PNS Babur, a Tariq-class destroyer, in 2004
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Class overview | |
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Name | Tariq class |
Builders |
|
Operators | Pakistan Navy |
Preceded by | Type 12 Leander |
Succeeded by | Zulfiquar class |
Cost | $120 million USD (2002)[1] |
Built | 1969–1975 |
In service | 1993–2023 |
In commission | 1993–2021 |
Completed | 6 |
Retired | 6 |
General characteristics | |
Type | frigate/guided-missile destroyer[2][3] |
Displacement |
|
Length | 384 ft (117 m) o/a |
Beam | 41 ft 7 in (12.67 m) |
Draft | 19 ft 6 in (5.94 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) |
Range | |
Complement | 15 Officers, 200 Enlisted |
Sensors and processing systems |
|
Electronic warfare & decoys | TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) |
Armament |
|
Aircraft carried |
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Aviation facilities | Flight 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]