Pakistan first inducted Hangor-class submarine, the PNS/M Hangor, fired an anti-ship cruise missile in the Northern Arabian Sea, Pakistani military's media wing ISPR reported on Sunday.  

The ISPR statement called the firing drill a “major demonstration of operational readiness”, where the submarine accurately engaged a “designated long-range target with an anti-ship cruise missile”. 

The report did not specify the type of missile. Unconfirmed reports suggest the missile was the Chinese YJ-18, assessed to be derived from the Russian Klub family, with a claimed strike range of up to 540 km in some variants. This would make it the longest-ranged sub-launched anti-ship missile fielded by the Pakistan Navy. The Pakistan Navy has so far equipped its submarines with the French Exocet SM-39 with an 80-km range and the Harpoon with a 120-km range. 

In 2015, the US confirmed the deployment of the YJ-18 on PLAN submarines and surface ships, terming the missile’s greater range and speed than previous Chinese ASCMs, along with its wide deployment across PLA platforms, as ‘significantly increase China’s antiaccess/area denial capabilities against U.S. Navy surface ships operating in the Western Pacific during a potential conflict.’ 

Interestingly, the Klub is the standard anti-ship missile fit on five of the Indian Navy’s fleet of Russian-built Kilo class submarines. The missile began to be acquired by the Indian Navy from 2000 onwards when the INS Sindhushastra was inducted. 

Pakistan Navy chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf observed the exercise, praised it and emphasised the “strategic importance of enhancing subsurface capabilities for credible maritime deterrence”. PM Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the Pakistan Navy and its leadership on the first live weapons firing by the newly inducted submarine, in a statement issued by his office. 

The test comes less than two weeks after a collision between a Pakistani naval vessel and an Indian Warship. 

The PNS/M Hangor is the first out of eight Air Independent Propulsion-equipped submarines bought by Pakistan. Four of the eight Hangor-class submarines are being built in China, while the remaining four are being built at Karachi under the programme's technology-transfer arrangement. The Hangors are Type 

The submarine’s AIP system allows the submarine to generate electricity underwater without relying on atmospheric oxygen, allowing it to remain submerged for substantially longer periods. This improves stealth and endurance, particularly during surveillance and patrol missions.

India, on the other hand, is yet to field an operational AIP-equipped conventional submarine. India’s Project 75(I) programme for six AIP-equipped submarines, estimated to cost around INR 70,000 to 90,000 crores, are scheduled to be manufactured with Germany's TKMS (ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems) acting as the foreign technology partner. The project has cleared the Finance Ministry’s approval but is still awaiting the final nod from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). The submarines will be based on TKMS's Type-214 family and customised to Indian Navy requirements. 

India currently has six Kalvari-class submarines under Project 75, but will see a major capability gap as ten Kilo and HDW SSKs, acquired in the 1980s and 1990s, will be retired in a next decade. German Ambassador Jasper Wieck said on September 23 that the documents had been finalised on the German side and that India now has to complete its internal approval process. 

Savio Rodrigues

Savio Rodrigues is a Research Analyst at Escape Velocity MediaWorks Pvt Ltd and writes for Chakra News on Defence, Geopolitics, National Security. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Mumbai.