On 17 December, the fourth S26/Type 039B Hangor-class submarine (PNS/M Ghazi) was launched for sea trials, while the second of four MILGEM Babur-class corvettes (PNS Khaibar) was commissioned into the Pakistan Navy (PN) fleet on 21 December.
According to a press release by the PN’s Director General of Public Relations (DGPR), all four of the Hangor-class submarines built in China are “undergoing rigorous sea trials and are in the final stages of being handed over to Pakistan.”
The lead boat (PNS/M Hangor) was launched for sea trials in April 2024, while the second (PNS/M Shushuk) and third (PNS/M Mangro) boats set sail in March and August 2025, respectively.
The PN Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral Naveed Ashraf, stated that the Hangor-class submarines will enter service with the PN in 2026. The four Chinese-built boats will join the PN fleet in quick succession or as a batch, thereby giving the sub-surface fleet an immediate capability boost.
The four remaining boats are being built at Karachi Shipyards & Engineering Works (KSEW), with the first entering production in December 2021, and work on the sixth began in February 2025.
Pakistan ordered the S26 from China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co. Ltd (CSOC) in 2015 as part of a multibillion-dollar deal that included technology transfer (ToT) for domestic production.
Initially, all eight boats were scheduled for delivery to the PN by 2028. However, pandemic-related delays and Germany’s refusal to issue export permits for the original MTU diesel engine pushed the procurement program by several years, likely into the early 2030s.
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