Pakistan Navy proceeds with gunboat construction
The Pakistan Navy will receive 20 gunboats, built with assistance from Swiftships in the US. (Photo: Swiftships)
Pakistan is working on two classes of patrol boat - one in conjunction with Swiftships in the US, and one with Techno Marine of Poland.
Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) held a keel-laying ceremony for a new class of Pakistan Navy (PN) gunboats on 27 January.
Construction of the class is being performed with technical assistance from American shipbuilder Swiftships.
Swiftships revealed in a press release that, in March 2021, it had been awarded a contract for ‘co-production services for the design and in-country construction of 38.8m gunboats for the Pakistan Navy’.
The first steel cutting for these boats occurred on 6 October 2022. The PN is seeking 20 vessels; the first one should be delivered in January 2024.
Weaponry will include an Aselsan
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