Hangor-class submarine
The Type 039B submarine, the baseline design of the Hangor-class submarine. | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hangor class |
| Builders |
|
| Operators | Pakistan Navy |
| Preceded by | Agosta 90B-class submarine |
| Cost | USD $4–5 billion for 8 vessels (Estimated) |
| In commission | 2025–2030 (Estimated) |
| Planned | 8 |
| Building | 8 + 1 (for training) |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Attack submarine |
| Displacement | 2,800 t (2,800 long tons) |
| Length | 76 m (249 ft 4 in) |
| Beam | 8.4 m (27 ft 7 in) (Estimated) |
| Draught | 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Range | ~2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) |
| Crew | ~36 |
| Notes | Pakistan-specific variant of Type 039A submarine |
The Hangor-class submarines are a class of diesel–electric attack submarines currently being manufactured by a joint-partnership of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) for the Pakistan Navy (PN). Eponymously christened after PNS Hangor, a Daphné-class submarine that sank an Indian frigate in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, the class is an export derivative of the Chinese-origin Type 039A attack submarine, currently operated by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). First unveiled to the public in 2018, the future submarines are envisaged to undertake anti-access/area denial operations within Pakistan's exclusive economic zone, through the use of heavyweight torpedoes and anti-ship cruising missiles.
Pakistan's Ministry of Defence (MoD) ordered eight submarines from China in 2015, at an approximate cost of USD $4–5 billion, making it the largest arms export contract in China's military history. Of the eight ordered examples, the initial four are being built by CSIC in China, while the latter four are to be built in Pakistan by KSEW, under a technology transfer agreement. Four of the submarines have already been constructed and launched in China, and in an interview with Chinese state media, Pakistan's naval chief, Admiral Naveed Ashraf, said that the first batch of Hangor-class submarines will enter active service with the Pakistan Navy in 2026.