PNS Tippu Sultan (D-185)

PNS Tippu Sultan (DDG-185) is a currently in active duty with the Pakistan Navy since being acquired in 1994. Her design is based on the British Type 21 frigate, and previously served in the Royal Navy as HMS Avenger (F185) as a general purpose frigate.

In 1998–2008, the extensive engineering modernization and midlife upgrade program by the KESW Ltd. at the Naval Base Karachi reclassified her status as guided missile destroyer.

Acquisition, construction, and modernization
She was designed and constructed by the Yarrow Shipbuilders, Ltd. at Glasgow in Scotland, she was laid down on 30 October 1974, and was launched on 19 July 1978. She eventually gained commissioned on 19 July 1978 in the Surface Fleet of the Royal Navy as HMS Avenger (F185). During her service with the Royal Navy, she was notable for her wartime operations during the Falklands War with Argentina.

On 3 October 1994, she was purchased by Pakistan after the successful negotiation with the United Kingdom, along with PNS Shah Jahan.

Upon arriving in Karachi, she underwent an extensive modernization and mid-life upgrade program by the KESW Ltd. at the Naval Base Karachi in 1998–2002.

She was namesake after Tipu Sultan, a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, and was commissioned on 1 March 1994.

Her wartime performance included in deployments in patrolling off the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea as well as deploying in the Mediterranean Sea when she was part of the multinational CTF-150.