BEIJING: China has launched the “most technologically advanced” warship for Pakistan Navy to bolster Islamabad’s capability to respond to future challenges, a Navy statement said Wednesday.

The launch ceremony for the third of four Type 054, a class of Chinese multi-role frigates, was held at the Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai on Tuesday.

The new-generation multi-mission frigates are equipped with the latest surface, subsurface and anti-air weapon systems, the statement said.

The warships will be fitted with a range of electronic warfare, air and surface surveillance and acoustic sensors integrated through a state of art combat management system that will enhance the Navy’s war fighting capabilities and “strengthen Pakistan maritime defence and deterrence capabilities.”

Pakistan signed an initial contract for the delivery of two Type 054 frigates in 2017. An additional contract for two more ships was signed in June 2018.

The first-in-class frigate was launched in August last year and started sea trials in late May, the second was floated in January. A keel-laying ceremony for the third one took place in May.

All four units are built in China and the first two are expected to be delivered by year-end.

The new frigates would be capable of anti-ship, anti-submarine and air-defence roles. The designation, Type-054-AP, suggests the ships are derived from the Type-054 class of frigates, nearly 30 of which have entered service in the People’s Liberation Army Navy of China in recent years.

The induction of new frigates will significantly “contribute to maintaining peace, stability and power equilibrium in the Indian Ocean Region”.

Experts say that the military vessels will “double the combat power” of the Pakistan Navy. The frigates will be “one of the technologically advanced surface platforms of Pakistan Navy fleet,” the statement said.