Pakistan’s maritime forces will receive a significant capabilities boost starting next year with the induction of eight Hangor-class submarines from China.
The first unit, confirmed by Pakistan Navy chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf, would enter service in 2026, with all eight—four built in China and four assembled in Pakistan—due for completion by 2028. The deal’s anticipated cost is $5 billion.The Hangor-class (Type 039A Yuan-class) submarines are diesel-electric boats powered by Stirling air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems. This technology enables the boats to remain submerged for two to three weeks without surfacing, significantly enhancing stealth and endurance over traditional submarines.
The class also has improved sensors, combat management systems, and the ability to launch cruise missiles, perhaps including the 450-kilometer-range Babur-3—a component of Pakistan’s ambition to construct a sea-based nuclear deterrent.
India’s long-standing underwater advantage in the Arabian Sea is set to encounter fresh challenges when Pakistan’s Hangor-class ships join the fleet. The submarines would greatly improve Islamabad’s anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) posture in the northern Arabian Sea and western Indian Ocean.
Given China’s rising role in aiding Pakistan’s naval and aerospace modernization, Indian defense experts recognize that counter-strategies will be required to offset these achievements.
China and Pakistan’s growing defence collaboration, which was visible during Operation Sindoor earlier this year, has now expanded into the maritime domain. Chinese-origin technologies, platforms, and systems, which were previously seen in Pakistan’s air force with J-10 fighter jets and PL-15 missiles, are now being copied at sea. Turkey has also given assistance in modernising Pakistan’s navy fleet and operational concepts.
The Indian Navy has a comprehensive anti-submarine warfare network that includes Boeing P-8I long-range observation planes, MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, and advanced surface combatants equipped with cutting-edge sonars, radars, torpedoes, and multi-role rockets.
Despite these advantages, experts worry that a numerical and qualitative shortage in India’s conventional submarine fleet may reduce its deterrence advantage.
India’s indigenous submarine procurement program is still in danger of falling behind schedule. The Project-75(I) plan, which aimed to build six contemporary German-origin conventional submarines using AIP technology at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, has yet to be completed despite obtaining initial acceptance of necessity in 2007. The first submarine is expected to be delivered in seven to eight years after it is signed.
Currently, the Indian Navy operates six French-origin Scorpene-class submarines (Kalvari class), six elderly Russian Kilo-class vessels, and four German HDW-class submarines. Its strategic deterrence weapon consists of two nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (INS Arihant and INS Arighaat), with a third (INS Aridhaman) scheduled to be commissioned in 2026.
China’s naval presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is steadily increasing, with a fleet of over 60 submarines, including approximately ten nuclear-powered boats. As Beijing strengthens its operational ties with Pakistan, India faces a two-front maritime assault.
Pakistan’s Hangor-class fleet, once operational, could provide the Pakistan Navy with significant reach, endurance, and stealth, changing the naval dynamics of the northern Indian Ocean.
