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| A Yuan Class submarine ( Pic courtesy Wikimedia commons and the author) |
Pakistan is planning to purchase six conventional submarines from China as a way to counter the influence of expanding Indian maritime power, the Military-Industrial Courier, a Russian-language website focused on global defense issues reported on April 3.
Rana Tanveer Hussain, Pakistan's minister of defense production, is currently visiting Beijing to discuss the purchase of submarines from China, according to information released by the Pakistani government. Reports have circulated that Islamabad will sign a contract with Beijing before the end of the year to introduce six Type 041 Yuan-class diesel-electric submarines, to be constructed at either the Wuhan or Jiangnan shipyard.
However, some experts say that the submarines will be S20s, the export version of the Type 041. The only difference between the Type 041 and the S20 is that the latter does not have the former's air-independent propulsion system. If Pakistan chooses to order the air-independent propulsion system separately from China, it can still be easily integrated into the submarine due to the modular design of the S20.
Though China has not specified the types of weapon systems with which the S20 can be equipped, the Global Times published under the auspices of the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily stated that a variety of sensors and weapons can also be easily incorporated on request. The Chinese delegation also discussed with Hussain the establishment of a shipyard in Pakistan to be run jointly by the two nations. Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works may be chosen by Beijing to design submarines due to its previous experience in reproducing Chinese vessels.
Original link to the article: http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?cid=1101&MainCatID=11&id=20140411000017
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