Pakistan may acquire 'retired' Type 42 Batch destroyers from the UK ?

[Rage]

Pakistan may acquire 'retired' Type 42 Batch destroyers from the UK ?

London, May 28 : Pakistan may acquire three Type 42 Batch 3 destroyers from Britain after they are retired from the Royal Navy (RN).

Pakistan is also in discussion with the United States to acquire two FFG 7 frigates.

The Pakistan Navy's frigate force currently includes six ex-RN Type 21s which constitute the 25th Destroyer Squadron.

With almost all warships over 30 years of age, the Pakistan Navy is looking to build its force largely with second hand ships acquired from different countries, The Nation reports.

Pakistan has also ordered four F22P frigates from China, the first among which, Zulfiquar, would be commissioned later this year.


Pakistan may acquire 'retired' Type 42 Batch destroyers from UK

 

[Rage]

Reminds me of a very large fishing trawler!

Are the PN becoming scrap merchants?

 

[SATISH]

Type 42 Destroyers : Surface Fleet : Operations and Support : Royal Navy

Type 42 Destroyers specs.

 

[SATISH]

Rage,
None of the batch 3 Type 42s are decommissioned yet. I am still confused. Why do they need a air defence destroyer? That too a vintage one.

 

[p2prada]

Reminds me of a very large fishing trawler!

Are the PN becoming scrap merchants?

Nope. Just going back in time.
I wonder if it will have ASW capabilities.

 

[Rage]

Rage,
None of the batch 3 Type 42s are decommissioned yet. I am still confused. Why do they need a air defence destroyer? That too a vintage one.

Precisely. The article states that they may acquire the destroyers post-decommission from the RN.

As for why they wish to acquire it, I can only hazard a guess that they want to provide fleet area air-defence against our own (delayed) Adm. Gorshkhov. The phase-out is to begin in late 2009 ,and to extend to 2014.

The article alludes to the PakNavy acquiring three of the 3rd Batch of the vessel. Batch 3, as was the norm in the RN, is generally larger, attains greater displacement (5200 vs 4820 tonnes), and was more heavily upgraded than the (entirely) phased-out Batch 1 and the (mostly) phased-out Batch 2.

The retired Type-42's are to be replaced in the Royal Navy by Type-45's. Janes Defence Magazine has an interesting quote on the vessel: "The Type 42 class has always suffered from cramped accommodation, a problem for crew safety and comfort, and also when finding space for upgrades. The Type 45s are to be considerably larger, displacing almost 7,400 tonnes, compared to the Type 42 displacement of 4,820–5,200 tonnes."

The HMS York (D98) and Edinburgh (D97) though have been retrofitted with a MOD 1 variant of the mark 8, 4.5 inch (a paltry 113 mm) medium 55-caliber gun.

To me, the Electronics Warfare suite on the Type-42 seems almost rudimentary: equipped with, among one of four possible options, the Type 1022 long-range D-band frequency synthesiser-driven Travelling Wave Tube (TWT) radar (with squintless feed to provide tapered illumination on the main reflecter no less!).

 

[Rage]

Nope. Just going back in time.
I wonder if it will have ASW capabilities.

The Type-42 is built with a helicopter deck and hanger capable of conveying the Westland Lynx helicopter which forms its principle anti-submarine weapon - though we have no word on whether these will constitute part of the sale as well (I would be surprised if they were, since the Lynx also carries the potent ASM 'Sea-Skua' [which India also operates] and would be an unfeasible transaction- for various reasons including political and geo-political repercussions, sensitivity of technology and a hefty price tag- and a cause for concern). The ship is also equipped with anti-submarine missile tubes for some nominal secondary ASW capability.

 

[SATISH]

Are they coming with the Phalanx CIWS?...Are the Americans giving it to them?

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Rage,
None of the batch 3 Type 42s are decommissioned yet. I am still confused. Why do they need a air defence destroyer? That too a vintage one.

to protect them from the taliban air force.

 

[SATISH]

C'mon people...our aircraft carrier belonged to that period. But these were the first ships to be sunk by Exocets I guess in Falklands.

 

[Rage]

Are they coming with the Phalanx CIWS?...Are the Americans giving it to them?

I would think so: the Olivier Hazard Perry class frigate is equipped with one 20 mm Phalanx CIWS rapid-fire cannon (Block 1, although the ones that will remain in service with the USN will be upgraded to the Block 1B capability, which will enable the gun to target fast-moving surface craft and helicopters). What is interesting though is that the US Navy is removing all Mk 13 single-arm missile launchers and magazines from its FFG-7's because it's primary ordnance: the Standard missile SM-1MR has been phased out or reverted to deliveries to allies like Taiwan, Poland or Australia with few or no other guided-missile warships in their navies. What this also does however is to remove the ship's ability (if indeed Pakistan is to buy decommissioned USN FFG 7's) to fire Harpoon missiles in its inventory.

In another interesting aside, the US Government approved the transfer of the USS McInerney (FFG-8) to the Pakistan Navy in Oct 2008, scheduled for delivery in August 2010.

 

[SATISH]

Rage,
They are operating their vintage Leander class Frigates. They will go for modernization. But Harpoon is not a potent AShCM...The Pakistanis are getting only the Hull and the missiles. The other onboard systems are vintage.

 

[Rage]

Rage,
They are operating their vintage Leander class Frigates. They will go for modernization. But Harpoon is not a potent AShCM...The Pakistanis are getting only the Hull and the missiles. The other onboard systems are vintage.

I wouldn't know about that sat. IMO, it really depends on the type of Block. India recently signed a 170 million dollar deal for 24 Harpoon Block II missiles, which alongwith the expanded engagement envelope, offer a littoral water attack capability, perfect for the nature of naval engagements we will most likely experience in the subcontinent. The Harpoon Block II also incorporates the inertial measurement unit concept from the JDAM program and the inertial (infra-red terminal guidance) navigation system and receiver, or alternatively the Global Positioning System and antenna, from the Standoff Land Attack Missile-ER program.

I can only agree with the view that the Pakistani F16 and F70 Diomede and Appollo frigates (or Shamsheer and Zulfiquar respectively) are vintage. And the other onboard systems do seem antiquated, but the inability to fire Harpoons [the AGM-84 HARPOON Block II no less, for which Pakistan requested a sale in 2006, is a nice add-on]. Perhaps they will let them rot into scrap-metal, and then use them to rebuild Sawat.

 

[indian_sukhoi]

Rage,
None of the batch 3 Type 42s are decommissioned yet. I am still confused. Why do they need a air defence destroyer? That too a vintage one.

Simple,........Its coming in free so who cares.

Type-42 are Missile guided destroyers which is mainly designed for Anti-Sub and Anti-Air Warfare. Pakistan s mostly be using it Anti-Submarine warfare and maybe Anti-sufarce operations. They may fit babur missile in it, they developing Babur LACM based.

They already ordered a long list of Warships mostly Second had ones. PN already ordered Four F-22 frigates, request for six FFG-7 frigates from US and they also looking for additional Frigates to.

Pakistan Navy is modernizing itself by inducting decommissioned ships:blum3:

Are they coming with the Phalanx CIWS?...Are the Americans giving it to them?

If they agree to transfer the ships to PN then Phalanx will sure be available. Pak doent have any other optional choice rather than Phalanx. Phalanx are second tier defence, its a last ditch againt incoming missile and aircrafts
Type-42 are also fitted with Vertical launched missiles equipped with Sea dart missiles

C'mon people...our aircraft carrier belonged to that period. But these were the first ships to be sunk by Exocets I guess in Falklands.

Two Type-42 ships were sunked by Argentinian airforce.

Type-42 played a crucial role in Falklands War. They were the backbone of Royal Navy surface fleet