PN should look for some small or medium size aircraft carrier, like Britian will soon decommission its Invincible Class Aircraft Carriers, the first of wihich will be taken out of service in 2010.
But if PN plans to get that, extensive re-fits and upgradation of combat systems (like installation of some modern SAM System) need to be carried out so that this ship can serve PN for atleast 20 ~ 25 years; and for this we need finance. But at first Pakistan needs to put its case strongly through proactive diplomacy.
Invincible Class Aircraft Carrier is still better than INS Viraat (former HMS Hermes R12) which is also of British origin Centaur Class.
In the present scenario, sooner or later PN have to seriously think to have one small to medium size aircraft carrier or they might already have started working on that.
Some Information and Pics regarding the Invincible Class Aircraft Carriers are given below:
AIRCRAFT
The Tailored Air Group (TAG) is composed of up to 24 aircraft including up to nine combined RAF/RN Joint Force Harrier GR7/GR9 aircraft. The Royal Navy FA2 Sea Harrier aircraft were progressively withdrawn from service from March 2004 and the last squadron was decommissioned in March 2006.
The TAG includes a mix of helicopters, depending on role: Sea King ASaC Mk 7 airborne early warning helicopters, Sea King and Chinook support helicopters and Merlin HM.1 anti-submarine helicopters.
The runway is about 170m long with a ski ramp set at 12°. In the hangar deck the aircraft are tethered to the floor using securing chains with tension clamps. Strachan and Henshaw have been contracted to install a replacement aircraft carrier lift system. Selex Sensors & Airborne Systems (formerly Galileo Avionica) was contracted to supply the SPN-720 precision approach radar for the landing of Harrier GR9 aircraft on Ark Royal and Illustrious in February 2005. The radar system, with a new TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation) system, entered service on the vessels in April 2008.
SENSORS
The BAE Systems Type 909 G/H-band fire control radar, which provided target tracking and illumination for the Sea Dart missile, has been removed from the three carriers. BAE Systems Type 996 surface search radar antennae is mounted very high on the tower between the two funnels. HMS Ark Royal has Type 992.
Both radars operate at E and F bands. BAE Systems Type 1022 air search radar operates at D band. HMS Invincible and Ark Royal are equipped with Kelvin Hughes Type 1006 navigation radar and HMS Illustrious has Type 1007, both operating at I band.
Qinetiq, with Babcock Design & Technology, has been awarded a contract to provide an advanced technology mast communications and radar mast for HMS Ark Royal. The sensors and antennas are housed within the structure, protected from the environment.
The sonar system is the hull-mounted Type 2016 active / passive search and attack sonar by Thales Underwater Systems (formerly Thomson Marconi Sonar).
