tactical doctrine has included the acquisition, development, employment, and aggressive deployment of the long-range and depth reaching submarines in an effort to target and destroy its adversaries by attacking surface warships before reaching the country's ports. The mining of the Karachi's harbour is also taken as a serious consideration of preventing the enemy from launching the missile attacks in the port city of Karachi. In 1983–85, the Navy commissioned the Dassault Mirage 5 from France whose weapon system included the naval variant of the Exocet missiles and are aimed towards engaging the Indian Navy's aircraft out to in the Indian Ocean. The routine deployment of the surface fleet as part of the Combined Task Forces provides the opportunity to the safeguard the sealines of communications. Since 1999, the Pakistan Marines's special reconnaissance forces has been deployed in the Sir Creek region are aimed towards offshore protection against the incursions from the Indian Army's Para Commandos from the sea while taking the initiatives of deployment of the special forces groups behind the enemy lines through insertion by the HALO/HAHO airdrop or by using the midget submarines. Responding to the development of the INS Arihant, the Pakistan Navy reportedly announced the launch of the nuclear powered submarine program to counter the submarine threat in 2012. The Navy eventually pushed for attaining the naval-based nuclear second-strike capability in 2017 when the ISPR announced the Pakistan Navy's to have attained the sea-based second strike capability when it launched the nuclear SLCM based on the Babur cruise missile, though the range of the SLCM remains to be at the short range. Equipment Ships: Surface combatants The names of the commissioned warship and noncombat vessels of the Pakistan Navy are prefixed with the capital letters "PNS"— the Pakistan Navy Ship. The naming convention of the ship are selected by the Ministry of Defense, often honouring the important people or places in the history of Pakistan, and then commissioned by the President of Pakistan. The Surface Fleet, established in 1947, is a pivotal component of the Navy with crucial role in maintaining the military balance with the Indian Navy in the Indian Ocean, taking part in multinational task forces to prevent seaborne terrorism and piracy. The Navy currently operates approximately 100 vessels including ones used by the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) and Pakistan Marines. In the current inventory, the Navy has a combination of British, American, Chinese,