Pakistan Navy Launches Third Hangor-Class Submarine PNS Mangro: Strategic Game-Changer Against India’s Kalvari Fleet
The induction of Hangor-class submarines equipped with AIP and Babur-3 cruise missile capability marks a turning point in Pakistan’s naval modernization and intensifies the undersea rivalry with India’s Kalvari-class Scorpenes.
(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — The Pakistan Navy has formally launched its third Hangor-class submarine, the future PNS Mangro, during a ceremony at the Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group’s Shuangliu base in Wuhan, China.
The high-profile event was attended by senior naval officials from both Pakistan and China, underscoring the strategic weight of this bilateral defence cooperation.
Vice Admiral Abdul Samad, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Projects-2), graced the ceremony as Chief Guest and highlighted the growing significance of maritime security in an increasingly contested Indian Ocean.
He reaffirmed that Pakistan Navy remains fully committed to defending the nation’s maritime interests while simultaneously fostering a secure and cooperative environment across the region.
Referring to the Hangor-class program, he emphasized that the submarines’ cutting-edge weapon systems and advanced sensors would be pivotal in sustaining a regional balance of power and ensuring long-term maritime stability.
Commending the engineering excellence of China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Company Ltd (CSOC), the Vice Admiral expressed satisfaction with the project’s steady progress.
He stressed that the Hangor-class initiative would bring “a fresh dimension to the enduring, time-honoured partnership between Pakistan and China.”
Pakistan originally signed a landmark agreement with CSOC in 2015 to acquire eight Hangor-class submarines, in what remains the country’s single largest naval procurement.
Under the deal, four boats are to be constructed in China while the remaining four will be assembled at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW) under a Transfer of Technology (ToT) program designed to strengthen Pakistan’s indigenous naval industry.
The attendance of high-ranking officials from Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group and CSOC reinforced Beijing’s commitment to delivering on time despite earlier delays.
The Hangor-class submarines are an export derivative of the PLA Navy’s Type 039B Yuan-class, a design renowned for its endurance, stealth, and formidable weapons package.
When the contract was signed, delivery was scheduled between 2022 and 2028, with the first four units expected to be handed over by 2023.
However, construction slippages pushed timelines back, with the first submarine launched only in 2024, the second in early 2025, and now PNS Mangro following within months.
Despite delays, the project marks a massive leap for Pakistan’s undersea fleet, which has long relied on its French-built Agosta submarines.
Each Hangor-class submarine displaces 2,800 tonnes, measures 76 metres in length and 8.4 metres in beam, making it significantly larger than India’s Scorpene-class (Kalvari-class) boats.
This size advantage offers greater endurance and crew comfort but also slightly reduces manoeuvrability in shallow coastal waters.
The boats are reportedly powered by four diesel engines coupled with an Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system, enabling them to remain submerged for extended durations without snorkeling.
Although Pakistani officials have not disclosed propulsion details, experts believe the design draws heavily from CSOC’s S26 submarine, which employs a proven Stirling AIP module.
The Hangor-class features six 533mm (21-inch) torpedo tubes capable of launching heavyweight torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles.
Significantly, the submarines are believed to be configured to fire Pakistan’s Babur-3 sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM), which boasts a reported range of 450 km and provides a credible second-strike nuclear capability.
If confirmed, this would give Pakistan a potent underwater strategic deterrent against India, complementing its land- and air-based delivery systems.
Chinese naval expert Zhang Junshe told Global Times that the Hangor-class embodies strong underwater combat capabilities “including comprehensive sensor systems, excellent stealth characteristics, high mobility, long endurance, and formidable firepower.”
He added that the program reflects “a high level of strategic mutual trust and deep friendship” between China and Pakistan, while also bolstering stability across the Indian Ocean.
At present, the Pakistan Navy operates three Agosta 90B AIP-capable submarines and two older Agosta 70 diesel-electric boats.
Since 2016, the Agosta 90B fleet has undergone a major mid-life upgrade by Turkey’s STM Defence, which replaced the fire control system, sonar suite, EW suite, radars, and periscopes.
The first modernized Agosta, PNS Hamza, was redelivered in 2020, giving the fleet enhanced combat capabilities while awaiting Hangor induction.
Once all eight Hangor-class submarines are delivered, Pakistan Navy’s submarine arm will be dramatically expanded and modernized.
This will give Pakistan unprecedented Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) capability in the Arabian Sea, directly complicating Indian naval operations.
By fielding AIP-equipped submarines with long-range strike capability, Pakistan effectively strengthens its strategic deterrence and ensures survivability in a potential conflict.
The Hangor-class is also expected to enhance Pakistan’s role within China’s Belt and Road-linked security framework, ensuring maritime stability along the crucial Gwadar port and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The induction of these boats will place Pakistan in a select club of navies with submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM) capability, further altering the South Asian strategic calculus.
Analysts note that as India commissions more Scorpene-class boats and eyes nuclear-powered attack submarines under Project 75 Alpha, Pakistan’s Hangor-class program provides a counterbalance that extends the undersea competition well into the 2030s.
Hangor vs Kalvari: How Pakistan’s New AIP Boats Stack Up Against India’s Scorpene Fleet
Pakistan’s undersea arm is entering a decisive expansion phase as the Hangor-class moves from paper to pierside, narrowing capability gaps with India’s more mature but AIP-delayed Kalvari-class fleet.
India’s Kalvari-class, an Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) built variant of the French Scorpène design, is proven at sea with six boats delivered or nearing handover, but its planned indigenous fuel-cell AIP retrofit has slipped again, denting long-endurance stealth ambitions.
The Hangor program is an export spin on China’s Type 039B Yuan lineage, marrying modern conventional quieting with air-independent propulsion as standard, and it is being executed under a split-build strategy spanning Wuhan and Karachi to seed local sustainment.
The Kalvari program reflects a different logic, emphasizing French combat systems and Indian construction experience to lift domestic shipbuilding competence while accepting a phased path to AIP via later refits.
On raw geometry, Hangor is the larger hull at roughly 76 meters in length, 8.4 meters in beam, and about 2,800 tonnes submerged, conferring volume for fuel, batteries, and habitability at the price of some littoral agility.
Kalvari is more compact at approximately 67.5 meters length, 6.2 meters beam, and about 1,775 tonnes submerged, a size sweet spot for coastal chokepoints and discrete approaches against surface groups.
In propulsion philosophy, Hangor’s baseline AIP confers multi-day submerged persistence without snorkeling, which is central to surviving in P-8I-patrolled waters and holding position for ambushes around the Makran coast and western Arabian Sea.
In India’s case, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) fuel-cell AIP path has been delayed beyond the current refit of INS Kalvari, reducing the near-term submerged endurance edge that AIP would otherwise deliver for barrier patrols and prolonged sea denial.
On weapons, both classes center on six 533 mm tubes, but doctrinal emphasis diverges with Pakistan leaning toward cruise-missile sea denial and potential second-strike options while India fields a mature anti-ship missile plus evolving heavyweight torpedo roadmap.
Kalvari is operational with the SM39 Exocet anti-ship missile and has historically used German-origin SUT heavyweight torpedoes, with new heavyweight torpedo buys and DRDO’s Electronic Heavyweight Torpedo (EHWT “Takshak”) integration steps now in motion.
Pakistan’s Hangor is widely assessed to be configured for anti-ship missiles and is expected by many analysts to be the natural carrier for the Babur-3 sea-launched cruise missile, a 450 km-class weapon Pakistan has test-fired from a submerged platform as part of establishing a survivable triad.
If Babur-3 proceeds to full submarine integration on Hangor hulls, Pakistan would formalize a credible sea-based nuclear deterrent with standoff strike options complicating Indian surface and ashore defenses.
In combat systems, Kalvari benefits from the French SUBTICS architecture and a Thales sonar suite, providing a coherent fire-control backbone proven across the Scorpène family for ASuW, ASW, and mine warfare.
Hangor’s exact sensor fits are not public, but as a Yuan-family derivative it is expected to field a modern flank array and integrated combat system tuned to Chinese heavyweight torpedoes and ASCMs, with export adaptations for Pakistani requirements.
On endurance, both designs advertise weeks-long patrols, yet AIP availability is the decisive swing factor because snorkeling cycles drive detectability against modern multi-static ASW nets and airborne MAD-equipped hunters.
On acoustic discretion, Hangor’s new-build status plus AIP standardization should yield a low-signature profile in the decisive slow-speed regime, whereas Kalvari’s present lack of AIP forces more frequent periscope-depth evolutions that raise exposure in high-threat sectors.
On magazine flexibility, both classes can mix torpedoes, anti-ship missiles, and mines, but Pakistan’s likely cruise-missile emphasis equips Hangor to prosecute land-attack or over-the-horizon anti-ship fires from covert launch boxes, amplifying A2/AD reach from Gwadar eastwards.
On industrial resilience, Hangor’s split construction with Transfer of Technology at KS&EW lifts Pakistan’s lifecycle leverage for deep refits, spares, and combat-system refreshes, reducing foreign bottlenecks over time.
Kalvari’s MDL production line similarly deepened India’s submarine-building competence and will be the staging base for AIP plug-fit work when DRDO’s fuel-cell finally clears full-rate integration, sustaining a domestic refit and upgrade ecosystem.
In near-term availability, Pakistan is now launching Hangor hulls in quick succession after initial delays, while India’s six Kalvari boats are already in service or trials, giving New Delhi numeric and readiness advantages today but ceding the submerged-endurance edge tomorrow if AIP timelines remain soft.
In blue-water versus littoral roles, the larger Hangor suits long ambush lines astride sea lanes and approaches to strategic ports, while the compact Kalvari thrives in cluttered shelf waters where maneuver and bottom topography favor close-range torpedo solutions.
In ASW threat environments, Kalvari must plan around Pakistan Navy P-3C/P-8-like surveillance growth and Chinese ISR support, while Hangor faces India’s robust P-8I, MH-60R, surface ASW corvettes, and evolving seabed sensor projects that compress the maneuver box for non-AIP boats most of all.
In escalation control, Hangor equipped with a deployed SLCM narrows India’s crisis response options at sea and ashore, incentivizing preemptive ASW sweeps and raising the premium on maritime domain awareness and cueing from space, air, and seabed sensors.
In coalition signaling, the Hangor program binds Pakistan more tightly to Chinese naval logistics and training pipelines, while Kalvari ties India into French upgrade cycles and a broader Euro-Indian naval technology corridor.
Head-to-Head Snapshot:
Hangor fields AIP from day one, more internal volume, likely cruise-missile integration, and a ToT-anchored sustainment model aimed at serial availability through the 2030s.
Kalvari fields a mature combat system, proven Exocet anti-ship performance, and established operational routines, but its decisive AIP leap is deferred, constraining ultra-low-profile persistence until retrofits actually arrive.
Scenario 1 – Peacetime Deterrence and Presence:
Kalvari’s operational mass and familiarity with western IOR waters keeps a steady undersea presence, but Hangor’s AIP lets Pakistan maintain unpredictable patrol boxes for longer, complicating Indian ASW planning in the Arabian Sea.
Scenario 2 – Crisis Sea Denial:
An AIP-equipped Hangor lurking off vital shipping approaches can hold Indian logistics and high-value units at risk with torpedoes or ASCMs, while Kalvari counters with quicker sortie generation from multiple pens, ready SM39 shots, and practiced coastal ambush tactics.
Scenario 3 – High-End Escalation:
If Babur-3 goes to sea on Hangor hulls, Pakistan gains a survivable standoff strike leg that forces India to invest more in layered ASW and ballistic missile defense of key coastal infrastructure, while the Indian side races to close the endurance gap with its AIP retrofit plan.
What Changes the Balance Next:
Every Hangor that commissions with functioning AIP and modern combat systems tilts the endurance and survivability ledger toward Pakistan’s side of the Arabian Sea.
Every successful DRDO AIP plug-in across the Kalvari fleet rapidly erodes that advantage and restores India’s capacity for weeks-long covert patrols without snorkeling.
Every confirmed integration step of a modern heavyweight torpedo and SM39 refresh on Kalvari shortens the kill chain against surface targets and restores confidence in magazine credibility.
Every verified sea-based deployment of Babur-3 on Hangor changes India’s strike calculus by adding a survivable, hard-to-preempt vector to Pakistan’s deterrence architecture.
Bottom Line:
Today, India fields more Kalvari hulls with a proven anti-ship missile and a seasoned crew pipeline, while Pakistan is fielding fewer but increasingly capable Hangor boats whose standard AIP and prospective SLCM integration promise outsized strategic leverage.
Over the next 24–36 months, the decisive variable is not headline speed or test depth but submerged persistence, magazine credibility, and the pace of industrial learning on both sides of the Radcliffe Line.
In a theater saturated by satellites, P-8I sorties, and multi-static sonars, the side that can remain unheard the longest while carrying a magazine its opponent must respect will dictate the rhythm of the undersea fight from the Horn of Africa to the Malacca gradients.
— DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA
