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Submarine Proliferation

Pakistan Import Behavior

Capabilities | Import | Export

Pakistan received its first submarine, the Ghazi, from the United States in 1964. France subsequently delivered three Daphne-class boats. These four boats constituted Pakistan's submarine force during the 1971 war with India.[1] After losing the Ghazi during the war,  Pakistan replaced it with another Daphne-class vessel it purchased second-hand from Portugal in 1975. As a result of the demonstrated utility of its submarine fleet, the country further augmented its flotilla with the purchase of two Agosta-class boats from France. These submarines were initially intended for South Africa, but, due to the arms embargo mandated by the United Nations in 1977, they were instead sold to Pakistan in 1978.[2,3]

In 1994, Pakistan negotiated the acquisition of three Agosta 90B boats from France's Directions des Constructions Navales International (DCNI). While the first of the class was built in France, the second boat was assembled of prefabricated segments in Karachi, and the last is being constructed entirely in Karachi, with the exception of its MESMA air-independent propulsion (AIP) section. DCNI's competitors for the sale included Sweden's Kockums with its T 96 design, Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. (VSEL) (that offered decommissioned Upholder-class boats), Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij Submarines B.V. (RDM) with its Moray design, and the China State Shipbuilding Company, which tendered a modified Romeo design.[4,5] The deal represented DCNI's first export of its MESMA AIP, which will be installed in the last of the three boats during construction, while the other two units will be later retrofitted with the advanced propulsion system.[4]

Sources:
[1] "The Fleet: Submarines," Pakistani Navy Website, http://paknavy.gov.pk/FLEET/MAIN%20PAGE.htm.
[2] Jacques Isnard, "A Navy to a large extent under France's wing," Le Monde online edition, http://www.lemonde.fr, May 9, 2002; in "Report details close links between France and Pakistani Navy," FBIS Document EUP20020509000030.
[3] "S 135 Hashmat class," Periscope USNI Military Database Website, http://www.periscope1.com/demo/weapons/ships/subs/w0001901.html.
[4] Richard Scott, "Agosta 90B surfaces for the Pakistani Navy," Jane's Navy International, May 1, 1999, Vol. 104, No. 4.
[5] "Mogelijk Nederlandse onderzeeers naar Indonesie," Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau, June 9, 1994; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.

This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2008 by MIIS.