Islamabad.In a recent report by Forbes, Pakistani Navy submarines were seen parked right in the middle of Chinese Navy warships near Karachi, a clear hint that Pakistan is planning up its naval fleet with assistance from China.
At present, Pakistan is adding 8 Chinese-made Type-039B Yuan Class warships to its fleet, and the submarines spotted now are clear indicators of connection between Islamabad and Beijing to exchange military knowledge and hardware.
Pakistan’s companionship with China is known to the world. Even after repeated warnings over the country’s evil tactics with India along the Line of Control, Pakistan continues to engage with China and implement military exercise not far away from India’s coastal borders.
Satellite imageries picked up by private intelligence consultancy confirmed that Pakistan Navy’s Agosta-90B type submarine – Hashmat-class – was indeed docked next to Chinese ships near Karachi.The Chinese naval ships were on a joint exercise with the Pakistani fleet in January, called ‘Sea Guardian-2020’.
The South China Morning Post too did not furnish concrete information about the grade of submarines, barring a mention that submarines were involved.To add to Pakistan’s hideous acts, the submarine exercise was conducted in one of Karachi’s cordoned-off commercial docks, not their usual ones.
Islamabad operates five French-designed Agosta-class submarines, of which three are improved versions with the Air independent Power (AIP) technology, the kind seen near the Chinese vessels.
According to the report, these class of submarines are potent and one of the more modern machines in the Pakistani arsenal. Besides the AIP, the subs have AS-39 Exocet anti-ship missiles and state-of-the-art combat systems. It’s also expected to be the launchpad for the country’s homegrown Babur-3 nuclear-capable cruise missile.
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