Tactical Investment
Publishing date: 18 December 2025
Published in: The Nation
Pakistan has always confronted daunting odds, whether during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, when the full weight of the Soviet war machine and its local collaborators bore down on the region, or in its enduring rivalry with India, a neighbour vastly larger in economy, manpower and landmass. Survival in such an environment has never been about matching adversaries platform for platform. Instead, it has required cost-effective, carefully calibrated and exceptionally precise strategic choices.
This logic has long underpinned Pakistan’s defence planning, most visibly in the evolution of its air force. Despite limited numbers, the PAF has repeatedly sought advantage through selective technological superiority and a clear understanding of tactical and strategic leverage against numerically stronger foes. That same philosophy now appears to be shaping the trajectory of the Pakistan Navy.
The launch of the Navy’s fourth Hangor-class submarine, Ghazi, and the imminent construction of the fifth, part of a planned fleet of eight, marks a significant shift beneath the waves. Crucially, future units are to be built in Karachi under a transfer-of-technology arrangement, strengthening not only naval capability but also indigenous industrial capacity. This is not an arms race for prestige. It is a deliberate effort to alter the undersea balance in a manner that directly serves Pakistan’s defensive needs.
Pakistan objectives are immediate: the defence of territorial waters and the security of vital sea lines of communication. In this context, the induction of air-independent propulsion submarines capable of threatening surface combatants and tracking strategic underwater assets offers a proportionate and effective response.
Pakistan’s ageing Agosta-class submarines were increasingly inadequate for this task. Renewed undersea capability is therefore not a luxury but a necessity if credible deterrence and parity with neighbours are to be maintained. When coupled with parallel modernisation of the surface fleet, drawing on platforms from China and Turkey, the outline of a lean but capable navy is beginning to take shape.
If pursued with discipline and strategic clarity, such investments can ensure that Pakistan retains the means to safeguard its sovereignty in an increasingly volatile and uncertain global environment.