The third Turkish anti-submarine class ship for Pakistan will be sledgedSunday, Turkey’s National Defense Ministry announced on Saturday.

Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar will attend a ceremony in Karachi,according to a statement.

It said constructions of two corvettes in Turkey and two in Pakistan willcontinue as part of Turkey’s national warship MILGEM project.

Despite the novel coronavirus, the first ship is slated to be delivered toPakistan in 2023 in line with its schedule.

The Pakistan Navy signed a contract with Turkey’s military factory andshipyard corporation, ASFAT, in July 2018 to acquire four MILGEM-classships.

In October 2019, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, along withPakistan Navy chief Adm. Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, cut the first metal plate ofthe first corvette during a ceremony in Istanbul.

Turkey is one of the 10 countries which can build, design and maintainwarships using its national capabilities.