Tariq-class destroyer

PNS Babur, a Tariq-class destroyer, in 2004
Class overview
NameTariq class
Builders
Operators Pakistan Navy
Preceded byType 12 Leander
Succeeded byZulfiquar class
Cost$120 million USD (2002)[1]
Built1969–1975
In service1993–2023
In commission1993–2021
Completed6
Retired6
General characteristics
Typefrigate/guided-missile destroyer[2][3]
Displacement
  • As built in the United Kingdom:
    • 3,250 long tons (3,302 t) full load
  • As modernized in Pakistan:
    • 3,700 long tons (3,759 t) full load
Length384 ft (117 m) o/a
Beam41 ft 7 in (12.67 m)
Draft19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
Propulsion
Speed32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range
  • 4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 17 kn (31 km/h)
  • 1,200 nmi (2,200 km) at 30 kn (56 km/h)
Complement15 Officers, 200 Enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys		TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System)
Armament
Aircraft carried
Aviation facilitiesFlight deck and hangar

The Tariq-class destroyers were a class of guided missile destroyers of the Pakistan Navy. They were acquired from the British Royal Navy in 1993–94. The Tariqs were formerly commissioned in the Royal Navy's Surface Fleet as Type 21 (Amazon-class) frigates, a general purpose frigate in the Royal Navy.[4]

The British frigates were immediately acquired when the United States refused to renew the lease of the four Garcia and four Brooke-class frigates, due to the enforcement of the Pressler Amendment.[5] requiring Pakistan to return the vessels to the United States at the end of their five-year lease.[6]

Upon acquisition, all six frigates were reconfigured to enhance their engineering design and construction and military software updates that feature Swedish technology, giving them missile launching capability.[7] Following these upgrades, the ships were reclassified as destroyers.[8]

In 2008, the Pakistan Navy had carried out a successful test of the Camcopter S-100, an unmanned aerial vehicle, from the flight deck of a Tariq-class destroyer.[9] The Tariq-class destroyers are currently in process of phasing out from their services, and are now all decommissioned from its military service as of 2023.[10]

  1. ^ Cheema 2002, p. 97–98.
  2. ^ "Amazon class Type 21 Frigate - Royal Navy". www.seaforces.org.
  3. ^ "PNS Tariq (F181) Guided-Missile frigate Warship - Pakistan". Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  4. ^ "Tariq Class (UK Amazon Type 21)".
  5. ^ Goldrick 1997, p. 147–148.
  6. ^ Shah 2001, p. 476.
  7. ^ Shabbir, Usman (1 June 2003). "Tariq (Amazon) Class (TYPE 21) (DD/FF) « PakDef Military Consortium". pakdef.org. Karachi, Sindh Pak.: Pakistan Military Consortium. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  8. ^ Singh, Kunwar Rajendra (2002). Navies of South Asia. New Delhi: Rupa & Co. p. 197. ISBN 978-8129100498.
  9. ^ Camcopter S-100 – Continued Success in Shipboard Trials (PDF), Schiebel Elektronische Geraete GmbH, 14 April 2008
  10. ^ Anis, Ema; Ghauri, Irfan (21 April 2014). "Journalists' visit: Navy to shift focus to Ormara base". The Express Tribune. Ormara, Balochistan, Pk. Retrieved 14 December 2018.