Pakistan Navy holds anti-ship missile drill

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan Navy on Wednesday held an anti-ship missile firing drill in the North Arabian Sea amid heightened tensions with longtime rival India.

The fire power display, witnessed by navy chief Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi, was part of the navy's "optimum standard of combat readiness", said a statement from Pakistan Navy.

"The missiles launched from Pakistan Navy Surface and Aviation platforms (fix and rotary wing) successfully hit their intended targets," the statement said.

Expressing satisfaction on the operational readiness and preparedness, Niazi said that Pakistan Navy is ready to thwart any aggression against Pakistan’s maritime frontiers and to make the country's defense "impregnable".

"Pakistan Navy stands fully prepared to tackle threats across the entire spectrum of warfare," he went on to say.

The exercise followed the keel-laying ceremony on Sunday last of the third MILGEM-class corvette that Turkey sold to Pakistan.

The MILGEM project, undertaken by Turkish National Defense Ministry firm ASFAT, to build four vessels is continuing as planned. The project represents the single largest export of the flourishing Turkish defense industry.

In October 2019, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cut the first metal plate of the first corvette during a ceremony in Istanbul.

Turkey is one of the 10 countries that can build, design and maintain warships.