Pakistan Ledger| Intellibriefs | Defense Analysis| پا کستان لیجر| پاکستاني کھاتا | -ميرا پيغام پيارے ھموطنوں کے نام.صرف ھبلوطن پاکستانی آنکھوں کے ليے— یا رب دل مسلم کو وہ زندا تمنا دے جو قلب کو گرما دے جو روح کو تڑپا دے

پاکستاان لیجر | PAKISTAN LEDGER | پاکستاني کھاتا |Sept. 21, 08 | Moin Ansari | معین آنصآرّی |

Many countries in the world have a navy. Very few countries have submarines. Fewer produce them. Pakistan is one of the most elite group of nations that has developed the capability to produce ships, frigates, and submarines. The Pakistani Navy currently operates a fleet of eight diesel-electric submarines. The vessels are based in Karachi, but in the future they are to be based at Port Ormara. The main submarine fleet is comprised of four Daphne-class units, two Agosta-70 boats, as well as three modern Agosta-90B submarines, all of French design. The Agosta 90B will feature DCN’s air-independent propulsion system, MESMA (Module d’Energie Sous-Marin Autonome), with which the two earlier Agosta-90B vessels will be retrofitted in the future. Pakistan has also announced its intention to construct additional submarines, in order to maintain its conventional deterrent against India.The Pakistani Navy also has four Italian-designed midget submarines. These vessels, as well as the newest Agosta-90B boats, are being constructed at the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works. Pakistan is able to mount a nuclear device onto its French-provided SM39 Exocet missiles.

If Pakistan buys the U-214s, they would join 3 new French Agosta 90B class diesel-electric boats equipped with MESMA AIP systems, and 2 Agosta 70 submarines commissioned in 1979-1980. The U-214s sit alongside the U-212As as the most modern submarines in the U-209 family, the world’s most popular line of diesel-electric submarines. Their Siemens AIP systems allow them to run submerged at reduced speeds for up to 2-3 weeks without surfacing for air, or at full speed for a shorter period of time.

In February 2001, the Pakistani Navy publicly considered the deployment of nuclear weapons aboard its submarines, arguing that it had to keep pace with developments in India

KARACHI, Sept 22: SM Hamza, the second indigenously built Agosta 90B submarine, will be commissioned in the Pakistan Navy on Sept 26, giving a qualitative boost to its capability to defend the country’s maritime boundaries.

This was stated by Commodore Hassan Naser Shah, general manager of the submarine construction project, and Commodore Shah Masood at a background briefing at the PN Dockyard on Monday.

The commissioning of SM Hamza was termed a historical moment because it has a special feature of air independent propulsion system which increases the diving autonomy of conventional submarines.

“It is a major breakthrough in our capabilities of defence production and today Pakistan is among one of the few countries capable of constructing submarines indigenously,” Commodore Naser Shah said.

The Agosta submarines designed by DCN (now DCNS) of France, are currently in service with the French, Spanish and Pakistan navies. The Agosta 90B is an improved version featuring higher performance and a new combat system.

The new submarine features a higher level of automation, which has resulted in the ship’s crew being reduced from 54 to 36. Other improvements include a new battery for increased range, a deeper diving capability of 350m resulting from the use of new materials including HLES 80 steel, and a reduced acoustic signature through the installation of new suspension and isolation systems

The special feature of SM Hamza is MESMA air independent propulsion (AIP) system which increases the diving duration as compared to conventional submarines.
The AIP system has liquid oxygen and ethanol to produce electricity which is used to charge the submarine’s batteries.

SM Hamza, being commissioned after successful completion of all harbour and sea trials, will become the first submarine in the Arabian Sea with the AIP system.
This is the third submarine of Agosta 90B contract which was signed with DCNI of France in Sept 1994.

Under the contract, first Agosta 90B, PNS Khalid, was built in France and handed over to the Pakistan Navy in Dec 1999.

The second submarine PNS Saad was built at the submarine construction department at the PN Dockyard and it was commissioned in 2003.

Construction of indigenous submarine continued despite some hitches following the Sheraton Karachi bombing in which some French engineers working on the project were killed.

Hamza is the most advanced version of Agosta design. Its outer hull is light structure fabricated at the PN Dockyard in parts and mounted on the inner pressure hull.The pressure hull section was fabricated and outfitted by the PN Dockyard in collaboration with the Karachi Shipyard.  Another Agosta submarine ready By Our Reporter

Khalid (Agosta 90B) Displacement, tons: 1,510 surfaced 1,760 submerged (1,960 with MESMA) Dimensions, ft (m): 221.7×22.3×17.7 (67.6×6.8×5.4) Main machinery: Hybrid diesel-electric/MESMA AIP Speed, knots: 12 surfaced 20 submerged Range, miles: 8,500 at 9kt snorting; 350 at 3.5kt submerged, quadrupled at 4kt with MESMA Complement: 36 (7 officers) Diving depth, ft (m): 1,050 (320) Endurance: 68 days Weapons: 4 SSMs and 16 torpedoes; four 21in (533mm) tubes; mines in lieu of torpedoes

Pakistan Khalid Agosta 90 b submarine

Sources:
Stephen Saunders, Jane’s Fighting Ships 2002-2003 (Coulsdon: Jane’s Information Group, 2003).
A.D. Baker, Combat Fleets of the World, p. 537.
David Miller, The Illustrated Directory of Submarines of the World (St. Paul: MBI Publishing Company, 2002), pp. 248-249.
Pakistani Navy Website, http://paknavy.gov.pk/FLEET/MAIN PAGE.htm

Hashmat (Agosta 70) Displacement, tons: 1,490 surfaced 1,740 submerged Dimensions, ft (m): 221.7×22.3×17.7 (67.6×6.8×5.4) Main machinery: Diesel-electric Speed, knots: 12 surfaced 20 submerged Range, miles: 8,500 at 9 knots surfaced 350 at 3.5 knots submerged Complement: 59 (8 officers) Diving depth, ft (m): 985 (300) Endurance: Not available Weapons: 20 SSMs and torpedoes; four 21.7in (550mm) tubes; mines in lieu of torpedoes

Pakistanii Hashmat Agosta 70 submarine

Sources:
Stephen Saunders, Jane’s Fighting Ships 2002-2003 (Coulsdon: Jane’s Information Group, 2003).
A.D. Baker, Combat Fleets of the World, pp. 537-538.
David Miller, The Illustrated Directory of Submarines of the World (St. Paul: MBI Publishing Company, 2002), pp. 248-249.
Pakistani Navy Website, http://paknavy.gov.pk.

Hangor (Daphne) Displacement, tons: 869 surfaced 1,043 submerged Dimensions, ft (m): 189.6×22.3×15.1 (57.8×6.8×4.6) Main machinery: diesel-electric Speed, knots: 13 surfaced 15.5 submerged Range, miles: 4,500 at 5 knots surfaced 3,000 at 7 knots snorting Complement: 53 (7 officers) Diving depth, ft (m): 985 (300) Endurance: Not available Weapons: 12 SSMs and torpedoes; twelve 21.7in (550mm) tubes; mines in lieu of torpedoes

Hasmat daphne class Pakistan submarine

Sources:
Stephen Saunders, Jane’s Fighting Ships 2002-2003 (Coulsdon: Jane’s Information Group, 2003).
A.D. Baker, Combat Fleets of the World p. 538.
David Miller, The Illustrated Directory of Submarines of the World (St. Paul: MBI Publishing Company, 2002) p. 246-249.
Pakistani Navy Website, http://paknavy.gov.pk.

Sources:
A.D. Baker III, Combat Fleets of the World: 2000-2001 (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 2000).
“Pakistan – Navy,” Global Security Website, http://www.globalsecurity.org
Zarar Khan, “Pakistan inducts first locally built submarine into navy,” Associated Press, December 12, 2003; in Lexis-Nexis, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.

Sources:
[1] Interview with Vice Admiral Clees van Duyvendijk, Commander in Chief RNN, “Navy chiefs of staff on MCM and minelaying,” Naval Forces, 2001, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 62-68; in ProQuest Information and Learning Company, http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb.
[2] “Chamber of approves deployment of Netherlands troops,” NRC Handelsblad, 16 November 2001; in “Netherlands parliament approves troop deployment in Afghanistan,” FBIS Document EUP2001111800022.
[3] Paul Berrill, “RDM profits hit by restructuring,” Loyd’s List International, 8 June 1991; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.
[4] “Worldwide Naval Projections Report for Netherlands, October 2001,” AMI International Website, http://www.amiinter.com.
[5] Steven Derix, “Decommissioned Orion aircraft not yet superfluous,” NRC Handelsblad, 15 September 2003; in “Defense cuts affect air patrol capacities of Netherlands mission in Iraq,” FBIS Document EUP20030916000523.
[6] “Armed forces will drastically shrink,” NRC Handelsblad, 1 July 2003; in “Netherlands minister details defense cuts in letter to parliament,” FBIS Document EUP20030702000508.
[7] “Defense Ministry Seeks Personnel,” De Volkskrant, 17 September 1997; in “Armed Forces 1998 Reorganization, Staffing Needs Outlined” FBIS Document FTS19970917000802.

Pakistan has been given a license by DCNS to offer commercial production of the submarines to potential customers.

SUBTICS command and control system

The Agosta 90B submarines are equipped with a SUBTICS fully integrated combat system. This is supplied by UDS International, a joint subsidiary of DCN International and Thales, now wholly owned by DCNS. SUBTICS processes signals from the submarine’s sensors, determines the tactical situation by track association, fusion, synthesis, trajectory plotting and management and handles all weapon command and control functions.

Torpedoes

The Agosta 90B submarine is fitted with four bow 533mm torpedo tubes and has the capacity to carry a mixed load of up to 16 torpedoes and missiles. The submarine can be equipped with the ECAN F17 mod 2 torpedo, which is a wire-guided torpedo with active and passive homing to a range of 20km. The torpedo delivers a 250kg warhead to a depth of 600m.

MBDA Exocet SM39 missiles

The Agosta 90B is equipped with the torpedo tube launched MBDA (formerly EADS Aerospatiale) Exocet SM39 missile. Target range and bearing data is downloaded into the Exocet’s computer.

The missile approaches the target area in sea-skimming mode using inertial navigation and then active radar homing. The missile travels at speeds over Mach 0.9, and has a range of 50km. Exocet has a 165kg high-explosive shaped-charge warhead.

Electronic warfare

The Agosta 90B submarines are equipped with the Thales DR-3000U radar warning receiver, operating in D to K bands.

The system uses a masthead antenna array with omnidirectional and monopulse directional antennae and a separate periscope warning antenna.

Sensor suite

The submarine is fitted with a Thales Underwater Systems (formerly Thomson Marconi Sonar) TSM 223 sonar suite, which includes bow-mounted sonar and towed sonar arrays, SAGEM periscopes and navigation system and Thales I-band navigation radar.

Propulsion systems

The Agosta 90B class submarines can be equipped with a diesel-electric propulsion system or the MESMA air-independent propulsion system. The diesel-electric system consists of two SEMT-Pielstick 16 PA4 V 185 VG diesels providing 3,600hp and a 2,200kW electric motor driving a single propeller.

A diesel-electrical submarine has to surface to periscope depth to recharge the batteries using the diesel engine, leading to increased risk of detection. The MESMA air-independent propulsion system, being fitted to the Agosta 90B submarines for Pakistan, allows the submarine to remain submerged three times longer.

The MESMA system consists essentially of a turbine receiving high-pressure steam from a combustion chamber, burning a gaseous mixture of ethanol and liquid oxygen. The Agosta 90B’s performance remains the same in all other respects, except that the length increases from 67m to 76m and submerged displacement from 1,760t to 2,050t.