The Pakistan Navy has undertaken the largest and the most expensive procurement process in its history. This is being carried out through the purchase of eight diesel-electric assault submarines of the Hangor subclass from Chinese state shipbuilders. Four units will be assembled in China while the remaining four will be assembled in Pakistan by the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works, marking yet another milestone for the Pakistani military-industrial complex as a whole. More than that, the Pakistan Navy will now have the ability to launch nuclear warheads from the sea through this purchase. The Chinese Type 039A/039B Yuan-class submarine family served as the model’s backbone, which by itself represented a clear improvement from previous mainstay models such as the Type 035.
The Pakistan-specific subclass of the Type 039 being named ‘Hangor’ is a call back to the original PNS Hangor Daphne-class submarine of French origin. The PNS Hangor was responsible for the sinking of the anti-submarine frigate INS Khukri off the coast of Gujarat over the course of Bangladesh’s Liberation War. It represented the only major Pakistani naval victory over an overpowering Indian Navy that managed to successfully blockade Pakistan’s ports, preventing unimpeded military usage. The INS Khukri remains the only Indian Navy vessel to have been lost at war.
The new Hangor subclass vessels mark a significant upgrade above the Pakistan Navy’s aging fleet of mostly French origin submarines which were acquired in the 1970s and 1980s. They were operated alongside a number of Italian-origin Cosmos MG110 midget submarines. The French-made Agosta-class of vessels were powered by conventional diesel-electric powertrains typical of the Cold War era. This limited the vessels to having to surface periodically for electric propulsion batteries to be recharged. Undoubtedly, such a limitation increased risk of detection and reduced operating range.
Pakistan’s aging Agosta-class fleet of attack submarines were eventually upgraded with air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems, specifically the French-designed Module d’Energie Sous-Marin Autonome (MESMA). Being retrofits except in the case of the PNS Hamza, which was built from the outset with the MESMA, the Agosta-class fleet had limited survivability and operational reach compared to the numerically superior submarine fleet of the Indian Navy. Therefore, the induction of the new Hangor-class submarines represent a significant upgrade for the Pakistan Navy, despite the fact that they are still conventional vessels and not powered by nuclear-propulsion. The new vessels are powered by an AIP system developed by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation’s 711th Institute.
Being designed from the ground up with air-independent propulsion and Pakistan’s strategic constraints in mind, the Hangor subclass stands to offer the Pakistan Navy improved survivability and range over the older Agosta class. This is a critical improvement considering the Pakistan Navy’s strategic and tactical disadvantages vis-a-vis the Indian Navy. Pakistani submarine crews would be tasked with intelligence collection and attack missions while being searched for by numerically and often technologically superior Indian submarine fleets. The Indian Navy also brings to bear a clear advantage in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities equipment such as the Boeing P-8 Poseidon, the Sikorsky MH-60 Seahawk, and surface vessels dedicated to ASW roles.
But of course, on the basis of the title of this SITREP, the most significant capability upgrade has been in cruise missile launch capabilities. The new Hangor subclass of submarines will have the capability to launch the Babur-3 submarine launched cruise missile (SLCM). Based on the BGM-109 Tomahawk, the Babu-3’s SLCM variant has an operational range of 450 kilometers, placing military installations located in western India and particularly in Gujarat and Maharashtra at risk. The Babu-3 is of course, capable of being armed with nuclear warheads, making any submarine launch capability a significant step-up for the Armed Forces of Pakistan.
Pakistan is still shy of approaching true nuclear triad capability, as that is defined by the ability to maintain submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and nuclear-powered submarines (SSBNs). The Indian Navy currently maintains three SSBNs, and therefore a fully operational nuclear triad. Yet, the existence of a Pakistani triad by itself, even one that is ad hoc serves to equalize the nuclear balance of power between India and Pakistan.
Verification Note: Information sourced from and corroborated from government websites, documents, and news sources. Sources are carefully weighed for authenticity, and sources making superfluous claims without evidence are discarded. Information is then analyzed and interpreted to come to conclusions.
Fatin Anwar is an Associate Analyst at Bangladesh Defence Journal. He is responsible for in-depth research and analysis in combination with OSINT tools/techniques. A graduate of geography from the University of Dhaka, he had previously spent years working as a freelance writer specializing in research-heavy pieces related to geopolitics and military history.