ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Navy (PN) Monday carried out Live Weapon Firing (LWF) in the Arabian Sea to demonstrate its combat readiness and warfighting capabilities, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a press release.

During the firepower demonstration, attended by Commander Pakistan Fleet, Vice Admiral Muhammad Faisal Abbasi, the navy’s FM-90B Surface to Air Missile successfully destroyed the aerial drone target reaffirming PN’s combat potential, the military’s media wing added.

“The exercise was conducted to validate PN’s operational plans and assess war preparedness,” the ISPR noted.

Commending the PN officers for their professionalism on the occasion of the weapon’s firing, conducted on the culmination of the sea phase of PN’s maritime exercise SEA SPARK-2024, Chief Guest Vice Admiral Abbasi reiterated PN’s resolve to ensure the seaward defence of Pakistan and safeguard national maritime interests at all costs.

The navy’s exercise comes as all three branches of the country’s armed forces, including the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force (PAF), regularly carry out various training exercises to ensure combat preparedness to safeguard the country’s sovereignty.

A day earlier, the opening ceremony of the 7th International Pakistan Army Team Spirit (PATS) Exercise-2024 was held at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in Pabbi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The Pakistan Army Team Spirit is a mission-specific and task-oriented professional military exercise organised annually in Pakistan. The exercise calls for the highest standard of physical fitness, mental agility/ robustness, and professional military expertise for quick decision-making in varied situations during the conduct of challenging missions in a near real environment.

A total of 20 friendly countries including military observers are participating in the event. Major participants include Pakistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Morocco, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkiye, United States of America and Uzbekistan while Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Myanmar, Germany, Indonesia, Japan and Oman will witness the exercise as military observers.