New Pakistan frigate.......

[designeraccd]

Now doesn't this "friendship" just bring a TEAR to the eye????

Commissioning of F-22P frigate held in Shanghai
ISLAMABAD, Dec 19 (APP): Commissioning of F-22P frigate for Pakistan - PNS Shamsheer - was held on Saturday at Shanghai, China, where Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nauman Bashir was the chief guest.Speaking on the occasion, Admiral Nauman said “Pak-China friendship is deep rooted, everlasting and is further bolstering day by day. This exemplary friendship has always remained a source of close cooperation in the strategic and other defence fields.”
The Frigate is 2nd ship of the Sword class series and commissioning of this ship has marked yet another pinnacle of this project which demonstrates untiring and total commitment of all those involved in the project.

Admiral Nauman said that warship construction is a very complex activity requiring high precision, quality assurance and safety standards. PNS Shamsheer is a very potent addition to the Pakistan Navy fleet and is to form as mainstay of Pakistan Navy surface assets with her other consorts.

The Admiral appreciated all Chinese Engineers and Technicians for their expert and unending efforts in the success of this mega project. He said that the project is progressing smoothly and all required objectives associated with it are being achieved within stipulated time-frame.

Named as PNS Shamsheer, the ship is second in series of the four F-22P Ships. Work on design and construction of F-22P ships started in year 2005 after signing of a contract between Ministry of Defence Production and China Ship trading Company (CSTC) for construction of three ships in China. One Ship is being constructed at Karachi Shipyard under Transfer of Technology arrangements.

First F-22P ship, PNS Zulfiquar was delivered to Pakistan Navy in August 2009 and is already an integral part of the Pakistan Navy Fleet.

F-22P Frigates are equipped with state of the art weaponry and sensor. They also carry Z9EC Helicopters onboard. Addition of these new ships will not only strengthen the PN Fleet with much needed potential but will also contribute in enhancing country’s shipbuilding capabilities.

Commissioning ceremony of PNS Shamsheer was attended by various dignitaries including high ranking officials from Pakistan Navy, PLA (Navy), management of CSSC, HZ Shipyard and CSTC.

More peace and friendship for harmony throughout Asia, yes...I believe.........DFO

[nigelweysom]

if everything works ok perhaps they could send a couple our way
Nigel

[designeraccd]

Well they buy from Red China and it is almost impossible to buy about anything here anymore that isn't built there; so why not?? I saw an article today that said your Army is going to buy a new camo uniform....that will actually be made in Red China. DFO

[harry.gibbon]

.... and these camo kits will probably:-1. arrive on time 2. on budget and 3. to specification!!!!! BUT that assumes that the MOD pillocks don't faff about and deny the suppliers the ability to do any of the three ... might not satisfy the details of their bonus scheme

Oh ... and does that mean we lose one from the new order for Chinooks ... from that other supplier

Little h

[designeraccd]

Well look at it this way: at least it's NOT an LC$ that the RN is buying!

Re: your new source for camo suits...hope they are better in QC then the machines the international Co. my son-in-law works for got.....they finally CANCELLED their contracts due to high failure rates. Oops......DFO

[harry.gibbon]

My apologies for being slightly off topic but it is about outsourcing of military hardware:-

then we have that other supplier.....

10-year Chinook saga grounds Britain in Afghanistan
Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:39am EDT*

Chinook contract failure leaves troops short on air power

* Cost of unused helicopters set to top 500 million pounds

* Shortages mean troops have to move by dangerous roads

By Luke Baker

LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Part of the difficulty British forces face in Afghanistan, where 15 soldiers have been killed in the past two weeks, can be traced back to mistakes made in procuring helicopters more than a decade ago, experts say.

In 1995, Britain ordered 14 U.S.-built Chinooks, hoping the twin-rotor, heavy-lift helicopters would enable troops and equipment to be shuttled around a battlefield like Afghanistan.

The helicopters were delivered by Boeing in 2001, but eight of them could not be used because software source code needed to certify their airworthiness was not supplied. Access to the code had not been specified as part of the contract.

As a result, the helicopters have spent most of the past eight years sitting under wraps in hangars, while the Ministry of Defence and Boeing have engaged in protracted negotiations.

In the meantime, the cost of the helicopters has risen by more than 70 percent to 422 million pounds ($690 million), and is expected to top 500 million by the time they are finally fit to enter service, probably some time next year.

Parliament's public accounts committee, in a report published in March, called it one of of the worst procurement mistakes it had seen, "bordering on irresponsibility", and said it could put the lives of soldiers in Afghanistan at risk.

In the past two weeks, public anger over the rapidly rising death toll has prompted opposition politicians to criticise the government for failing to get enough helicopters to the warzone.

"If you want to move more troops around the battlefield, you need more helicopters," David Cameron, the leader of the opposition Conservatives, told Prime Minister Gordon Brown during a parliamentary question-and-answer session on Wednesday.

......................

Hmmmmmm

Little h

[Guz rating]

Chinooks are an easy target for an RPG they only have to take out one Chinook and that would account for fifty four men. I've seen Hueys taken out with rifle fire, and the American helicopter pilots were the bravest and best I've ever seen. I hope im wrong I hope it makes all the troops lives safer.

Alan