New Delhi: Pakistan’s newly inducted Chinese-built submarine PNS Hangor test-fired an anti-ship cruise missile in the North Arabian Sea, Islamabad announced on Sunday.
Defence experts in India identified the missile as the Chinese YJ-18, assessed to be derived from the Russian Klub family, with some variants claiming a strike range of up to 540 km.
The test comes just 12 days after a Pakistani naval vessel and an Indian warship collided in the North Arabian Sea on September 15. India had lodged a strong protest, holding that PNS Hunain approached the Indian warship at high speed and manoeuvred unsafely. Islamabad disputed the account. The Indian warship, identified as the destroyer, INS Kolkata, continued its mission, while PNS Hunain was forced to return to port.
The missile test comes even as India’s long-delayed P-75(I) project for six new-generation submarines continues to hang fire.
The PNS Hangor is the first of eight submarines Pakistan is acquiring from China. Commissioned at Sanya at the end of April, it reached Karachi in June. Four of the eight vessels are being built in China and the remaining in Karachi.
What is crucial is that the submarine is fitted with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP), which allows it to remain submerged for two to three weeks at a stretch instead of surfacing every few days to recharge batteries, making it significantly harder to detect and hunt.
Submarines armed with cruise missiles add long-range strike capability to one of the hardest platforms to detect in naval warfare. Unlike torpedoes, cruise missiles let a submarine engage targets well beyond the immediate maritime battlespace, including, in some configurations, targets deep inland. The combination of stealth, mobility and long-range missiles allows submarines to approach contested waters covertly and strike without exposing their position, a template the US Navy has long used with Tomahawk-armed Virginia-class submarines, as reported by The Times of India.
The Indian Navy currently operates 16 conventional diesel-electric submarines across the Kalvari, Sindhughosh and Shishumar classes. None of these are fitted with AIP.
While four Sindhughosh-class boats have already been retired, the Shishumar class has gone through a mid-life upgrade meant to extend service by roughly a decade. Only the six Kalvari-class submarines, based on the French Scorpène design, are expected to receive a DRDO-developed indigenous AIP system in the coming years.
The Navy had plans to have 24 conventional submarines by 2030, but that seems unlikely at the moment. This is partly due to delays in the P-75(I) programme, a roughly Rs 70,000 crore tender for six to nine Type-214 submarines with AIP, though Mazagon Dock and Germany’s TKMS that has now cleared technical evaluation.
India also operates three Arihant-class nuclear submarines, with a fourth undergoing trials. These carry K-4 and K-5 missiles as the sea-based leg of India’s nuclear triad.
Work is also underway on the larger S5-class submarines, expected to carry K-6 missiles with ranges beyond 5,000 km. The Navy is also pursuing Project-76, featuring a modified indigenous AIP system, alongside Project-77 for indigenous nuclear attack submarines and a separate lease of a Russian nuclear attack submarine, though all remain years from fruition.
Despite Pakistan’s latest test, the Indian Navy continues to hold overwhelming numerical superiority over its neighbour in this domain.