By Cdre Raheel Masood (Retd)
Senior Research Fellow, NIMA
ISLAMABAD: In a ceremony representing a pivotal shift in maritime defence, the Pakistan Navy commissioned its lead Hangor-class submarine, PNS/M HANGOR, in Sanya, China. The presence of the President and the Chief of the Naval Staff highlights the strategic importance of this acquisition in bolstering Pakistan’s deterrent capabilities and naval modernisation efforts.
The induction of the Hangor-class submarine marks a significant turning point in Pakistan’s maritime security framework. More than a routine platform acquisition, the program represents a broader strategic shift in how Pakistan conceptualises sea power, deterrence, and defence-industrial development. In an era shaped by contested sea lanes, intensifying naval competition, and the growing importance of the Indian Ocean region (IOR), the Hangor-class offers Pakistan an opportunity to recalibrate its maritime posture through a combination of enhanced undersea warfare capability, credible deterrence, and greater technological self-reliance. PNS/M HANGOR is the lead vessel of an eight-submarine program valued at ~$5 billion. This induction establishes Pakistan as a formidable underwater power in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
The importance of the Hangor-class submarines lies partly in their symbolic resonance. The name recalls PNS/M HANGOR, the submarine that achieved historic distinction during the 1971 war by sinking INS KHUKRI. By reviving this legacy, Pakistan Navy links contemporary force modernisation with a deeply embedded institutional memory of operational effectiveness and strategic resolve. Yet the present significance of the Hangor program extends well beyond symbolism. It reflects an effort to address the changing character of maritime competition in South Asia, where naval capability increasingly intersects with national security, economic resilience, and geopolitical influence.
At the operational level, the Hangor-class substantially strengthens Pakistan’s undersea warfare capability and capacity. Designed as a modern conventional submarine with advanced stealth features, the platform represents a major improvement over ageing legacy systems. Its hydrodynamic profile, acoustic suppression measures, and cutting-edge combat characteristics improve survivability in a highly monitored maritime environment. Most importantly, its Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) capability remarkably extends underwater endurance. This feature alters the tactical equation by reducing the frequency with which the submarine must snorkel, thereby limiting exposure to surveillance and detection. In contemporary naval warfare, where persistence and concealment are decisive, these attributes make the Hangor class submarine an instrument of strategic leverage rather than merely a naval asset.
The Arabian Sea and the wider Indian Ocean waters are no longer peripheral spaces. They are central to trade flows, energy routes, and power projection. As regional navies expand their capabilities and extra-regional powers deepen their presence, the IOR has become an increasingly contested domain. For Pakistan, which depends heavily on maritime trade and secure Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs), the ability to create uncertainty for a potential adversary is essential. The Hangor class submarines provide precisely that advantage. Their stealth, endurance, and strike potential complicate enemy planning, raise the operational costs of coercion, and contribute to Anti-Access and Area-Denial (A2/AD) dynamics. The Hangor class enhances deterrence not only through capability, but through ambiguity, the strategic effect created by an asset that is difficult to locate, track, and neutralise.
A further dimension of the Hangor program is its contribution to strategic stability.
In South Asia, where conventional asymmetries coexist with nuclear deterrence, maritime capabilities increasingly influence escalation dynamics. The Hangor class submarine fleet shall reinforce deterrence by improving survivability and preserving surprise. The Hangor class is not merely a tactical platform; it is part of a larger deterrence architecture designed to reduce vulnerability and preserve decision-making space during crises. By strengthening its undersea capability, Pakistan seeks to ensure that maritime pressure cannot be applied without significant risk or consequence. This contributes to a broader logic of deterrence in which peace is preserved through credible preparedness rather than declaratory intent alone.
Equally important is the program's industrial and technological significance. The decision to construct part of the fleet, 4 submarines, domestically at Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KS&EW) reflects a long-term strategic vision that goes beyond procurement. Indigenous construction of the Hangor class submarine is a mechanism for capability absorption, capacity building, workforce development, infrastructure expansion, and technological learning. It shall enable Pakistan to move from dependency toward self-reliance in a highly specialised field. In defence economics, this shift is of considerable importance. Reliance on external suppliers can create strategic vulnerabilities, particularly in times of crisis, when access to spares, maintenance, or future upgrades may be constrained by geopolitical or logistical factors. By localising elements of submarine construction, Pakistan is investing not only in platforms but in sovereign capacity.
The Hangor-class also reflects the maturation of Pakistan’s wider maritime outlook. Historically, strategic discourse in Pakistan has often been dominated by continental concerns. However, the increasing centrality of ports, trade corridors, Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and offshore interests demands a maritime-oriented conception of national power. Naval modernisation, therefore, cannot be viewed in isolation from economic security. The protection of maritime routes, the deterrence of blockade or coercion, and the safeguarding of sea-based commerce are all integral to national resilience. The Hangor program is, therefore, a very important component of the broader recognition that maritime security is not secondary to national strategy; it is foundational to it.
At the same time, the program’s success will ultimately depend on more than the technical sophistication of the submarines themselves. Effective employment requires doctrinal adaptation, rigorous training, sustainable maintenance systems, and the integration of undersea capability into a coherent maritime strategy. Submarines are among the most complex assets in naval service, demanding not only advanced engineering but also institutional discipline, professional excellence and continuity. Their value is realised through readiness, command competence, and strategic clarity. Consequently, the Hangor-class should be seen not as an endpoint but as an indispensable segment of an ongoing naval transformation.
The Hangor-class submarine program represents a multidimensional advance for Pakistan. It enhances deterrence, strengthens maritime defence, supports industrial development, and aligns naval modernisation with the realities of a changing regional order. Its significance lies not simply in the acquisition of a new class of submarines, but in the strategic logic it embodies: that maritime power, technological competence, and indigenous capacity are essential components of national security in the twenty-first century. By investing in the undersea domain, Pakistan is not merely adding to its fleet. It is redefining its place within the evolving security architecture of the Indian Ocean. The commissioning of Pakistan Navy's first Hangor class submarine marks far more than a platform induction. It represents a paradigm shift in maritime defence and regional strategic equilibrium.
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