Of all of Pakistani Armed Forces, the Pakistan Navy is the smallest, yet is capable of delivering a strong punch. The Pakistan Navy (PN) is under the overall command of the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), subdivided into four commands: COMPAK which is the commander of the Pakistan Fleet COMLOG, which is responsible for the logistics of the Navy COMNOR, which is responsible for commanding the North of Pakistan COMKAR (Commander Karachi), commanding the naval headquarters and the only major base at Karachi. Construction is under way for building a new naval base at Ormara, which is some 240 kilometers west of Karachi. Also, the harbors at Pasni and Gwadar are being improved to help reduce the overdependence on the Karachi Naval Base. The Pakistan Naval Fleet has between 6 to 15 French submarines which are equipped with United States Harpoon missiles. The submarines are mostly the AGOSTA class some with AIPS (Air Independent Propulsion System. PN's current strength is around 24,000 personal on active duty, and some 5,000 personal reserve personal. The Navy also has its own Naval Air Arm, and some 2,000 member paramilitary Maritime Securtiy Agency. The Paramilitary Maritime Security Agency is responsible for protecting Pakistan's economic zone. There is also a 150-200 man Pakistan Marine Commando unit. Its functions are hull inspections, special operations including operations with three midget submarines. The Fleet also has between 17 to 22 Destroyers, Cruisers, and Frigates, including the type-21 frigates purchased from the Royal Navy. There are also 9 Corvettes and Missile boats, 3 Minesweepers, 5 maritime patrol aircrafts and around 2 to 6 fleet tankers. Most of Pakistan Navy's AGOSTA class and DAPHNE class submarines have the RGM-84 HARPOON anti-ship missiles. It has a range of some 100 Kilometers. One missile can easily destroy a frigate and two can cripple a Indian Aircraft Carrier. The Harpoons are called smart weapons because they have on-board computers which guide the weapon to its target. If war breaks out in the future between Pakistan and India, then Pakistan's Naval strategy should be to go after the Indian Navy's 2 Aircraft Carriers with its AGOSTA class submarines. After that they can concentrate on other Indian Naval Ships which includes Cruisers, Destroyers, Frigates, Missile Boats and submarines. In the Indo-Pak war of 1965, the Pakistan Navy had just 1 submarine called PNS GHAZI, while the Indian Navy had none. Just that one Pakistani submarine instilled such a fear in the minds of the Indian Admirals that they kept their entire fleet at port--throughtout the whole war. Pakistan Navy also has 5 Seakings armed with depth charges and sonobouys. It also has F-27 Fokkers. The Pakistan Naval Air Arm has a squadron of Mirage III's, which are armed with Exocet anti-ship missiles. Their responsiblities are offensive and defensive naval strikes. The Naval Rank Structure is similar to that of the famed British Royal Navy. PAKISTAN NAVY OFFICER RANK STRUCTURE: ADMIRAL VICE ADMIRAL REAR ADMIRAL COMMODORE CAPTAIN COMMANDER LIEUTENANT COMMANDER LIEUTENANT SUB LIEUTENANT MIDSHIPMAN Pakistan's small Navy is capable of both strong offensive and defensive actions. Today, it remains on the forefront for the defense of Pakistan's sea frontiers. Bibliography Pakistan Armed Forces Data Book, Services Club, 2000. Back to Table of Contents -- Pakistan At War Newsletter 5 Back to Pakistan At War Newsletter List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by Shahram Khan. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com