TSAMTO, January 31. According to the information published by The News, the commissioning ceremony of 10 Westland WS-61 "Sea King" helicopters donated by Qatar took place at the Pakistan Navy shipbuilding enterprise in Karachi on January 24.
WS-61 "Sea King" is a British licensed version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter, assembled by Westland Helicopters. The helicopter differs from the American version with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines, British-made anti-submarine systems and a fully computerized flight control system.
The footage posted on the Pakistan Navy's Twitter page shows four helicopters, including a Commando Mk2A with serial number 57 and three Commando Mk3 with serial numbers 50, 54 and 56. The helicopters will be used by the 111th anti-ship/anti-submarine warfare Squadron stationed at the Mehran Naval Base.
In August 2021, Scramble Magazine reported that Qatar and Pakistan had signed an agreement to supply 10 helicopters from the Qatari Armed Forces. As reported, the Pakistani Navy planned to transfer 7 or 8 helicopters of anti-ship/anti-submarine helicopters Commando Mk3 (ASuW) and 2 or 3 multi-purpose / transport Commando Mk2A.
