- Pakistan expects the first Chinese submarine to enter service in 2026.
- Islamabad orders eight submarines under $5 billion Chinese deal.
- Pakistan remains the largest buyer of arms and defense equipment from China.
Pakistan’s navy expects its first Chinese-designed submarine to enter active service next year, the country’s top admiral told Chinese state media, bolstering Beijing’s bid to counter regional rival India and project power into the Middle East.
An agreement under which Islamabad will receive eight Hangor-class submarines by 2028 is “progressing smoothly”, Admiral Naveed Ashraf told the Global times In an interview published on Sunday, he added that the submarines would increase Pakistan’s ability to patrol the North Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
The update on the Chinese submarine deal comes after the Pakistan Air Force used Chinese-made J-10 fighter jets in May to shoot down Indian Air Force aircraft, including the French-made Rafale.
The altercation between the nuclear-armed neighbors surprised many in the military community and raised questions about the superiority of Western hardware over Chinese alternatives.
Under the terms of the submarine deal, which is reportedly worth up to $5 billion, the first four diesel-electric attack submarines will be built in China, and the remaining vessels will be assembled in Pakistan to enhance the country’s technical capabilities.
Pakistan has already launched three of the submarines into China’s Yangtze River from a shipyard in central Hubei province.
“The Chinese-origin platforms and equipment have been reliable, technologically advanced and well-suited to the operational requirements of the Pakistan Navy,” Ashraf told the publication, published by the ruling Communist Party’s People’s Daily.
“As modern warfare evolves, emerging technologies such as unmanned systems, artificial intelligence and advanced electronic warfare systems are becoming increasingly important. Pakistan Navy is focusing on these technologies and exploring collaboration with China,” Ashraf also said.
Islamabad has long been Beijing’s biggest arms customer, buying more than 60% of China’s arms exports over the 2020-2024 period, data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows.
Accumulation of billions of dollars
In addition to billions in arms sales, Beijing has invested heavily in building its connections to the Arabian Sea through a 3,000-kilometer (1,864.11-mile) economic corridor stretching from Xinjiang in China to the deep-water port of Gwadar.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of President Xi Jinping’s flagship “Belt and Road” infrastructure initiative, aims to secure a route for the world’s largest energy importer to bring in supplies from the Middle East, bypassing the Strait of Malacca, a strategic point between Malaysia and Indonesia that could be blocked in times of war.
“This cooperation (with China) goes beyond hardware; it reflects a shared strategic perspective, mutual trust and a long-standing partnership,” Ashraf said.
“Over the next decade, we expect this relationship to grow, encompassing not only shipbuilding and training, but also greater interoperability, research, technology sharing and industrial collaboration.”
