[11][12][13] Since its commencement, the defensive role of the navy has expanded from securing the sealines and becoming the custodian of Pakistan's second strike capability with an ability to launch underwater missile system to target enemy positions.
[23]: 474 On operational planning, Captain HMS Choudri had engaged on commanding a former RIN destroyer from Karachi to Bombay to oversee the evacuation of Indian emigrants to Pakistan.
[18]: 48 Command and control of the new Royal Pakistan Navy was extremely difficult as Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan's administration had to extend the employment of a large number of the Royal Navy officers from the British Admiralty, with Rear Admiral James Wilfred Jefford, RN, appointed as the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) who worked on creating the contingency plan, "Short-term Emergency Plan (STEP)", to work up the frigates and naval defences in case of escalation of the war at sea.
In February 1956, the British government announced the transfer of several major surface combat warships to Pakistan Navy, including a cruiser and four destroyers to be purchased with funds made available under the U.S. Military Assistance Program.
[18]: 55 In 1958, the Navy made an unsuccessful attempt to obtain Neptun-class submarines from Sweden using the American security funds; it was halted by the United States and Pakistan's Finance Ministry despite the fact that the idea had support from Army GHQ.
[18]: 57 Proposal of attaining the aircraft carrier was deferred due to financial constraints, forcing Pakistan to move towards establishing the formidable submarine command.
[18]: 60–61 As the Indian Air Force's repeated sorties and raids disrupted PAF operations, the Navy assumed a more aggressive role in the conflict.
[18]: 61 On 2 September, the Navy deployed its first long-range submarine, PNS Ghazi under Commander K. R. Niazi which was charged with gathering intelligence on Indian naval movements that stalked the diverting threats posed by the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
[29] On the night of 7/8 September, a naval squadron comprising four destroyers, one frigate, one cruiser, and one submarine, under the command of Commodore S. M. Anwar, launched artillery operation— an attack on the radar facilities used by the Indian Air Force in the small coastal town of Dwarka.
[29] The Pakistan Navy explored the idea of installing Russian missile system on former British frigates but Soviets refrained from doing so due to objections from India.
[18]: 62 The United Kingdom offered the Navy to jointly built the Type 21 frigate but was rejected by Ayub administration that would only allow the financial capital to be spent on submarine procurement.
[37] The Indian Navy observers who watched the raid nearby later wrote in their war logs that the "PAF pilots failed to recognize the difference between a large PNS Zulfiqar frigate and a relatively small Osa missile boat.
[51] Since then the Navy has sought to improve the structure and fleet by putting special emphasis on sub-surface warfare capability as it allows for the most efficient way to deny the control of Pakistani sea lanes to an adversary.
[51] After the Russian troops withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, the Bush administration imposed the arms embargo on Pakistan by uncovering the existence of the covert atomic bomb program to the United States Congress, which ultimately refrained the transfer of the maritime patrol aircraft, missile systems, and defence software on 1 October 1990.
[91] The Navy Special Service Group is headquartered at PNS Iqbal in Karachi where the physical conditioning and weapon tactics training take place.
[92] The Navy Special Service Group's specialisation further includes training and mastery in the visit, board, search, and seizure methods, naval interdiction, and security operations to prevent seaborne-based terrorism.
The Navy was unable to break the blockade leading to Pakistan's economic and military resources being severely drained and communication was limited between the two wings of the country.
The F-22P Zulfiquar class guided missile frigates are attached with the 18th Destroyer Squadron with a complement of the American-transferred USS McInerney (now PNS Alamgir) in 2011.
[citation needed] On 1 November 2019, China's Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding held a steel cutting ceremony for the Pakistan Navy's third and fourth Type 054A frigates.
[118][119][120][121] Established in 1964, the Submarine Command is a major component of the Navy whose primary mission is to conduct clandestine military reconnaissance for intelligence and carry out precision strikes on enemy positions from underwater during war.
[124] The Agosta-class submarines are equipped with an air-independent propulsion system giving a capability of deeper dives and the ability to submerge for a longer period of time without detection.
[130] The Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM) are the important and center pieces for the amphibious operations undertaken by the Marines and expeditionary actions by the Army as the two of the LCMs are commissioned by the Navy after being handed over by the KSEW Ltd. in 2016.
[162] In 2017, PNS Siddiq was commissioned to support the aerial missions for the Pakistan Naval Aviation reconnaissance group to guard the safety of the CPEC.
[191]: 8–9 Additionally, the platform provided at the NDU represents a radical shift from the emphasis on operational and staff functions and the level of ranks are imposed as qualification to attend the master's program at the NDU, usually brigadiers, air commodores, and commodores, are invited to given admission in broad range of strategic, political, social, and economic factors as these factors affect the country's national security.
[191]: 8–9 In this sense, the NDU becomes the critical thinking institution as its constitutes active-duty senior military officers corps' baptism into a shared ideological framework about the military's appropriate role, status, and behavior in relation to state and society, and shared values affect how these officers perceive and respond to civilian governmental decisions, policies, and political crises.
[59]: 73 After the promulgation of the Constitution in 1956, the Navy gained its independence from the British Royal patronage and became the federal institution of the armed forces commissioned by the elected President of Pakistan.
[208] From 1996 to 2000, the Navy was a major sponsor of the Bahria Town– the real estate enterprise – and reportedly received market shares for the use of its name in commercial building projects.
Order of Lion; Urdu: نشان حیدر; abbreviated as NH) is the highest and the most prestigious honour awarded posthumously for bravery and actions of valor in event of war.
[212]: 220 Established in March 1956 by the Constitution, this award is an equivalent to the American Medal of Honor, British Victoria Cross (VC), Russian Order of St. Andrew, or the French Legion of Honour.
[213]: 87 Unlike the American Medal of Honor, the Nishan-e-Haider (NH) has only been conferred to those who have been "martyred" and proved their distinguished valor of actions in an event of conflict or war.