China delivers second of eight fashionable submarines to Pakistan navy

China has delivered a second new submarine, outfitted with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, to Pakistan as a part of its efforts to beef up the navy of its all-weather ally to again its rising presence within the Arabian Sea and India’s yard – the Indian Ocean.

The Hangor-class submarine, which is a part of the eight such submarines to Pakistan in a cope with round $5 billion, was launched in Wuhan, China’s Hubei Province, official media in Beijing reported on Sunday.

That is along with 4 fashionable naval frigates China provided to Pakistan in the previous few years as a part of its efforts to spice up the naval energy of Pakistan, amid the Chinese language navy’s regular enlargement within the Arabian Sea, the place it’s creating the Gwadar port in Balochistan, and the Indian Ocean.

A Chinese language professional informed the state-run World Occasions that the brand new submarine has a powerful complete fight functionality to develop into a mainstay for the Pakistan Navy.

Beneath an settlement, Pakistan will purchase eight Hangor-class submarines from China. 4 of them might be inbuilt China, whereas the remaining might be constructed in Karachi below a switch of know-how program, the Pakistan Navy stated in a press launch.

The submarines might be fitted with cutting-edge weapons and sensors, enabling them to have interaction targets at standoff ranges.

Zhang Junshe, a Chinese language army affairs professional, informed the World Occasions that Hangor-class submarines possess sturdy underwater fight capabilities and are outfitted with an air-independent propulsion system that may give the boat sturdy, sustained stealth functionality, manoeuvrability and endurance.

Its firepower contains torpedoes, anti-ship missiles and mine-laying capabilities, together with superior underwater detection methods, he stated.

In keeping with a latest report by the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute (SIPRI), China has provided 81 per cent of Pakistan’s superior army methods up to now 5 years, making Pakistan its greatest arms importer.

Pakistan’s army acquisitions amounted to 63 per cent of China’s complete arms exports, with a complete worth of USD 5.28 billion within the final 5 years.

Pakistan purchased extra superior and various methods from China from 2020 to 2024, reminiscent of long-range reconnaissance drones and Kind 054A guided-missile frigates, the SIPRI report stated.

A few of Pakistan’s key orders up to now 5 years embody the nation’s first spy ship, the Rizwan, greater than 600 VT-4 battle tanks, and 36 J-10CE 4.5-generation fighters, in accordance with the SIPRI database.

China provided the primary supply of multirole J-10CE fighter jets to Pakistan Air Drive in 2022, including to its JF-17 fighters collectively manufactured by each international locations.

The fourth-generation JF-17 was collectively developed by Pakistan Aeronautical Complicated and China’s Chengdu Plane Trade Group, together with the Block III model that includes an lively electronically scanned array radar, which was inducted by the Pakistan Air Drive in 2023.

Track Zhongping, a army commentator and former teacher of the Chinese language army, informed the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Submit that China may also export its fifth-generation fighter jet, the J-35 the stealth multirole fighter, “if Pakistan requests it”.