By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Navy on Saturday formally inducted the second Milgem-class corvette into its fleet, the latest addition to a four-ship program that officials described as critical to defending the country’s maritime borders and vital sea lanes.
The vessel, PNS Khaibar, is the second of four corvettes ordered under a 2018 contract with ASFAT Inc., a Turkish state-owned defense contractor. Two of the ships were built in Turkey and the remaining two are being constructed in Pakistan shipyards as part of a technology-transfer arrangement intended to build domestic naval manufacturing capacity.
At the induction ceremony, Adm. Naveed Ashraf, the chief of naval staff, placed the new warship in the context of Pakistan’s strategic geography. The country sits astride some of the world’s busiest maritime trade and energy corridors, he said, and requires a capable fleet to protect national interests and keep sea lines of communication open.
Ashraf pointed directly to last year’s fighting with India — a conflict Pakistani officials call Marka-i-Haq that erupted in May 2025 — as evidence of the navy’s growing effectiveness. Pakistani forces were “poised to sink” an Indian aircraft carrier during the clashes, he said, forcing the carrier and its escorts to withdraw to what he termed their “perceived safe havens.” “The mastery and conduct of naval operations during Marka-i-Haq delivers an unequivocal message that any attempt to challenge Pakistan’s maritime interests will be met with an appropriate response,” the admiral was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the navy’s public relations department.
Ashraf added that the service is being equipped with state-of-the-art platforms and specialized technologies that will enable it to strike “critical infrastructure and naval assets of the adversary.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the induction in a separate statement, calling it a source of national pride and a concrete step forward for the country’s defense posture. “This important development is a milestone towards enhancing Pakistan’s defence capabilities and effective protection of its maritime borders.” Sharif noted that the arrival of modern platforms such as PNS Khaibar, together with the forthcoming Hangor-class submarines, would markedly improve the navy’s operational reach, defensive strength and strategic influence.
He emphasised Pakistan’s geographic position, through which major global trade routes and energy supplies flow, and said a strong, balanced and technologically advanced navy was indispensable to safeguarding those interests. The prime minister also credited the navy’s performance in the May 2025 conflict with India. Pakistani forces’ “professionalism and sound strategy,” he said, compelled the enemy to retreat.
PNS Khaibar was commissioned at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard in December 2025. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended that ceremony and called for closer collaboration between Turkey and Pakistan in defense production and technology sharing. Construction of the third corvette in the class began in January 2021, when Erdogan participated in the keel-laying ceremony by launching the first welding process on the hull. The induction of PNS Khaibar comes as Pakistan continues a broader naval modernization drive, seeking to balance its fleet against regional rivals while deepening defence ties with Turkey. The program, officials have said, reflects both immediate security needs and a long-term ambition to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers through local shipbuilding.
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