KARACHI: Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah has said that efforts are being made to modernise the PN’s air defence battalion.

He was addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of the 21st Air Defence Battalion Unit at Ormara in Balochistan on Friday.

The battalion was raised in 2005 to provide ground-based air defence to all PN and designated national infrastructure. The battalion is equipped with state-of-the-art guns, surface-to-air missiles and air defence radars.

Admiral Zakaullah lauded the efforts of all those involved in the project. Within the overall developmental plans of the navy, he said, air defence stood out to be a priority of the naval headquarters. Endeavours were being made to modernise this segment of coastal command to contribute towards the defence of the country, he added.

He extended felicitations to the officers and men of 21st Air Battalion on the commencement of the construction work and called for careful implementation and monitoring of the project.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2017