The Pakistan Navy inducted its newest corvette during a ceremony on Saturday, April 4.
PNS Khaibar is the second corvette in the Babur-class. As with class lead ship PNS Babur, she was designed by Istanbul Naval Shipyard in Turkey.
The Babur-class corvettes belong to the MILGEM family of warships originally developed in Turkey. The Pakistani ships are variants of the Ada-class corvettes being operated by the Turkish Navy, but with enhanced anti-surface warfare and anti-air warfare capabilities in addition to anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
Khaibar has a length of 108.8 metres, a beam of 14.8 metres, a draught of 4.05 metres, and a displacement of 2,888 tonnes.
A combined diesel and gas arrangement that includes two MTU 16V595 engines and a GE LM2500 gas turbine propels the corvette to a maximum speed of 31 knots.
Alternatively, at more economical cruising speeds, the ship can sail up to 3,500 nautical miles or stay out at sea for 15 days.
The corvette’s armament includes a battery of six P-282 anti-ship cruise missiles, 12 Albatros NG surface-to-air missiles, torpedoes, a Leonardo 76mm rapid-fire naval gun, an Aselsan 35mm close-in weapon system, and two Aselsan 25mm autocannons fitted on remote weapon stations. Also fitted is an Aselsan decoy countermeasure system to defend the ship against torpedo attack.
Khaibar was commissioned into service in December 2025. However, like all Pakistan Navy ships, she needed to undergo a separate induction process to ensure that she will finally achieve operational readiness, thereby clearing her to be fully integrated into the fleet. Saturday's ceremony marked the formal completion of the induction process.