Fleet Overhaul Project 1970: The Destroyers
In 1970, the Speaker's Council voted to authorize a massive fleet overhaul at the urging of top admirals looking to stay up-to-date with the world (until this point, the Bahiriyi's missile ships were PSW-era conversions). With battleships falling out of style by 1950, and aircraft carriers becoming increasingly expensive, the Navy decided to focus on a new fleet structure, with three missile strike-oriented cruisers being the core of the new formations. To escort these ships, the Navy requested an additional six air-defense destroyers, the Asaidar-class. These ships featured a powerful anti-air suite, thanks to two M67 missile launchers (each with a capacity of forty Medebenya 1 missiles), as well as the necessary M68 guidance system.
As part of this upgrade program, the need for enhanced fleet anti-submarine warfare capabilities was met through the Mazare-class destroyers. In order to keep costs down, they were based off of the Asaidar-class, and thus share a common appearance. They carried a powerful anti-submarine rocket, as well as a point-defense surface-to-air missile system for self-defense. Notably, the ships were designed with helicopter operations in mind, and lessons learned from earlier conversions provided useful insight into how these aircraft should be handled.