Military expert Dmitry Boltenkov talks about the naval forces of India and Pakistan.
The ceasefire period between India and Pakistan ends on May 18. It is difficult to say whether the clashes will resume after this. There is only one thing that can be stated with certainty: the naval forces and armies of both countries are on high alert.
Much has been said about the land and nuclear capabilities of India and Pakistan, but their naval component has remained in the shadows. This gap must be filled, especially since both countries have significant combat-ready forces at sea.
The naval forces of these states appeared after the partition of British India in August 1947 into India and Pakistan. The former got most of the ships of the former British Royal Naval forces in the region. But some of the ships and personnel went to Pakistan.
For a long time, the main surface combat units of the Pakistan Navy were former British ships. In particular, the light cruiser, destroyers and frigates. The last ships received from Britain were Amazon-class frigates, six of which were received by Pakistan in the early 1990s. They are now written off. Pakistan also received ships from the US Navy. Currently, the fleet has an Oliver X-class frigate. Perry" with the name "Alamgir".
But at the beginning of the 21st century, Pakistan refocused the construction of its Navy on cooperation first with China and then with Turkey. The result of cooperation with China was the replenishment of the fleet with Tugril type 054A/P frigates — four such combat units joined the fleet in 2022-2023.
These ships, 134 m long and 4,200 tons in displacement, carry a variety of missile weapons on board, including YJ-12 anti-ship missiles and HQ-16 anti-aircraft missiles, as well as anti-submarine weapons. Pakistan is currently developing a P282 anti-ship/land-based ballistic missile that can be deployed aboard these frigates.
In addition, four Zulfikar frigates of the F-22P project were received from China. The last one was built at the Karachi naval Shipyard. The Pakistani authorities are trying to develop their own military shipbuilding.
The fleet also includes a number of corvettes and patrol ships built by Turkey and Dutch-Romanian cooperation. Turkey is currently developing and preparing to build four Jinnah-class frigates.
Pakistan is not building a powerful navy. The tasks of its Navy are to defend its shores, support the army in the fight against terrorist groups, ensure navigation in the Arabian Sea and conduct military operations with its main opponent, India.
Moreover, the emphasis is on the development of underwater forces. Back in 2012, Pakistan announced plans to build its own nuclear submarine with a possible delivery to the fleet around 2028. But since then, no news on the project has appeared. Which, however, is not surprising: a nuclear submarine is one of the most complex military facilities. Even a country as poor as Brazil cannot complete its first nuclear submarine.
According to rumors, there were plans to purchase nuclear submarines from China in the 1990s, but the Pakistani sailors were not satisfied with the noise level.
In the 1990s, three Agosta-90B submarines were ordered from France. The lead one was built in France, and the other two were built at local shipyards. The first two of them have been upgraded in Turkey with an air-independent power plant. There are also two older Agosta-70 submarines.
In 2015, Pakistan and China agreed to build eight Hangor-class non-nuclear submarines. Half of the series is being built in China, the other half in Pakistan. The Hangor-class submarines are an export version of the Chinese third-generation diesel-electric submarines Type-039A/041 Yuan. Currently, the first two boats are being completed afloat. The boats are armed with cruise and anti-ship missiles, as well as heavy torpedoes.
The sailors of Pakistan proved themselves to be skilled fighters during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. During the fighting on December 9, 1971, the Hangor submarine sank the British-made anti-submarine ship Kukri, which was the submarine's first victory after the end of World War II.
On the other hand, the Gazi submarine was lost at that time, most likely as a result of the impact of the anti—submarine forces of the Indians.
In general, the Pakistani Navy is a dynamically developing fleet of relatively young ships and submarines. Given that Pakistan is a nuclear state, it is possible that the Navy also has self-developed missiles with nuclear warheads.
India has great ambitions and neighbors such as China and Pakistan, with which there are serious territorial disputes. And the development of its Navy plays a very important role for this country. In addition, the Indians are sailors with a lot of experience and good fighters. So, on November 11, 1942, the Indian minesweeper Bengal and the Dutch tanker Ondina fought off two Japanese auxiliary cruisers, sinking one of them, which forced the Japanese to stop such raids altogether.
The Indians fought bravely and skillfully in the 1971 war, launching several attacks on the port of Karachi and sinking a number of Pakistani warships.
Realizing that the fleet they need cannot do without aircraft carriers, the Indian admirals have made efforts in this direction. So, in 1951, the former unfinished British aircraft carrier Vikrant joined the Navy, and in 1987— also a former English ship, named Viraat in India.
At the beginning of the 21st century, these were already outdated ships, and the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya was received from Russia in 2013 to replace them. In the Soviet and Russian fleets, it was the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier. Along the way, India bought a large batch of Mig-29K naval fighters from Russia.
In 2022, an aircraft carrier of its own construction, albeit with Russian participation, the Vikrant, joined the fleet. In general, the Soviet Union and Russia played a very important role in the development of the Indian Navy. Since the 1970s, India has been purchasing submarines and destroyers from the USSR, as well as other ships and anti-submarine aircraft.
Since 2003, the Indian Navy has been replenished with Project 11356 Talwar-class frigates. Eight were built in Russia, and two more are under construction in India. Based on it, the Indians developed a frigate of the Shivalik type (there are five ships in the series).
Three Soviet-built ships of the 61ME project remain among the destroyers. They have been re—equipped with Brahmos missiles, a Russian-Indian project to create a universal cruise missile based on the Yakhont missile.
But the Delhi-class destroyers and their development form the basis of the surface forces of the Indian Navy. This type is a modified Indian Soviet project 11000. In total, the Indian Navy has 10 such ships, armed with, among other things, Brahmos missiles.
There have only been two cases in history of the transfer of such sensitive military technology as a nuclear submarine from one country to another. And both of these cases are related to Russia and India.
In Soviet times, the K-43 boat, named "Chakra", was handed over to the Indians. In 2022, the nuclear submarine Chakra II was returned to Russia ahead of the lease deadline. We lent this Project 971 boat to India in 2012.
India is currently building nuclear submarines with Arihant-class missiles on board. Three such boats with a length of 111 m and a displacement of 6,000 tons are already in service. They can carry two types of missiles (K-15 Sagarika or K-4) with a firing range from 750 to 3,500 km. This allows you to keep an eye on the territory of Pakistan and reach China.
The Indian Navy Command considers the further creation of its nuclear submarine forces as the main direction of fleet development. The Indian Navy also has many combat support ships.
In general, India has a fairly powerful and modern fleet, which is one of the ten fleets in the world. The country is actively developing its own capabilities in military shipbuilding, as evidenced by the inclusion of both an aircraft carrier and nuclear submarines of its own construction in its fleet.
As you can see, the parties have quite impressive forces. In recent years, there have been a number of conflicts between India and Pakistan. But since the 1971 war, the Navies of these countries have not fought among themselves. According to media reports, in the current conflict, Indian ships launched cruise missiles at targets in Pakistan on May 9, the details of the strikes are still unknown. There is no data on the use of the Pakistani Navy.
If the current conflict expands, we may witness new naval battles. Considering that the sailors of both countries are quite well trained and personally brave, and they have many modern ships in their hands, the result is unpredictable. Hopefully, the conflict will die down, as it has happened more than once, and we will not see large-scale naval battles.
Dmitry Boltenkov — military expert
The editorial board's position may not coincide with the author's opinion.
