Pakistan Navy has raised a dedicated Naval Task Force-88 for protection of CPEC and Gwadar Port. The task force would ensure security of Gwadar Port and CPEC in maritime domain.
An International Maritime Conference on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was held at Gwadar to commission the TF-88 force.
The creation of the special maritime force has been necessitated by the operationalisation of CPEC, which is expected to lead to a surge in maritime activity at Gwadar — the nodal point for CPEC — and the sea lanes. This has in turn increased the maritime susceptibilities there.
TF-88 is to comprise ships, Fast Attack Craft, aircraft, drones (unmanned aerial vehicles), and surveillance assets. Additionally, marines would be deployed at sea and around Gwadar for security operations, according to a senior Navy official.
TF-88’s apparent mission profile could inform the PN’s likely FAC decision, if not the specific make, then at least an understanding of the general configuration. Protecting the deep-sea port would necessitate a littoral defence element. High-speed boats armed with anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) and shore-based coastal ASCM batteries can fulfill this role. These boats/FACs could also patrol and police littoral waters.
However, TF-88’s mandate to guard Gwadar’s SLOC or sea lanes would necessitate larger and longer-range vessels, and for ‘conventional threats’, defensibility from seaborne threats via effective anti-ship warfare (AShW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), and anti-air warfare (AAW) capabilities is essential. The AAW element alone is multi-layered, one that will require a point-defence missile system (PDMS) to guard against incoming ASCMs, and potentially a medium-range element for area wide coverage.
‘Ships’ planned for TF-88 could potentially comprise of multi-mission surface combatants. Currently, the Pakistan Navy is in talks with Turkish shipbuilder Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret A.Ş. (STM) for MILGEM corvettes. At IDEAS 2016, STM announced that it aimed to finalize an agreement in 2017. The Ada-class corvette would sufficiently meet the above AShW and ASW criteria, and that too with a PDMS for intercepting low-flying aircraft and incoming ASCM. However, the MILGEM-G, which is the Ada-class with 10 additional metres and room for 16 vertical-launch system (VLS) cells, could provide proper AAW.