea Training	FOST		This Command oversees the training deployment of the Navy
Commander Submarines	COMSUBS		Directed the Submarine Command but reporting directly to COMPAK
Commander Naval Aviation	COMNAV		Directs the Naval Aviation Command but reporting directly to COMPAK
Commander North	COMNOR		Directs the Navy's combat units in Western and Northern Pakistan

Notes: Sources: Administrative Commands and the textbook: Seaforth World Naval Review 2012 ISBN 9781783466320

Special operations forces

Main articles: Special Service Group Navy, 1st Marines Battalion (Pakistan), and Naval Strategic Forces Command (Pakistan)

The Navy SSG conducting the force-protection and underwater special forces training with their United States Navy counterparts, the U.S. Navy SEALs. in 2011

The Pakistan Navy has a dedicated military division towards conducting the unconventional warfare, combat diving, naval interdiction, and the asymmetric warfare operations, established under the watchful guidance of the United States Navy's SEALs in 1966.

The Pakistan Marines dressed in operational camouflage uniforms, during training with United States counterparts in Alexandria in 2009.

This elite and competitive division in the Navy is known as the Special Service Group (Navy) (SSG(N)), colloquially known as the SSGN or SEALs as an unofficial call sign, whose classified nature of operations are conducted under the authority of the Naval Strategic Forces Command and is directly under the command of the Commander of the Coastal Areas.

The Navy Special Service Group is influenced from the competitive training of the Army Special Service Group, and is headquartered at the PNS Iqbal in Karachi where the physical conditioning and weapon tactics training took place. The Navy Special Service Group's specialization further included training and mastery in the visit, board, search, and seizure methods, naval interdiction, and security operations to prevent seaborne-based terrorism.

In sharp contrast to the Army Special Service Group, the Navy Special Service Group is a tighter unit composed of highly qualified and selected personnel who are modeled and inspired by the U.S. Navy SEALs training and tradition. Actual number of personnel of Navy Special Service Group is classified and their deployment are also subjected to classified information.

In 1970–71, the Navy established the Pakistan Marines to support the amphibious warfare operations and were initially influenced from the performances by the United States Marines Corps but the Marines component was decommissioned by the federal government in 1974. On 14 April 1990, the Pakistan Marines were again recommissioned in the Navy with about 2,000 personnel who were drafted in the new contingent. The advanced training of the Marines are often takes place with the Pakistan Army at their School of Infantry and Tactics in Quetta in Balochistan.

The 1st Marines Battalion, the special operation unit, of the Pakistan Marines is specifically trained by the Pakistan Army to conduct the infiltration and conducting the anti-aircraft warfare operations, and the Marines's 1st Battalion is currently deployed in Sir Creek.

Military philosophy

Combat doctrine

Main articles: Nuclear navy, Second-strike capability, Submarine-launched cruise missile, Nuclear submarine, and Cruise missile submarine

The Hamza-S139, the air-independent powered Agosta-90B class submarine, is being prepare to go through the depth tests in 2007. The Agosta-90B submarines are capable of launching the nuclear-based cruise missiles from underwater platform.

The combat military doctrine and defense philosophy of the Pakistan Navy is primarily directed towards preventing the opportunity to the Indian Navy to launch or the remake of the missile attacks on the port cities of Pakistan that took place in 1970s.

From 1947 until 1971, the Pakistan Navy was seen as a force only suitable for the coastal defense that needed the patrol submarines as the strategy of protecting the sea lines of communication was never considered by the Ayub administration in 1960s. In 1971, the Indian Navy ultimately played a decisive role when it had tightly blocked the Pakistan's national reserves and prevented the sea-based national trade crucial for the country's economic survival, leading the federal government to realize the political realities and learned a valuable lesson that led to the increase in the funding of the Navy.

Over the years, the Pakistan Navy engaged in developing the tactical doctrine that includes the acquisition, development, employment, and aggressive deployment of the long-range and depth reaching submarines in an effort to target and destroy its adversaries by attacking surface warships before reaching the country's ports. The mining of the Karachi's harbor is also taken as a serious consideration of preventing the enemy from launching the missile attacks in the port city of Karachi.

In 1983–85, the Pakistan Navy commissioned the the Dassault Mirage 5 from France whose weapon system included the naval variant of the Exocet missiles and are aimed towards engaging the Indian Navy's aircraft out to 500 kilometres (310 mi) in the Indian Ocean.

The routine deployment of the surface fleet as part of the Combined Task Forces provides the opportunity to the safeguard the sealines of communications. Since 1999, the Pakistan Marines's special reconnaissance forces has been deployed in the Sir Creek region are aimed towards offshore protection against the incursions from the Indian Army's Para Commandos from the sea while taking the initiatives of deployment of the special forces groups behind the enemy lines through insertion by the HALO/HAHO airdrop or by using the midget submarines.

Responding to the development of the INS Arihant, the Pakistan Navy reportedly announced the launch of the nuclear powered submarine program to counter the submarine threat in 2012.

The Navy eventually pushed for attaining the naval-based nuclear second-strike capability in 2017 when the ISPR annouched the Pakistan Navy's to have attain the sea-based second strike capability when it launched the nuclear SLCM based on the Babur cruise missile, though the range of the SLCM remains to be at the short range.

Personnel

See also: List of serving Admirals of the Pakistan Navy

Commissioned officers

Main articles: Naval ranks and insignia of Pakistan and List of serving admirals of the Pakistan Navy

Commodore Asif Khaliq (left) saluting with officers Cdre. Keith Blount (middle) of RN Cdre. Daryl Bates (right) of RNZN. The Cdre. is a star officer rank equivalent to one-star general (Brig.) in the Pakistan Army.

From its commencement on August of 1947, the Pakistan Navy had traditionally followed the ranks and insignia of the Royal Navy but disbanded in favor of adopting the officer ranks system of the United States Navy as early as 1950s.

Unlike the army or air force where there are several paths to become the officers, there is only one way of becoming the naval officer by must attending the Pakistan Naval Academy—after passing out the boot camp in Manora Island— for one-and-half year for them to be able to passed out from the Academy.

The passed out cadets gain commission in the Navy as midshipman, taking their first assignment in a open-sea ship that gives them the experience of life at sea while being trained in different careers on board. The training of the passed out midshipman usually lasts till six months before rotating back to the naval academy to be promoted as the Sub-Lieutenants. Their college education is provided by the Navy at the Naval Engineering College in Karachi for three years that led them to earn the bachelors' degree in their choice of career.

The rank hierarchy in Navy is divided in three categories: junior officers, senior officers, and star officers— the Junior officers are those in pay grade scale of OF-1 to OF-4 while the senior officers are in scale of OF-5 to OF-6, and the star officers are in the pay grade scale from OF-6 to above OF-9.

Besides the military officers, the Department of Navy also offers employments to civilians in financial management, accountancy, medical services, computing, and administration, and has currently employed ~2,000 civilians that met the Navy's quota in 2018.

According the various admissions and estimations provided by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Pakistan Navy's combined standing navy is ~40,500 personnel including the active duty personnel, Navy Reserves, Marines Corps, the Maritime Security Agency (MSA), and the 2,000 personnel from the naval-side of the Coast Guards– the branch within the Pakistan Army.

Pay grade O-10 O-9 O-8 O-7 O-6 O-5 O-4 O-3 O-2 O-1 O-1 Insignia Title Fleet Admiral Admiral Vice-Admiral Rear-Admiral Commodore Captain Commander Lieutenant-Commander Lieutenant Sub-Lieutenant Midshipman Abbreviation FA Adm. V-Adm. R-Adm. Cdre. Capt. Cdr. Lt-Cdr. Lt. S-Lt. Mid. NATO Code OF-10 OF-9 OF-8 OF-7 OF-6 OF-5 OF-4 OF-3 OF-2 OF-1 OF-1 Rank Hierarchy Five-star Four-star Three-star Two-star One-star

Enlisted personnel

Main articles: Enlisted personnel, Military enlistment, Right to education, Education in Pakistan, and Quota system in Pakistan

The Pakistan Navy's enlisted personnel at the Jinnah's Tomb in Karachi in 2007.

The recruitment and the enlistment in the navy is nationwide and the recruitment in the Navy is carried out by the release of the employment tender in the print newspapers and televised commercials twice an year– first group attending the boot camp in May and the second being directed on November. The Directorate of Recruitment that is located in the Navy NHQ in Islamabad controls the recruiting offices and centers in all over the country— the recruiting offices are located in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan. Before 1966, almost all the enlisted personnel and officers had to be sent to attend the military academies in the United Kingdom to be educated and to be trained in technical branches for the Pakistan Navy.

After passing out from the nine-month long boot camp, the enlisted personnel are directed for subsequent job training at the PNS Karsaz in Karachi on the matters of technical subjects and assigned for different branches in the Navy.

Promotion in the Navy from the enlistment to officers ranks are much quicker than the army or the air force, as the Department of Navy offers financial aid to those enlisted personnel successful in their profession to attend the colleges and universities. Most of the enlisted personnel rarely stays in their enlisted ranks at the time of their retirement as most retires at junior officer ranks once reaching their retirement age of 62

Their technical experiences in their fields is consolidated into the professional training that forms their basis to attend the respective university for them to earned the four-year college degree.

The noncommissioned officers (or enlists) wear respective anchors color patches or badges chevrons on their shoulders. Retirement age for the enlisted personnel varies and depends on the enlisted ranks that they have attained during their services.

Structure of Enlisted Ranks of the Pakistan Navy
Pay grade	E-9	E-8	E-7	E-6	E-5	E-4	E-3	E-2	E-1
Insignia
Title	Master Chief Petty Officer	Fleet Chief Petty Officer	Chief Petty Officer	Petty Officer	Petty Officer (2nd-Class)	Petty Officer (1st-class)	Leading Seaman–III	Able Seaman–II	Seaman–I
Abbreviation	MCPO	FCPO	CPO	—	–	PO	LH	AS-II	OS-I
NATO Code	OR-9	OR-8	OR-7	OR-6	OR-5	OR-4	OR-3	OR-2	OR-1

Recruitment and training

Main article: Quota system in Pakistan

The passing out (graduation) of cadets from the Pakistan Naval Academy in Karachi in 2008. The education and boot camp training last for two years before cadets becomes sailors.

After the Navy was established on August of 1947, the Navy had to send its officers and enlisted personnel to be trained at the Britannia Royal Naval College in the United Kingdom whose training and education by the British Royal Navy was crucial at all levels of cadet's learning and schooling. During its earliest time in 1947, the Department of Navy had only 3,800 personnel (200 officers, 3,000 Enlists, and 500 civilian employees) as the Navy faced the same problems as its Department of Army as the most technical enlisted personnel and skilled executive officers were Punjabi Muslims while others had Urdu-speaking background (i.e. Indian immigrants as naturalized citizens of Pakistan).

After 1971, the Bhutto administration introduced the quota system to give fair chance to the residents of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to enlist in the military. In 2007, the Navy gave commissioned to its first Baloch batch, consisting of fifty-three women and seventy-two enlists from Balochistan in Pakistan. In 2012, the Navy pushed its personnel strength to Balochistan after sending a large formation of Baloch university students to Navy Engineering Colleges and War College as well as staff schools to complete their officer training requirements. The Navy established three additional facilities in Balochistan to supervise the training to its personnel.

Recruitment in the Navy remains to be challenge for the naval recruiters to enlists citizens and their selfless commitment to the military from the urbanized metropolitan cities where the preference of college education (especially attending post-graduate schooling in the United States and the English-speaking countries) is much higher and strongly desirable. Furthermore, the medical standards and education levels required by the Department of Navy to be able to perform technical jobs also poses significant challenges as the Navy requiring the significant percentage marks once the matriculation examinations are concluded.

The Navy has only one boot camp, the PNS Himalaya in Manora Island, where the basic military training takes place. The basic military training at the PNS Himalaya goes for nine-months where instructions on military life is given while the physical conditioning is strongly emphasized. Once completing the boot camp, the enlisted personnel are send to attend the Pakistan Naval Academy where their training lasts for year and half before they are able to passed out from the Naval Academy. Once passing out, the commissioned junior officers must spent six-month deployment in Indian Ocean before being selected to attend the professional schools, such as the Naval Engineering College in Karachi, to move towards attaining the bachelor's degree in a period of four-years.

As the estimates made in 2003 and 2009, the Navy had approximately ~30,200 active duty personnel. In 2014, the estimates established the Navy's manpower strength at 30,700 active duty personnel. but its combined manpower strength is increased and approximated at ~38,500 personnel based on recent estimates in 2018.

Education and training

Schooling, teaching, and institutions

File:PNEC.jpg

The campus of the Naval Engineering College (PNEC) in Karachi in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Navy offers the wide range of lucrative careers to the high school graduates in the technical fields by issuing specialized diplomas and certifications at the PNS Karsaz and the PNS Bahadur, which consists of the schools of operations, underwater, surface weapons, communications, and the naval police. Instructions and technical education on technical fields and the engineering are primarily taught at the Pakistan Navy Engineering College that is open for both military and public admission, and offers college degree programs at undergraduate and post-graduate level.

When the Navy was established in 1947, there was no technical schools for the Navy to look after the ship maintenance and power machinery that led to the establishment of the Pakistan Naval Polytechnic Institute (PNPI) in 1951 and the Navy Engineering College in 1962 whose admissions are open to public besides the military personnel. From 1947–67, the Navy had to rely on the education and training provided by the Royal Navy at all levels of schooling, and had to sent most of its officers and enlists to be trained at the Britannia Royal Naval College at the Dartmouth and the Royal Naval College in Greenwhich who were mostly trained in communication and navigation. Training on the operations of warships and education on the military staffing was crucial for the Pakistan Navy in 1960s under the United States-sponsored International Military Education and Training (IMET) arranged for Pakistan under the Security Assistance Program (SAP) as the U.S. Navy's officers served in the faculty of the engineering and technical schools of the Navy.

In 1966, the Pakistan Naval Academy was established under the guidance of the United States Navy, and is a premier institution of higher learning whose alumni included the Commanders of the Royal Qatari Navy, Royal Saudi Navy, and the Sri Lanka Navy while other nations naval cadets have also attended the naval academy.

In 1968, the Naval War College was established in Lahore, whose curriculum is very similar to the Naval War College in the United States, is a primary military staff college which offers critical thinking techniques and developing ideas for naval warfare to the officers in the army and the air force. In 1970, the School of Logistics and Management was established that conducts research on military logistics and management in imparting naval warfare techniques to the military officers serving in the army, air force, and marines departments of the Pakistani military.

After the 1971 war with India, the Navy established several schools on strategy, naval warfare, and weapons tactics by commissioning the PNS Bahadur in 1981 as the navy established schools are listed below:

Navy schools and colleges	Year of establishment	School and college principal locations	Website
Naval Polytechnic Institute	1951	Karachi in Sindh	"Naval Polytechnic Institute".
PNS Karsaz	1954	Karachi in Sindh	"PNS Karsaz".
Navy Engineering College	1962	Karachi in Sindh	"Pakistan Navy Engineering College".
Submarine School	1964	Karachi in Sindh	"Submarine School".
PNS Iqbal	1967	Karachi in Sindh	"PNS Iqbal—Naval Special Warfare School".
Naval War College	1968	Lahore in Punjab	"Naval War College".
School of Logistics and Management	1970	Karachi in Sindh	"School of Logistics and Management".
School of Aviation	1975	Karachi in Sindh	"School of Aviation".
PNS Bahadur	1980	Karachi in Sindh	"PNS Bahadur".
PNS Rahnuma	1982	Karachi in Sindh	-
Navigation and Operations School	1981	Karachi in Sindh	"Navigation and Operations School".
Surface Weapons School	1981	Karachi in Sindh	"Surface Weapons School".
Underwater Warfare School	1981	Karachi in Sindh	"Underwater Warfare School".
Communications School	1981	Karachi in Sindh	"Communications School".
Navy Hydrography School	1984	Karachi in Sindh	"Hydrography School".
Navy School of Music	1993	Karachi in Sindh	"School of Music".
Naval Police School	1997	Karachi in Sindh	"Regulating and Provost School".
Information Warfare School	2002	Karachi in Sindh	"Information Warfare School".
Public schooling and universities	Year of establishment	School and college principal locations	Website
Pakistan Navy School	1999	Karachi in Sindh
Bahria University	2000	Islamabad in Pakistan	"Bahria University".
Bahria College, Karachi	1986	Karachi in Sindh	"Bahria College Karachi".
Bahria College, Islamabad	1986	Islamabad in Pakistan
Bahria College, Karsaz	1986	Karachi in Sindh	"Bahria College, Karsaz".
Cadet College Petaro	1957	Jamshoro in Sindh	"Petaro".
Cadet College Ormara	1987	Ormara in Balochistan	"Cadet College Ormara".
Higher education institutions	Year of establishment	locations	Website
National Defense University	1971	Islamabad	"National Defense University".
National University of Sciences and Technology	1991	Multiple campuses	"National University of Sciences and Technology".

The PNS Karsaz—the training facility on heavy machinery was established in 1954.

Established in 1971, the National Defense University in Islamabad is the most senior and premier institute of higher learning that provides the advance critical thinking level and research-based strategy level education to the senior military officers in the Pakistani military. Admissions to the NDU is not restricted to military officials but the civilians can also attend and graduate from the NDU, allowing the civilians to explore the broader aspects of national security. The NDU in Islamabad is a significant institution of higher learning in understanding the institutional norms of military tutelage in Pakistan because it constitutes the "highest learning platform where the military leadership comes together for common instruction", according to thesis written by Pakistani author Aqil Shah. Without securing their graduation from their master's program at the National Defense University, no officer in the Pakistani military can be promoted as general in the army or air force, or admiral in the navy or marines as it is a prerequisite for their promotion to become a senior member at the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

Besides, the platform provided at the NDU in Islamabad represents a radical shift from the emphasis on operational and staff functions and the level of ranks are imposed as qualification to attend the master's program at the NDU, usually brigadiers, air commodores, and commodores, are invited to given admission in broad range of strategic, political, social, and economic factors as these factors affects the country's national security. In this sense, the NDU becomes the critical thinking institution as its constitutes active-duty senior military officers corps' baptism into a shared ideological framework about the military's appropriate role, status, and behavior in relation to state and society, and shared values affect how these officers perceive and respond to civilian governmental decisions, policies, and political crises. Admissions to the NDU is not restricted to military officials but the civilians can also attend and graduate from the NDU, allowing the civilians to explore the broader aspects of national security.

Established in 1991, the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) has now absorbed and amalgamated the existing naval engineering college, and is a counterpart institution in science and technology to that of the National Defense University (NDU) in Islamabad. Besides the strategic and military education, the Navy leads the scientific programs at the Naval Observatory for producing timing and navigation while it leads the research on hydrography by conducting the hydrographic survey for the Pakistani military through the PNS Behr Paima, and provides support to the oceanographic program led by the civilians National Institute of Oceanography (NIO).

Relationships with other service branches

Marines

Main article: Pakistan Marines

The Navy established the Pakistan Marines on 1 June 1971, by Admiral S.M. Ahsan, but they were decommissioned in 1974 due to their poor performance. However, after the Navy first reorganised, re-established, and re-visioned itself, proposals to establish Pakistani marines roughly equivalent to the United States Marines Corps were kept under consideration. Finally on 14 April 1990, the Pakistan Marines were again recommissioned in the Navy with about 2,000 men who were drafted with plans to significantly expand the force to the size of a corps of approximately 45,000, by 2015. The Marines are under the control of the Pakistan Navy, using the same naval ranks. They are headquartered at PNS Qasim in Karachi.

Pakistan Marines dressed in operational camouflage uniforms, during training with United States and Kuwaiti counterparts.

The first Officer Commanding of the Pakistan Marines was an OF-4 rank officer, Commander M. Obaidullah. On 14 April 1990, a marine training base was commissioned to provide security cover to naval assets. The Navy decided to establish the Marines at Qasim Fort which was at that time under the operational control of PNS Himalaya. Finally on 25 November 1990, PNS Qasim was commissioned and became the marines' combatant headquarters, initially comprising eight naval officers, 67 Chief petty officers and petty officers, as well as 43 marine officers. The Marines specialise in seaborne operations, using the mobility of the Navy, although they are part of the Navy, not a separate branch. Marines wear camouflage uniforms when deployed to an operational environment but otherwise they wear Navy dress uniforms. The size of the Marines were tripled by Admiral Shahid Karimullah who pursued the case of an additional battalion and its development plan. Since its inception, the Pakistan Marines have been deployed in the Sir Creek region of the Indo-Pakistan borders.

Coast Guard

Main articles: Pakistan Coast Guard and Maritime Security Agency

Pakistan Navy personnel conducting a Maritime Interdiction Operation exercise with the United States Navy.

The Navy also maintains a paramilitary division which prevents federal navy personnel from acting in a law enforcement capacity. The Maritime Security Agency (MSA) fulfils the law enforcement role in naval operations. The MSA has the capacity to conduct search and rescue operations in deep waters of Pakistan. The Agency was established after adopting the genesis at the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982. Pakistan ratified the UN Convention in 1997 but established the MSA on 1 January 1987, for enforcement of national and international laws, policies and conventions at sea.

A unit of Pakistan Navy personnel marching in Karachi.

The MSA gained its constitutional status in 1994 by the Parliament and is now placed under the command of the Navy, commanded by an officer of two-star rank, a Rear-Admiral.

The Pakistan Coast Guard serves the same purpose as the Navy but, is a separate branch from it. The Coast Guard's duties include relief efforts in the coastal areas of Pakistan, riverine rescue operations, and distribution of military rations. The Coast Guard does not perform operations in deep waters, rather such operations are performed by the MSA. However, it uses the mobility of the Pakistan Navy depending on the type of operations it conducts. The Coast Guard is under the command of the Pakistan Army and contains active-duty army members. It is commanded by a two-star rank Major-General.

Awards and honors

Service awards

Nishan-e-Haider

Main article: Nishan-e-Haider

The Nishan-e-Haider (lit. Order of Lion). Nine out of Ten Army personnel have been posthumously honored.

In military awards hierarchy, the Nishan-i-Haidar (lit. Order of Lion; Urdu: نشان حیدر) is the highest and most prestigious honor awarded posthumously for bravery and actions of valor in event of war. The honor is a namesake of Ali and the recipients receiving this honorary title as a sign of respect: Shaheed meaning martyr.

Since 1947, there has been no naval officer or naval enlisted personnel in the Pakistani military that has been conferred or honored with this prestigious medal.

Naval fleet

Main article: List of active Pakistan Navy ships

PNS Zulfiqar

PNS Alamgir

PNS Tippu Sultan

PNS Larkanaclass missile boat

PNS Badr with USS Tarawa

Ships

The names of commissioned combat and non-combat ships of the Pakistan Navy are prefixed with the capital letters "PNS" ("Pakistan Naval Ships"). The names of ships are selected by the Ministry of Defence, often to honour important people or places in the history of Pakistan.

The Navy currently operates nine frigates, including a single former US Navy Template:Sclass-, four former Royal Navy Type 21 Amazon-class frigates and four Template:Sclass-s, which are an improved version of the Type 053H3 frigates. Two of the Amazon-class frigates, locally designated as the Template:Sclass-, have been decommissioned. In June 2017, Pakistani Navy placed an order for two Type 054A frigates with China to replace the existing Type 21 frigates in service. In June 2018, an additional order for two more frigates was placed with China Shipbuilding Trading Company. The Navy intends to replace Tariq-class ships with Type 054A frigates by 2021. In addition, the Navy operates three former Template:Sclass2-s, locally designated as the Munsif class.

The frigate PNS Alamgir (former US guided-missile frigate USS McInerney, being handed over to Pakistan Navy on 31 August 2010 at US Naval Station Mayport, Florida

The Navy also operates three Template:Sclass- based on the Chinese Type 037II Houjian missile boat, two Jalalat II class produced using a German design, two Jurrat-class missile boats, one Larkana-class gunboat and two MRTP-33-class attack craft from Turkey. They are primarily divided among the 10th Patrol Craft Squadron and the Fast Patrol Craft Squadron. In 2017, it was announced that Pakistan has signed a deal with Turkey to acquire four Template:Sclass-s, two 75 m (246 ft) multi-purpose corvettes from American shipbuilder Swift and two offshore patrol vessels from Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards.

Submarines

See also: Khalid-class submarine, Karachi Shipyard, and Karachi Naval Dockyard

The Submarines Service Force (SSF) is the major combatant command of Pakistan Navy, with primary mission including the commencing of peaceful engagement, surveillance and intelligence management, special operations, precision strikes, battle group operations, and the control of Pakistan's border seas. The Submarine command also takes responsibility to protect country's sea lanes of communication as well as to protect the economical interests, foreign trade and development of the country.

The Navy currently operates a total of five diesel-electric submarines acquired from France, namely, two Agosta-70 class and three Agosta-90B class equipped with air-independent propulsion. In April 2015, eight export version of Type 039B submarines from China for $5 billion was approved. Four submarines are expected to be delivered by 2023 and the remainder delivered by 2028.

In picture, the French Agosta 70A-class Ouessant in 2005, the Agosta 90B (Khalid) are much larger than the Agosta-70, and powered with air-independent propulsion.

In April 2014, the Pakistan Navy announced that it is in the process of shifting primary operations and naval assets, including its entire fleet of diesel-electric submarines (SSKs), from Karachi to the Jinnah Naval Base in Ormara. The Navy has been seeking to enhance its strategic strike and precision capability by developing naval variants of the Babur cruise missile from submarines, surface combatants.

Auxiliary ships

The Navy operates a former Poolster-class replenishment oiler, called PNS Moawin which was acquired from the Royal Netherlands Navy and a Template:Sclass- replenishment oiler, PNS Nasr, which was acquired from China. In addition, the Navy also operates two small tankers and two coastal tankers which were locally built by KSEW.

A dredging vessel, a hydrographic survey vessel, a tall ship, a backhoe dredger, two split hopper barges and two landing craft mechanized are also operated by the Navy.

Pakistan Naval Air Arm

Main article: Pakistan Naval Air Arm

A Pakistan Navy P-3C Orion in 2010

After realising the naval failure in the 1971 war, the Navy sought to modernise. The Navy took the research on using the aircraft at sea in 1971, after the war. Its aerial fighting unit is known as Naval Air Arm (also known as Naval Aviation) apart from the PAF. The naval fighter pilot course was introduced by the Navy and trained its fighter pilots at the Pakistan Air Force Academy, furthermore the navy pilots later went to Combat Commander's School for fighter jet training. Since the 1970s, the naval air arm has become a full-fledged and potent service of the Navy. From 1993 to 1994, the Navy stepped in its efforts in sea-airborne operations when PAF donated and inducted five Mirage 5 ROSE fighter jets, later transferred the entire squadron to Navy armed with Exocet missiles. Since then, the Mirage 5 are piloted by the navy fighter pilots after passing the course with PAF Academy and certifying a diploma from a weapons system and combat training school. The Mirage 5 belonged to the PAF as well as operated by the air force, but are piloted by the Navy fighter pilots who are under the command of senior ranking Navy officer. The Westland lynx helicopters have now been removed from active service and a tender has been issued for their removal.

Pakistan Naval Air Arm Pakistan Naval Aviation is an important arm of the Pakistan Navy and assists in the surface and submarine flights to guarantee the safety of Pakistan sea borders.

Pakistan Naval Air Defence

Main article: Pakistan Naval Air Defence

In 2010, the Navy established another command after launching an air defence system, using the infrared homing man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADs) system. The new command which is known as Pakistan Naval Air Defence (PNAD) are consisted the members of Pakistan Marines and Navy's ground officers after the first battalion graduated from the Naval School of Weapon System Engineering. In 2010, the command air-launched and tested its first naval air defence system from Sonmiani Terminal— a space center of Space Research Commission (SRC) in the North Arabian Sea. Along with the members of Pakistan Marines, the PNAD members are deployed in all over the country to support the marine operations of Pakistan Navy.

• FN16 Or HY-6 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, tested on 25 December 2010 by Naval Marines with a range of 6 km and altitude ~ 3.5 km)
• Mistral shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, test fired on 25 December 2010 by Naval marines.

See also

• List of active Pakistan Navy ships
• Maritime Security Agency
• Pakistan Naval Academy
• Pakistan Navy War College
• Kalmat Naval Base
• Ahsan Naval Base
• Jinnah Naval Base
• Makran Naval Base
• Mehran Naval Base
• Qasim Marine Base

References

Citations

Internet

• "Orbat". Naval and Maritime Security Agency Warship Names 1947–2005. Archived from the original on 6 April 2005. Retrieved 22 June 2005. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

• Official website