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Pakistan’s China-Built Hangor Submarines to Enter Service in 2026 Redefining Indian Ocean Balance.
Pakistan Navy Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf confirmed that the first China-built Hangor-class submarines will begin service in 2026. The move strengthens Pakistan’s underwater deterrent and signals a deepening China–Pakistan maritime partnership aimed at balancing India’s naval dominance.
On Sunday, 2 November 2025, Pakistan Navy Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf said the first batch of Hangor-class submarines, procured under the China–Pakistan program, will begin entering service in 2026, as reported by Global Times. The batch refers to the quartet built in China before assembly moves to Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works, underscoring a step-change in Pakistan’s undersea deterrent and industrial learning. The timeline matters for the regional balance: it aligns with Beijing’s effort to contest India’s naval edge and to secure sea lines running toward the Middle East via Gwadar and the wider CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) network.
The Hangor-class submarine is a diesel-electric attack vessel equipped with air-independent propulsion, advanced sonar systems, and the capability to launch both torpedoes and cruise missiles for extended undersea operations (Picture Source: Chinese Military)
The Hangor class is a conventionally powered, air-independent propulsion submarine derived from China’s export S26 line, itself influenced by the Type 039A/041 “Yuan.” Openly shared figures from Pakistani and industry analysis point to a hull about 76 meters long, roughly 2,800 tons submerged, and six 533-mm tubes for heavyweight torpedoes and anti-ship or land-attack cruise missiles. Pakistan has tested the Babur-3 SLCM from an underwater platform; while integration on Hangor is widely expected, it has not been officially confirmed. The design emphasis is long-endurance, low-observable sea denial in the North Arabian Sea and approaches to the Indian Ocean.
Programmatically, the pathway dates to a 2015 agreement for eight boats split between Chinese construction (first four) and Pakistani assembly (final four) with transfer of technology. Milestones accelerated across 2024–2025: the first submarine launched in April 2024, the second in March 2025, and the third, future PNS/M Mangro, on 15 August 2025 at Wuchang’s Shuangliu base in Wuhan, ahead of trials on the Yangtze route to the sea. In parallel, Pakistan has fielded four Type 054A/P multirole frigates and deepened PLAN–PN cooperation through recurring “Sea Guardians” drills, knitting together surface and subsurface modernization with shared training and procedures.
In capability terms, a modern AIP SSK offers Pakistan prolonged submerged endurance, quieter patrols, and credible strike options from littoral waters, precisely the attributes that complicate adversary ASW. A useful comparison is India’s Kalvari/Scorpène fleet, which remains capable but is only beginning the retrofit path for an indigenous DRDO fuel-cell AIP after repeated schedule slips; current reporting indicates the first full integration cycle shifts into 2026–2027. That gap narrows as India proceeds, but the Hangor cohort entering service from 2026 gives Pakistan a near-term endurance advantage in the shallow, high-traffic battlespace from Karachi to Gwadar and beyond.
At the strategic level, bringing the China-built quartet into service from 2026 resets the undersea balance along critical sea lines that connect the Arabian Sea to Gulf energy routes. Reuters’ framing highlights how the delivery schedule dovetails with Beijing’s aim to counter India and project influence toward the Middle East, while Pakistan emphasizes maritime security and SLOC protection tied to CPEC. The industrial dimension is equally consequential: SIPRI’s latest transfer data show roughly 63 percent of China’s 2020–2024 arms exports went to Pakistan, illustrating a defense relationship that extends beyond platforms to supply chains, training, and doctrine.
Budgetarily, the submarine package is valued at up to $5 billion in open reporting, one of China’s largest naval export programs. The decisive contracting action remains the original 2015 award covering all eight submarines, with subsequent milestones focused on launches, technology-transfer work at Karachi Shipyard, and crew/sustainment pipelines rather than new competitive awards. As the first batch starts commissioning in 2026 and further units follow through 2028, spending profiles shift from acquisition to weapons inventories, training, and maintenance infrastructure to translate hulls into a persistent operational presence.
Operationally, the Pakistan Navy enters this phase with a continuous submarine heritage, from the Daphné-class namesake Hangor to Agosta-90B AIP operations, making the new class an evolution rather than a cold start. The mixed build strategy broadens the cadre of Pakistani submariners and engineers, shortens turnaround for maintenance, and embeds procedures tuned to sea denial and strike in the North Arabian Sea and adjacent chokepoints. This institutional continuity increases the odds that declared induction timelines convert into credible patrol days at sea.
Admiral Ashraf’s 2026 service-entry window signals a compressed march from launch to patrols that will harden Pakistan’s undersea posture, challenge Indian ASW tasking, and give Beijing a reliable partner along SLOCs that edge the Middle East, without telegraphing basing moves that would upshift tensions further. For regional navies, the message is practical and immediate: the Indian Ocean’s undersea chessboard will get more crowded from 2026, and the pieces will be harder to track.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.