Oliver Hazard Class Frigate Acquisition by Pakistan

[Penguin]

Just happened on this:

Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigates do still serve with the US Navy, but American ships have had their bow-mounted Mk.13 launch systems for SM-1 Standard air defense and RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles removed. Those changes leave just torpedoes and a 76mm naval gun for offense, and the 20mm Phalanx CIWS as the ships’ main defensive weapon. In Pakistan’s case, fixed RGM-84 Harpoon missile launchers have been added, to give the ships naval combat capabilities.

Further reports indicate that McInerney’s refurbishments are aimed at mechanical remediation and improving its anti-submarine capability only, making the term “guided missile frigate” something of a misnomer for Pakistan’s new ships.

...

the 8 planned ships

...

March 21/11: PNS Alamgir sails for Pakistan from Mayport, FL. The DSCA release confirms that the frigate has mounted sub-sonic RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, in addition to its 76mm gun and lightweight torpedo launchers.

Perrys for Pakistan: USS McInerney & the Alamgir Class

The frigate underwent dry docking and pier-side refurbishment at BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards from September 2010 to March 2011 using $58.7 million of Foreign Military Financing funds. The frigate is equipped with anti-ship missiles, a 76-mm naval gun, and torpedo launchers. It can also carry two SH-60 Seahawk multi-purpose helicopters.

http://www.dsca.mil/PressReleases/by-date/2011/pakistan_032511.htm

"LCDR Raja Hussain, the Pakistan FMS country Program Director for the Navy IPO -- the organization responsible for brokering the deal - said that the transfer not only strengthens the partnership between the two nations, but it will also pave the way for future military-to-military exchanges "

Last revised: April 04, 2011
Email: Webmaster
Defense Security Cooperation Agency
2800 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-2800
Tel: 703.601.1646
Email: DSCA

Can't locate the Harpoons or their launch racks on that pic , possibly just behind or forward of the main mast or forward of the bridge. Your guess is as good as mine ;-)

Newsletter with story on PNS Alamgir in here: http://www.dsca.mil/newsletter/2010/E-partners_0810v2.pdf
From this story:

Pakistan received the frigate as a grant transfer and the U.S. will provide $65 million in Foreign Military Financing funds to pay for refurbishing the frigate’s anti-submarine capabilities and for providing other equipment, such as spare and repair parts.

i.e. the ship itself is a gift, the money for the refurb etc is either a grant (gift) or loan.

 

[Dazzler]

standard OHP configuration......

 

[Arsalan]

so the boat is finally here.

what do we have on board, no air defence capability, no Mk-13, no helicopters, perhaps chewed upon EW suite and the phalnax guns and a long list of potential upgards that we can waste our funds upon.

this deal was good for nothing, not atleast to safeguard our sea from enemy aggression. and we had a few claims that the so called "refitted and upgarded" (the upgards OHP was assumed to be undergoing in US despit the fact that the time was being taked to deprive it of what little was left in it) will be the leading ship in PN fleet and years ahead of F-22p in technology and dtrength.

only use of these i can see is to maintain a silent presence in CTF-150 and CTF-151 and sparing the realy machines to safeguard the motherland!

Arsalan Aslam

 

[Penguin]

so the boat is finally here.

what do we have on board, no air defence capability, no Mk-13, no helicopters, perhaps chewed upon EW suite and the phalnax guns and a long list of potential upgards that we can waste our funds upon.

this deal was good for nothing, not atleast to safeguard our sea from enemy aggression. and we had a few claims that the so called "refitted and upgarded" (the upgards OHP was assumed to be undergoing in US despit the fact that the time was being taked to deprive it of what little was left in it) will be the leading ship in PN fleet and years ahead of F-22p in technology and dtrength.

only use of these i can see is to maintain a silent presence in CTF-150 and CTF-151 and sparing the realy machines to safeguard the motherland!

Arsalan Aslam

There are always those that confuse refurbish/refit with modernize (it is mostly maintenance ;-)

 

[Arsalan]

yes, it was claimed that after whatever the ship underwent in US, it will be the most modrenized ship in the PN fleet. that was one point that i always doubted.

however, i feel these will be good to keep presence in internationla forces fighting piracy and will spare the new ships for the defence duties.

good to keep presence in waters but not highly recommended in war time scenario

 

[Arsalan]

From:
http://www.defence.pk/forums/editpost.php?p=2044923&do=editpost

what will be the cost of the remaining 7 OHP

as per news, the first one came in for free. in fact US were committed to do a 65 million dollar worth of upgradaion and refurbishment from FMF.

much of this so called upgradation work cannot be seen on boat but that another story!
perhaps they have worked on the air conditioning and the captains cabin refurbishment. one thing is for sure that the 65 million were enough for a weapon upgradation but nothing happened in this regard. you can check his at:
http://www.defence.pk/forums/naval-forces/99492-pns-alamgir-sets-sail-pakistan.html

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

When is the next one due to arrive ? 1 is not enough we need 4 more ships to make any considerable gain

 

[khurasaan1]

When is the next one due to arrive ? 1 is not enough we need 4 more ships to make any
considerable gain

I guess we shold go for UK frigates very very cheap not more than 5Million $ and have all the weapons in it ....I mean theyauctioning their Naval ships very cheap to raise money.......

 

[Arsalan]

When is the next one due to arrive ? 1 is not enough we need 4 more ships to make any considerable gain

keeping in view the rapidly deteriorating relation between Pakistan and US, there are little chance that anymore will be coming.
moreover, it is strongly suggested that these are not capable enough to face front line action in modern warfare and will be used to keep PN presence in anti-piracy task forces. for this role, one is enough, or, at most we will require one more.

these don't have anything on barod so no use in getting is large numbers!

 

[Ibr0kEmYrAz0r]

I guess we shold go for UK frigates very very cheap not more than 5Million $ and have all the weapons in it ....I mean theyauctioning their Naval ships very cheap to raise money.......

As the USA will be highly unlikely to transfer another frigate in the foreseeable future due to the current strained relationship, how are the relationship between UK and Pakistan and how likely is UK going to sell Pakistan these large surface warships?

I doubt the UK will sell the destroyers/frigates outside of OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. The bid for the three Type 42 Batch 2 destroyers (HMS Exeter/Southampton/Nottingham) has already expired. (their conditions are poor - had 30 years service life - only good for scraps.)

Two Batch 3 Type 42, D95 Manchester also had 29 years, and D96 Gloucester had 26 years of service, so there maybe 5-10 years' worth of seaworthiness left depending on the conditions, but they are definitely older than the Type 21 ships when Pakistan navy purchased back in 1993-94.

If UK do sell, then the Batch 3 Type 22 frigates powered with COGAG Rolls-Royce Marine Spey gas turbines are good picks; they have enhanced command, control and co-ordination facilities that can be used as flagships for a small scale task force. These 5000-ton class ships were commissioned by RN between 1988 - 1990, still has 10 -15 years of life "left in the tank" at least, and were all decommissioned this year in 2011 due to budget cuts.

However, UK also may not include some of the more "sensitive" technologies, i.e. GWS-25 Sea Wolf anti-air point defence missile systems, Sting Ray torpedoes, Goalkeeper CIWS, etc... the Romanian navy were sold with their Type 22 frigate with only 76mm main gun! and Chilean navy got the GWS-25 six-round point defence anti-air missile systems on their Batch 2 Type 22 frigates. Also the hidden cost need to make those ships combat-ready (as they are not hot-transferred) can be quite high...

Also the Chilean navy got 3 Type 23 Frigates for £134 million (US$ 200 million) back in 2006-2007, so expect Type 22 batch 3 also cost more than US$ 5 millions if weapons are included.

Hey, look at this, these ships were sold CHEAP!
Scant return on navy's £1.2bn frigate sale | UK news | The Guardian

 

[MastanKhan]

Hi,

What does australia has that is coming up for sale-----.

 

[Penguin]

Hi,

What does australia has that is coming up for sale-----.

The ANZACs (Meko 200) will remain in service. They've paid of 2 of their Adelaide class frigates (a.k.a. Perry's) and modernized the remaining 4. Canberra was sunk as a dive wreck on 4 October 2009. Adelaide was converted into a dive wreck and sunk on 13 April 2011. Three new Hobart class AWDs (mod Spanish F100) will replace the modernized Adelaide's. First of the new ships will commission 2014, so that's the soonest modernized Adelaides might become available. However, keep in mind the upgrade of those four ships was intended to expand their service life to approximately 2020. By 2014, the oldest of the remaining 4 ships, HMAS Sydney, will be 30 in 2013 while the youngest, HMAS Newcastle, will be 20. Each has a sistership within 1 year of age.

 

[Ibr0kEmYrAz0r]

So my last year's suspicion was right, USA did some mechanical maintenance on the 31 year old ship, stripped off all the major weapons, and left with only guns and torpedoes, and possibly some nice-looking VIP cabins.

Anyway, still capable of taking out pirates with ease, and a free(in a sense) 3k-4k ton class ocean-going vessel for the Pakistani Navy.

By the way, any news on the whereabouts of the ship - PNS Alamgir? Has it come back to some home ports like Karachi?

Also what are going to happen to those newly decommissioned ships like FFG-33 (decommissioned on 11 May 2011) and FFG-39 (decommissioned on 29 July 2011), they were listd as status: stricken, to be disposed of by the Security Assistance Program (SAP), Anyone want to buy them, or are they going to be involved in some "target practice sessions"?

And FFG-53 (decommissioned back on 10 Dec 2010?), its status: stricken, to be disposed of, retain as logistics support asset? meaning it is going to be cannibalised as spare-parts hulk?

 

[MastanKhan]

The ANZACs (Meko 200) will remain in service. They've paid of 2 of their Adelaide class frigates (a.k.a. Perry's) and modernized the remaining 4. Canberra was sunk as a dive wreck on 4 October 2009. Adelaide was converted into a dive wreck and sunk on 13 April 2011. Three new Hobart class AWDs (mod Spanish F100) will replace the modernized Adelaide's. First of the new ships will commission 2014, so that's the soonest modernized Adelaides might become available. However, keep in mind the upgrade of those four ships was intended to expand their service life to approximately 2020. By 2014, the oldest of the remaining 4 ships, HMAS Sydney, will be 30 in 2013 while the youngest, HMAS Newcastle, will be 20. Each has a sistership within 1 year of age.

Penguin,

What I had read was that the australian army wants to get some new equipment/weapons sytem----for that---they are going to sell some of their older equipment----instead of mothballing them or scraping them.

 

[Penguin]

So my last year's suspicion was right, USA did some mechanical maintenance on the 31 year old ship, stripped off all the major weapons, and left with only guns and torpedoes, and possibly some nice-looking VIP cabins.

No. None of the 20-odd Perry's in USN service have Harpoon or Standard missile. All have 76mm and 25mm guns and CIWS. So this wasn't stripped for purpose of delivery to PN. The only thing I would have expected that didn't turn up is the Phalanx CIWS and I'm confident PN will put this on as Type 21s retire. Might be a deliberate economiy measure of PN.