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The third Pakistan Navy (PN) Hangor-class air-independent propulsion (AIP)-equipped submarine was recently launched. Seeing that the lead boat, PNS Hangor, has been in sea trials since April 2024, it appears that the PN will begin inducting its new-generation submarine by either the end of 2025 or towards the start of 2026.
Undoubtedly, inducting all eight boats will significantly enlarge the PN submarine force, especially its AIP-equipped fleet by nearly 4X from 3 to 11 boats, not including induction of AIP-equipped SWATS/mini-submarines, which would increase it further.
However, as half of the Hangor order is being built in KSEW, that complete shift is still years away – potentially extending into the early 2030s. That said, one can expect the relatively rapid induction of the first four boats from China within the next two years. It would double the PN’s AIP-equipped submarine (SSP) fleet fairly rapidly.
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