ISLAMABAD – Turkish Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade Inc. (STM)will add some state-of-the-art features to Pakistan’s Agosta 90B submarinesas part of a modernization program.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Defense in 2016 chose STM over the submarines’French manufacturer for the modernization. The company has since paved theway for Turkish engineering exports, in an area that requires expertise inadvanced technology.
The tender initially included an Agosta 90B submarine half-lifemodernization and was later expanded with the addition of modernizationworks for a second submarine.
As part of the program, STM will enhance the capabilities of Pakistanisubmarines with the addition of Torpedo Countermeasure Systems and acousticmeasurement sensors. To that end, an amendment to the initial contract wasrecently signed by STM General Manager Murat İkinci.
STM will also bring significant competencies in the field of submarineengineering in Turkey. The company recently signed a deal for themodernization of the Turkish navy’s Preveze-Class Submarines as the”Leading Partner.”
Within the Agosta 90B modernization project, STM had a challenging and longcompetition with the French DCNS Shipyard, which designed and produced thesubmarines.
At the end of the bidding process, STM was found technically andcommercially superior by Pakistan’s Ministry of Defense and signed the dealas the main contractor.
The first submarine will be delivered in 2020 under the project, where themodernization activities are being carried out in a Pakistani NavalShipyard in Karachi. The other submarine will be modernized with a one-yearinterval.
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Within the framework of the project, logistics support and trainingservices integrated into Pakistan navy will be provided along with design,engineering and procurement activities.
Under the modernization activities, all the sonar suites, periscopesystems, command and control system, radar and electronic support systemswill be upgraded with systems produced by Turkey’s HAVELSAN and ASELSAN.
In 2018, the Pakistan Navy Fleet Tanker (PNFT), one of the biggestsingle-item export projects in the history of the Turkish defense industry,was delivered to the Pakistan Navy at a commissioning ceremony in Karachi.
The project was developed in cooperation with the STM as the maincontractor. The vessel was designed in Turkey based on the operationalneeds of the Pakistan Navy.
The ship was built in the Karachi Shipyard by the workforce of theshipyard with technical data and material packages sent to Pakistan.
Within the scope of the Pakistan Navy Fleet Tanker project, STM alsoprovided training and technical support to the Karachi Shipyard andPakistan navy personnel as well as integrated logistic support services, inaddition to providing design services and material packages.
