Details emerge of Pakistan’s Agosta 90B upgrade program

IHS Jane’s had secured initial details regarding the intended upgrade program for the Pakistan Navy’s three DCNS Agosta 90B air-independent propulsion (AIP)-powered submarines.

As per IHS Jane’s Richard Scott, the Agosta 90Bs will have their search and attack periscopes upgraded to the Airbus Defence and Space (DS) Optronics SERO 250 periscope and OMS 200 optronic mast.

The Airbus DS Optronics SERO 250 is a night-vision capable periscope. Its integration requires “little or no structural modifications” in legacy submarines, making it ideally suited as an upgrade unit. The OMS 200 is an electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) unit with the capability to acquire and track targets.

Notes & Comments:

In June, Pakistan awarded the Turkish naval vendor Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik A.Ş.  (STM) with a contract to upgrade the Pakistan Navy’s three Agosta 90B AIP-powered submarines. STM won because of its “technically and commercially superior” offering. In September, the Turkish Minister of Defence Fikri Işık reportedly informed Defence Turkey that the Agosta 90B upgrade program was valued at $350 million.

As the prime contractor, STM will be responsible for securing its proposed set of subsystem upgrades. It is now evident that STM will be drawing on non-Turkish vendors, such as Airbus DS, to fulfill the Pakistan Navy contract. The upgrade will be carried out in Pakistan with STM’s guidance.

Given the value of the upgrade program, it is certain that additional subsystems will be sought. Although DCNS was not selected as the prime contractor, it is still possible that Thales’ solutions could be sought. Turkish subsystems, such as Aselsan’s subsurface countermeasure solutions, may be procured as well.

The first upgraded submarine is expected to be delivered to the Pakistan Navy in four to five months of the integration work commencing at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Ltd. (KSEW). The remaining submarines will be upgraded within one year of one another.