For those of my friends who keep arguing that Pakistan needs an aircraft carrier. Let me quote what the UK First Sea Lord, Admiral Lord West says about the UK’s new 65,000 DWT aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth ((Warship International October 2017, page 3)
“RN must have 30 escorts to ensure Queen Elizabeth is safe”.
The aircraft carrier cost £6.2-billion excluding cost of the aircrafts that will be stationed on her. Assuming escorts to be a mixture of anti-sub and anti-aircraft frigates; RN new Type 31 class frigate costs £350-million each, even
the cut price Type 31e will cost close to £250-million. This translates into another £7.5 billion!
Put a hand on your heart and ask, can we really justify or afford such an expensive hardware for the Pak Navy?