Second Pakistani Hangor-Class Submarine Launched for Trials

The ceremony was attended by senior officials from Pakistan and China, including Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ovais Ahmed Bilgrami, who served as the chief guest.

The lead boat, PNS Hangor, was launched from the same facility on 26 April, 2024. In January, the PN Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Adm. Naveed Ashraf, said that the boat will join the PN fleet “very soon.”

The PNS Hangor and PNS Shushuk are part of a multi-billion dollar deal Pakistan signed with China in 2015 for eight submarines (later complemented by four Type 054A/P frigates). 

The contract also involved a transfer-of-technology (ToT) element that would see Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW) build four of the submarines, with the other four coming from China. 

The first four boats were originally scheduled for delivery in 2022 and 2023. However, the program ran into delays due to the pandemic and, as importantly, Germany’s refusal to release MTU diesel engines in a bid to curb China’s defence technology development. 

To address the engine issue, the PN opted to wait for China to certify its indigenously-built CHD-620 diesel engine. With the diesel engine finally secured, the Hangor submarine project is progressing.

KSEW began constructing the fifth and sixth Hangor-class boats in December 2021 and February 2024, respectively. The KSEW-built submarines were originally scheduled for delivery by 2028.

According to the PN via a press release, the submarines “will be fitted with cutting-edge weapons and sensors, enabling them to engage targets at standoff ranges.”

The Hangor-class submarine is based on the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) S26, an export-focused variant of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 039A. 

However, the Hangor is heavier than the standard S26 design, with a displacement of 2,800 tons (to the S26’s 2,550 tons) and length of 76 m, which is shorter than the S26 (at 77.7 m). 

Like the S26, the Hangor-class uses a Stirling-based air-independent propulsion (AIP) system and leverages six torpedo tubes capable of carrying heavyweight torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles. 

It is likely that the PN’s boats will be configured to deploy the Babur 3-series of submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCM) for the land attack role as well. In this sense, the Hangor-class submarines will also serve a role in Pakistan’s wider strategic and nuclear deterrence posture, though it may not be their primary role (with retired PN officials also hinting at the need for a dedicated deterrence asset).

Overall, the Hangor-class submarine will greatly improve the PN’s sub-surface capabilities. The new additions will increase the PN’s AIP-equipped submarine fleet from 3 to 11 boats, which would be more than a three-fold increase in total fleet size.

The growth in the fleet size will make the PN one of the region’s largest submarine operators (second only in size to the Indian Navy) and will translate into several key capability gains for the PN:

First, the larger fleet size allows the PN to sustain a continuous underwater presence in more areas of interest and, potentially, across multiple zones simultaneously. This greater presence could result in the PN intensifying its sea patrol as well as intelligence and reconnaissance missions.

Second, the PN will gain additional vectors through which it can deploy long-range cruise missiles, be it for anti-ship or land-attack missions, contributing to anti-access and area-denial and deep-strike, respectively.

Third, while not an operational gain, KSEW will develop more experience building modern submarines; up to this point, it has only built two Agosta 90Bs. In 2020, the PN leadership announced its goal to transform the PN into a “submarine-building navy,” which implies a future goal to domestically designing and building original submarines to eventually supplant the Agosta 90B and further grow the fleet.