Which Turkish Warships Does Pakistan Operate, From Babur-Class Corvettes to the Moawin Tanker

Pakistan’s surface fleet now includes warships that began life on Turkish drawing boards. The Babur-class corvettes are the most visible part of that: four Pakistan-specific ships derived from the Ada-class corvettes of the MİLGEM programme. Behind them sits a quieter layer of Turkish naval work, from a fleet tanker built in Karachi to a submarine upgrade still under way. This is a ship-by-ship look at what Pakistan actually operates, and what is still on the slipway.

Which Turkish-Designed Warships Does Pakistan Operate?

Two Babur-class corvettes are in service: PNS Babur and PNS Khaibar. Both were built at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard. Babur was delivered on 23 September 2023, and Khaibar was commissioned in Istanbul on 20 to 21 December 2025, according to published accounts of the ceremony.

The other two ships, Badr and Tariq, are the Karachi-built pair. They were launched in 2022 and 2023 respectively. In the most recent reporting I could find, Badr was in sea trials and fitting-out with delivery expected around mid-2026, and Tariq was expected in the first quarter of 2027. Treat those dates as reported schedules rather than confirmed milestones.

Beyond the corvettes, Pakistan’s Turkish naval ties include the fleet tanker PNS Moawin and the Agosta 90B submarine modernisation, both led by STM. Neither is a Turkish-designed warship in the strict sense, which is why they are covered separately below.

How Does the Babur Class Differ From the Turkish Ada Class?

The Ada class was built for the Turkish Navy as a compact anti-submarine and patrol corvette. The Pakistani version is a larger, more heavily armed ship, often described as a heavier derivative with a vertical launching system added behind the main gun. That is the single biggest change.

According to EDR Magazine’s account of the programme, the Babur class carries two 3×2 vertical launch groups for MBDA’s Albatros NG system with CAMM-ER missiles, a 76 mm Leonardo main gun, an ASELSAN GÖKDENİZ 35 mm close-in weapon, two STOP 25 mm remote weapon stations and torpedo launchers. Pakistan’s own Harbah cruise missile is listed as part of the planned fit, and that detail has been reported rather than demonstrated in public tests I could verify.

Sensors lean on Turkish suppliers: an ASELSAN SMART-S Mk2 3D radar, ASELSAN electronic support and navigation radars, and a hull-mounted sonar from Meteksan. Combat management is reported to be HAVELSAN’s GENESIS ADVENT. Published figures for length, displacement, speed and range differ between sources. Wikipedia’s entry, for example, gives a shorter hull and lower displacement than EDR Magazine does, so this article does not rely on a single number for them. The official ship data released by the Pakistan Navy should settle the question once it is public.

Who Built What and Where?

The 2018 deal split construction evenly. Istanbul took two hulls, and Karachi took two under a technology-transfer arrangement. ASFAT, the Turkish defence ministry’s contracting company, managed the programme. STM is listed as supplying engineering support, including the supply and integration of the main propulsion system, according to its own account in Defence Turkey magazine.

The contract also covered crew familiarisation. EDR Magazine reports that intellectual property rights were shared between the parties. The wider context of what Türkiye handed over to Pakistan is covered in our piece on Türkiye-Pakistan defence cooperation.

What Else Has STM Done for the Pakistan Navy?

The fleet tanker PNS Moawin is the larger overseas shipbuilding story. STM designed and delivered it in Karachi in 2018, with material kits from Türkiye and construction at KSEW. The company describes it as roughly 15,600 tons and about 155 metres long. Pakistan’s navy has described the ship as a 17,000-tonne tanker, so the displacement figure depends on who is measuring and how.

STM also won the Agosta 90B modernisation in 2016. Quwa reported the contract at about USD 350 million, with new optronic masts, radar, electronic support, sonar and countermeasures installed at KSEW. STM has said the first submarine was delivered and that work on the others continued in Pakistan. For how this fits into Türkiye’s own submarine plans, see Does Türkiye Build Its Own Submarines?.

STM also displayed its STM500 small submarine at the IDEAS 2022 exhibition in Karachi. That was a showcase, not an order.

The same caution applies to the weapons list. Wikipedia’s PNS Babur entry lists SMASH anti-ship missiles in two triple-cell launchers and Mark 32 torpedo tubes, while EDR Magazine describes Harbah launchers and Leonardo torpedo launchers. Both can be partly right, since fits can change between planning and delivery, but readers should not treat any single list as final.

Why Does the Pakistani Version Matter Beyond Pakistan?

The Babur class shows a Turkish design being exported while the buyer builds half of the hulls locally. That model shapes how Turkish shipbuilders pitch frigates abroad. The Gowind comparison in Where Gowind and MİLGEM Meet looks at how this approach stacks up against the French competitor.

For Pakistan, the ships add vertically launched air defence and anti-ship capability to the surface fleet. The remaining questions are practical: whether Karachi hits its delivery dates, and whether the Harbah missile reaches ships in service. Pakistan’s navy has not published a full delivery schedule that settles either point.