A NEW ERA OF COREVETTES

Not too long ago the task of categorizing the shape type known as our corvette was largely one of deciding
Where are heavily armed fast attack craft (FAC) become a small Corvette generally around 500 tons
displacement and where a large Corbett a become a light figure usually around 2000 tons.

According to this simple definition every fast-well-equipped warship that falls into this size bracket must
be a Corvette if it is capable of littoral combat operations against surface targets and submarines and self-
defense against aircrafts. However political considerations have added another dimension to the
classification dilemma with some governments and navies prefer the expression of Offshore Patrol vessels
in the initial stages of new ships existence before it's true colors and warfighting abilities are revealed.

On the other hand, the diverse types of mission full fill by contemporary naval forces warrants a significant
crossover between ship types and further delusion in the meaning of corvette. These changes are related
to the increasing importance of maritime security task that go beyond the petrol and defense of territorial
waters out to 12 nautical miles. Since 1994, when the UN convention on the law of the sea came into
force Nations have found that exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of up to 200 nautical miles required
surveillance.

Mission now encompasses the protection of sea lines of communication and Offshore facilities such as oil
and layers platforms; law enforcement counter narcotics and anti-smuggling talks as well as search and
rescue and disaster response.

Standing alongside the traditional tasks of strike operation in limited theaters of operation, show these
new rules means there is a considerable demand for multirole capability and expansion of reach and
endurance. From last decades there is a clear trend in the Marketplace for the vessels which are which
are smart in size, having robust technological features for countering symmetrical and asymmetrical
warfare threats posed by state and non-state actors. Mostly the corvettes are heavily armed vessels
relative to their size, though this was achieved by compromising many other areas. But the operators
recognize the need to be able to operate further Offshore, for longer periods and often with the helicopter
to extend the reach of the vessel.

It is very important to mention the fact that the operators like Germany and Sweden all switching their
focus from frigate size warships to smart corvettes. Other major reason in the shift towards the corvettes
is the cost efficiency, reliability, innovational modularity and their wide spectrum multidimensional usage
that fill the void between frigates and offshore patrol vessels.

Recognizing the contemporary geostrategic importance and global threat of asymmetrical and
amphibious warfare threats, Pakistan Navy introduces a new class of corvettes, the 2300 tons state of the
art Corvette vessel built by Damen ship builder, a Dutch company which is currently working in more than
120 countries. Ship was built in Romania in Damen’s Galati ship yard, ship was previously described as
offshore patrolling vessel (OPV).

The ceremony was held in Romania on 17th May 2019 and attended by admiral Abdul Aleem of Pakistan
Navy and by many other high officials. Admiral Abdul Aleem in his remarks quoted that “these platforms
have a strong capability of safeguarding maritime frontiers and also act as a force multiplier for regional
maritime security patrols”, by further shedding the light on the enhance role of corvettes in maritime
domain, he said that “the corvettes are now the backbone in anti-surface, anti air and maritime patrolling
operations”.

The ship will join Pakistan Navy by the end of this year and second one will join by the year 2020. Corvette
is specially built to carry out search and rescue operations and for this purpose a helicopter pad is the
integral part of the ship that is built to carry on day and night operations, further on these corvettes
operators are capable to carry on reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence gathering operations,
Counter piracy and smuggling as well as counter drugs and weapon trafficking tasks . The Corvette is also
equipped with latest solutions to threaten adversaries with its Anti-Submarine warfare and mine
detection operations, the ship would be further updated with anti-ship missile platform capable of
supporting Harba ASM. In order to create electronic chaos in the tides the ship is fitted with advance
towed decoy system and “Rubber ducks”.

The Damen Company is heavily contributing towards the Pakistan Navy effort for fleet modernization and
it is one of the major ship builders, who have expertise in manufacturing both Warships and Peace keeping
escorts.

Below Infographic briefly illustrate the main features of Sigma class Corvette