Turkey launches Pakistan Navy's first Milgem corvette

Turkey's Istanbul Naval Shipyard has launched the first Milgem corvette on order for the Pakistan Navy (PN).

The vessel, which will be in service as PNS Babur once it is commissioned, was launched on 15 August, the Pakistan Navy's Director General Public Relations announced via an official social media channel on the same day.

Babur is part of a contract for four corvettes signed between the Pakistani government and a consortium that includes Turkish defence engineering firm Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret in 2018.

Under the contract, two ships are being built in Turkey, while the remaining two are being constructed by Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited (KSEW) with Turkish assistance as part of a technology transfer agreement.

Babur was laid down in June 2020 at Istanbul Naval Shipyard's facilities. Meanwhile, over at Pakistan, steel for the first indigenously built example was cut at KSEW's facilities in June that same year, and work on the fourth-of-class began in June 2021.

Islamabad has given scant details on the corvette's combat capabilities. However, a computer-generated image of the vessel that was displayed as part of the steel-cutting ceremony in June 2021 indicates a total of six anti-surface missile launchers mounted amidship, in addition to a 76 mm naval gun in the primary position and a 16-cell vertical launch system in the forward section.

Babur is scheduled to be handed over to the PN in 2023, while the remaining three vessels are expected to be delivered in six-month intervals thereafter.