As the Indian resource "Times Now" reported in the material Srinjoy Chowdhury "Pakistan left with only two submarines on active duty", technical problems and the need for medium repairs led to the fact that only two combat-ready submarines out of five boats registered in the fleet remained in the Pakistani Navy. The other three of the five French - built Pakistani submarines of the Agosta type are either faulty or are undergoing medium repairs and modernization.
The Pakistani non-nuclear submarine S 139 Hamza of the French project Agosta 90B in a dry dock in Karachi during the passage of medium repairs and modernization, April 2020 (c) Reuters
In total, the Pakistani Navy now has five French-type Agosta diesel-electric submarines - two Agosta 70 projects (commissioned in 1979 and 1980, originally built in France for South Africa) and three Agosta 90B projects (commissioned in 1999-2006).
According to an Indian publication, currently the Pakistani submarine S 136 Hurmat of the Agosta 70 project has a faulty right-hand diesel engine, as well as an inactive radio intelligence station, and as a result has not been at sea since the beginning of summer.
The first two submarines of the Agosta 90B project - S 137 Khalid and S 138 Saad-are under medium repair and modernization in Karachi, in accordance with the contract issued in 2018 to the Turkish state design company STM (Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik) as the lead contractor. At the same time, in fact, work is being carried out only on Khalid, which was put into dry dock in April 2021, and the work will last at least three years. The signing of an agreement with STM for the repair and modernization of Saad was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and work on the boat has not yet begun.
Thus, only the boat S 139 Hamza of the Agosta 90B project, which was re-commissioned at the beginning of 2021, and the oldest boat S 135 Hashmat of the Agosta 70 project, launched 44 years ago, are currently in service.
Although Pakistan has ordered eight non-nuclear submarines of the S20 project from China, however, the Hangor lead submarine of this type will probably enter service no earlier than 2023.
According to the publication, a number of surface ships of the Pakistani navy also have technical problems. In particular, two (Saif and Zulfiquar) of the four Chinese-built frigates of the F-22P project have a faulty FM-90 SAM, and Zulfiquar also "has problems" with the radar. The Khaibar frigate (one of the last two remaining former British Type 21 frigates in service) has a strong hull vibration that occurred in April. The lead large missile boat of the Chinese project Azmat has a faulty radar, and the Jurrat missile boat of the Pakistani construction has problems with the electronic warfare complex. In general, the Pakistani navy is facing a shortage of spare parts.
