Steel cutting ceremony of the 4th MILGEM Class corvette for Pakistan Navy was held at KS&EW.

According to information released on the Twitter account of DGPR Pakistan Navy, on June 15, 2021, the steel cutting ceremony of the 4th MILGEM-Class corvette for the Pakistan Navy was held on June 15, 2021, at KS&EW (Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited).
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The steel cutting ceremony for the 4th MILGEM Class Ship for the Pakistan Navy was held on June 15, 2021, at KS&EW (Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited). (Picture source ASFAT Twitter account)

In 2018, the Turkish company ASFAT has signed a contract with the Pakistan Navy to build four MILGEM-class corvettes. During the edition 2018 of IDEAS, defense exhibition, Pakistan Navy officials stated that, under the agreement, the fourth ship will be entirely designed and constructed in Pakistan which will become the first Jinnah-class frigate. This strengthens the idea that the fourth ship will spur a new line of frigates. According to the Tweet, two corvettes will be built in Turkey and two in Pakistan at the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited (KS&EW).

The MILGEM ships build for the Pakistani Navy is based on the Ada-class corvette but modification requested by Pakistan including the use of 16 vertical launch system (VLS) able to fire the LY-80 surface-to-air missile. The HQ-16, which is the land export version of the LY-80 is already in service with the Pakistani army since 2017. Most of the subsystems will be supplied by the Turkish company Aselsan.

The Pakistani Navy MILGEM ship will be fitted with the SMART-S Mk2 search and targeting radar. It is an active phased array radar offering an instrumented range of 250 km. The radar can detect and track up to 500 airborne and surface targets. The ship will be also equipped with the Aselsan ARES-2NC electronic support measures (ESM) suite which allows passive monitoring as well as categorize and record enemy radar and communication signals.

The Ada-class ship is powered by combined diesel and gas (CODAG) propulsion systems that will include one gas turbine engine, two diesel engines, and 2 shafts. The ship will be able to reach a top speed of 30 knots(56 km/h) with a maximum cruising range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h).