It looks like Pakistan bought a Chinese spy ship. What does it do?

ISLAMABAD — It appears Pakistan’s Navy has acquired a Chinese-built spy ship, according to open-source intelligence analyst Damien Symon, who reviewed commercially available satellite imagery .

The intelligence gathering platform, dubbed Rizwan, is described as an “offshore supply ship” by online shipping monitor MarineTraffic. Pakistan reportedly acquired the vessel from China last year with no fanfare, and the ship was spotted during a stopover in Jakarta, Indonesia, in June 2023, while sailing home.

It is a compact vessel some 87.2 meters long, with two large radar domes on the stern, which along with other sensors point to an intelligence gathering role.

Neither the Pakistan Navy nor the Ministry of Defence Production, which handles military acquisitions, would discuss the ship’s role and capabilities when asked by Defense News.

However, a source with knowledge of Rizwan’s operations, speaking on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the topic, confirmed to Defense News it is an “information gathering ship.” The source declined to provide further details.

Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the Singapore-based Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies think tank, said Rizwan appears to be an affordable and flexible design.

He told Defense News that the ship is based on the hull of an offshore support vessel, which makes “economical sense,” and that “aside from the huge radome that should serve as the electronic intelligence array, the platform might be able to accept varying mission modules if necessary.”

The ship looks to be dimensionally comparable to Norway’s intelligence gathering vessels Eger and Marjata , Sweden’s Artemis, or Germany’s Oste class, he added.

But Koh doubts Rizwan “has the onboard power capacity for telemetry missile tracking, like those found on the Chinese Yuan Wang series.” Instead, he explained, Rizwan is likely focused on gathering electronic and signals intelligence thanks to “onboard signals processing and analysis capabilities.”

He also said Rizwan’s modular configuration could support mission-specific equipment for hydrographic and oceanographic activities such as undersea gliders that can be launched from the stern deck.

Pakistan probably bought Rizwan in response to recent Indian acquisitions , as the two nations are archrivals, Koh added. And due to the relatively small size of Pakistan’s Navy, a dedicated electronic and signals intelligence platform will reduce the intelligence gathering burden on the service’s aircraft, ships and submarines, he explained.

These platforms would have mainly used electronic sensory measures to capture electromagnetic emissions, but “would have little or no capacity at all to process and analyze the signals,” he said. As a dedicated platform, Rizwan could therefore better monitor Indian naval activity “while freeing up the fleet combat assets for their primary duties.”

Rizwan’s acquisition should be seen in the broader context of Sino-Pakistani relations — specifically Beijing’s support for Pakistan’s military modernization efforts and attempts to keep India occupied in the Indian Ocean rather than beyond that area, said Pakistan analyst Mansoor Ahmed, an academic at Australian National University.

Alongside indigenous development as well as acquisition and production programs with the Dutch and Turkish governments , Chinese help is instrumental in advancing elements of Pakistan’s naval modernization plan . Such support is seen in Pakistan’s Hangor II submarines, long-range unmanned combat drones and anti-ship missiles.

“These and other projects will help plug gaps in fleet air defense, battle management, [electronic warfare], and [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] for a potent [anti-access/area denial] capability through three surface task groups operating in the Arabian Sea,” Ahmed said.

They will also transform Pakistan’s Navy into a “regional maritime force and will significantly reduce the overall asymmetry with the Indian Navy,” Ahmed added. It will also help keep India’s Navy “effectively engaged in ways that it will not be able to spare a large part of its assets for deployment beyond the [Indian Ocean region].”

Usman Ansari is the Pakistan correspondent for Defense News.

伊斯兰堡——据开源情报分析师达米安·西蒙（Damien Symon）查看了市面上可获取的卫星图像后发现，巴基斯坦海军似乎已经获得了一艘中国制造的间谍船。

据在线航运监测网站MarineTraffic报道，这艘名为“里兹万”（Rizwan）的情报收集平台是一艘“海上补给船”。据报道，巴基斯坦去年低调地从中国购得该船，并于2023年6月在返航途中停靠印度尼西亚雅加达时被发现。

这是一艘紧凑型舰艇，长约 87.2 米，船尾有两个大型雷达罩，与其他传感器一起表明其具有情报收集功能。

当《防务新闻》询问巴基斯坦海军和负责军事采购的国防生产部时，双方均拒绝讨论该舰的作用和能力。

然而，一位了解里兹万行动情况的消息人士（鉴于话题的敏感性，该消息人士要求匿名）向《防务新闻》证实，这是一艘“情报收集船”。该消息人士拒绝提供更多细节。

新加坡国防与战略研究所高级研究员柯林·科赫表示，里兹万似乎是一种价格适中且灵活的设计。

他告诉《防务新闻》，该舰以海上支援船的船体为基础，这“经济合理”，并且“除了应该用作电子情报阵列的巨大雷达罩外，如有必要，该平台还可以接受不同的任务模块”。

他补充说，这艘船的尺寸似乎与挪威的情报搜集船“埃格尔”号和“玛雅塔”号、瑞典的“阿尔忒弥斯”号或德国的“奥斯特”级相当。

但科赫怀疑里兹万“是否具备像中国远王系列导弹导弹遥测跟踪所需的机载功率”。他解释说，里兹万更可能专注于收集电子和信号情报，这得益于其“机载信号处理和分析能力”。

他还表示，里兹万号的模块化配置可以支持水文和海洋学活动的特定任务设备，例如可以从船尾甲板发射的水下滑翔机。

科赫补充说，巴基斯坦购买里兹万很可能是为了应对印度近期的军购行动，因为两国是宿敌。他还解释说，由于巴基斯坦海军规模相对较小，一个专用的电子和信号情报平台将减轻巴基斯坦海军飞机、舰艇和潜艇的情报搜集负担。

他说，这些平台主要采用电子传感技术来捕捉电磁辐射，但“几乎没有或根本没有处理和分析信号的能力”。因此，作为专用平台，里兹万可以更好地监控印度海军的活动，“同时让舰队作战力量腾出手来执行其主要任务”。

澳大利亚国立大学学者、巴基斯坦问题分析师曼苏尔·艾哈迈德表示，应该从更广泛的中巴关系角度来看待里兹万的收购——特别是北京对巴基斯坦军事现代化努力的支持，以及试图将印度的注意力集中在印度洋而不是该地区以外。

除了与荷兰和土耳其政府开展的自主研发、采购和生产项目外，中国的援助在推进巴基斯坦海军现代化计划的各个方面都发挥了至关重要的作用。巴基斯坦的“汉戈尔II”型潜艇、远程无人作战无人机和反舰导弹就体现了这种支持。

艾哈迈德说：“这些项目和其他项目将有助于填补舰队防空、作战管理、电子战和情报、监视和侦察方面的空白，从而通过在阿拉伯海作战的三个水面特遣队，建立强大的反介入/区域拒止能力。”

艾哈迈德补充说，这些举措还将把巴基斯坦海军改造为一支“区域海上力量”，并显著降低与印度海军的整体实力不对称。这也将有助于使印度海军“有效地参与到印度洋地区以外的行动中，使其无法将大部分资源部署到该地区以外”。

乌斯曼·安萨里是《防务新闻》驻巴基斯坦记者。