Aamir Hussain
PDF THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
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What about surface ships, Doesn't PN need surface ships to have a strong footing, PN doctrine seems to float around Subs
To answer your question -- we need to see waht is the primary mission of PN and the most likely enemy it will face and hence the weapons systems/platform it will have to be on the look out for.
The primary misson is to keep its harbour and shipping lanes open through sea denial.
Protection of the EEZ in peace and war time (This will be relgated to secondary task once hostilties breakout.)
Anti Piracy duties down to Horn of Africa. (This will be abandoned during war time)
PN will face a certain blockade of its major ports and can expect interception of its merchant vessels on the high seas as far west and south of Oman.
The weapon of choice for IN would be the Carrier Group (S) stationed some 300+ miles form KHI. The defensive screen of this task force against surface and sub surface attack would be the subs, ASW helos of IN and the CAP flown from its air carrier group.
The high seas interception would be carried out by two ship hunting groups.
In such a situation, PN would launch its subs to go for the carrier group and ignore all else. Secondary, strategy would be to launch air strikes from standoff ALCM's. The trick would be to launch enough ALCM's to overwhelm the defense and alow one or two ALCM to damage the carrier for it to withdraw.
Off course, the Carrier Group would also be launching strikes against ports and shipping in and around our main harbours and target of opportunity. PAF CAP's backed up by AWACS will play a pivotal role to put up effective defense. The sortie rate that can be sustained form the carrier group would not be more than couple of strikes per day from two to three a/c per sortie. This is based upon the number of a/c available on board the Carriers, turnaround time, maintenance of a/c, attrition, an the need to keep an effective CAP on station during an interdiction sortie etc.
Another factor that PAF is quite aware of is the possiblity of SU's with air-refueling capabiltiy making a strike from the Balochistan coast. Hence the need to station AWACS in the south.
I feel that PN will form hunter/killer groups based puon three boat patrols, patroling the sea lanes along the Balochistan Coast.
I am not going to go into details of how the other elements such as MPA's from both PN and IN will play a part or what would the Qing class do when inducted. There are details that I am privvy to but would not want ot divulge at any point in time, openly.
My pure conjecture above is based upon a limited war (Not lasting more than fifteen days)