SEEING SEA DENIAL THROUGH SEA CONTROL

At a time when one witnesses debates among India's strategic elites on whether the Indian navy should shift its doctrine from a traditional “sea control” strategy, which focuses on aircraft carriers, to a “sea denial” strategy, which uses submarines to prevent adversaries from using the sea, there is the news that Pakistan is set to receive eight advanced Hangor-class diesel-electric submarines from China under a US$5 billion deal, with the first likely to be commissioned in the first half of 2026.

- 

Equipped with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) and new sensors, these new submarines will have an advantage over India's Kalvari-class or Scorpene-class submarines. AIP submarines are capable of longer submerged operations because they require less frequent snorkelling.

The Indian Navy currently possesses 17 active submarines, comprising one nuclear-powered SSBN (Sub-Surface Ballistic Nuclear) and 16 conventional diesel-electric submarines. Out of these, many are more than two decades old.

With China and Pakistan modernising their naval forces and China already deploying more submarines in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and providing them to Pakistan, it is a matter of urgency for India to have more modern submarines. None can argue against this.

All told, submarines are crucial to maintain a strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific to counter the naval power of China and Pakistan. A stronger submarine fleet is considered vital for securing the Indian Ocean and its trade routes, given India's long coastlines, economic interests and energy security.

Experts do say that India needs at least 24 modern submarines. In that sense, it is good to know that India seems to be in favour of building six new advanced submarines under Project 75 in partnership with Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). These will have AIP technology, which will allow them to stay underwater for nearly three weeks without surfacing.

Project 75 India aims at building powerful submarines inside the country with help from global technology partners. Under this project, India has already built six Scorpene-class submarines in collaboration with France. Now the new six with AIP technology will be built with German cooperation.