KARACHI: Pakistan Navy successfully tested its air defence capability in Sonmiani on Monday. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Noman Bashir witnessed the surface-to-air missile firing along with Vice Admiral Tayyab Ali Dogar, the Air Defence Commander of Pakistan Navy. All missiles successfully hit their targets.

A combination of SAM series was tested which gave the navy the flexibility to operate with a range of missiles and strengthen the ground-based air defence.

The area of responsibility of the air defence battalion stretches from Sir Creek in the east to Jiwani in the west. A large number of officers of armed forces also witnessed the firing.

Chief of the Naval Staff praised the efforts put in by the air defence battalion of coastal command and urged officers and men to ensure an impeccable defence.

The Commander of Marines said in a briefing on the occasion that air threat being very dynamic in nature had assumed multiple dimensions in today’s warfare and was continuously changing with rapid technological developments.

He said the induction of the state of the art weapons and equipment would augment PN’s ground-based air defence capabilities against hi-tech aircraft and incoming missiles.

The missiles are equipped with highly sensitive infrared homing head which can intercept high-speed aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. These SAMs are ‘Fire and Forget’ type missiles.