Navy inducts second batch of anti-submarine helicopters

Four Chinese utility helicopters and electronic warfare aircraft have been inducted into the Pakistan Navy.

Four Chinese Z9-EC utility helicopters and electronic warfare aircraft have been inducted into the Pakistan Navy. The induction ceremony was held at the Pakistan Naval Academy in Karachi with Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nauman Bashir as chief guest.

Admiral Bashir said the new addition to the naval fleet will increase its capabilities. The advanced Harbin Z9-EC helicopter was first inducted in Pakistan Navy in September 2009. The aircraft is equipped with pulse-compression radar, low-frequency dipping sonar, radar warning receiver and Doppler navigation system. It is armed with torpedoes and is carried aboard the F-22-P Zulfiqar-class frigates.

The acquisition of IW/EW jet aircraft would add a new dimension to Pakistan Navy’s intelligence gathering capabilities. The aircraft, equipped with modern and sophisticated equipment, is capable of covering larger areas in short time span, and would significantly enhance maritime domain awareness of their own area of operations.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief of the Naval Staff said that while the Indian Ocean holds maximum stakes in terms of vital resources and strategically important sea lines of communication, it has also witnessed rise in maritime crimes, posing challenges to regional and extra regional players. Considering the threat in the shape of trans-national terrorist networks, security is no longer an isolated affair and navies are today resorting to the concept of  “collaborative and collective security”.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2010.