Pakistan’s successful missile firing from the newly commissioned PNS Hangor represents more than a routine naval trial. It illustrates the steady transfer of advanced Chinese naval technologies into South Asia and highlights Beijing’s growing role in shaping the military balance of the northern Arabian Sea.

The launch took place less than two weeks after a maritime incident involving an Indian warship and the Pakistani vessel PNS Hunain. Although the two events are not directly connected, the timing inevitably draws attention to the increasingly competitive naval environment developing in the region.

Several defence sources assess that the weapon involved was the Chinese YJ-18 anti-ship cruise missile, a system widely believed to draw heavily from the Russian Klub missile family.

While various open-source assessments attribute extended-range capabilities to some versions of the missile, the exact variant tested by Pakistan and its precise range remain unconfirmed.

The strategic importance of the trial lies less in the missile itself and more in the platform carrying it. Submarines remain among the most survivable assets in modern naval warfare. When long-range anti-ship missiles are integrated with stealthy submarines equipped with Air Independent Propulsion systems, the challenge facing maritime surveillance and anti-submarine forces increases substantially.

PNS Hangor is the first of eight submarines Pakistan is acquiring under its extensive naval modernisation partnership with China. Four vessels are being built in Chinese shipyards and four in Karachi, demonstrating a long-term effort to strengthen Pakistan’s indigenous submarine construction capability while simultaneously expanding its operational fleet.

The broader concern for India is the cumulative impact of Chinese weapons proliferation across the sub-continent. Over the past two decades, China has emerged as Pakistan’s principal supplier of advanced military equipment, including combat aircraft, naval vessels, missile systems, air-defence networks and unmanned platforms.

The Hangor program reflects the latest stage of this process, bringing modern undersea warfare capabilities closer to India’s western maritime approaches.

Nevertheless, the missile test does not fundamentally alter the balance of naval power in the Arabian Sea. India continues to retain significant qualitative and quantitative advantages across multiple categories of maritime capability.

The Indian Navy currently operates conventional submarines from the Kalvari, Sindhughosh and Shishumar classes, while simultaneously expanding its nuclear-powered submarine force through the Arihant-class program. A fourth Arihant-class platform is undergoing trials, while work continues on the larger S5-class ballistic missile submarines and future nuclear attack submarine projects.

Although delays in the approximately ₹70,000 crore Project-75(I) submarine acquisition program have slowed force expansion, India's long-term undersea modernisation plans remain significantly broader in scope than Pakistan's current submarine programme.

India's anti-submarine warfare capabilities provide a particularly important counterbalance to Pakistan's growing underwater fleet.

The Indian Navy operates Boeing P-8I Poseidon long-range maritime patrol aircraft, among the most capable anti-submarine platforms in service anywhere in the world. These aircraft combine advanced radar, sonobuoys, acoustic processing systems and anti-submarine weapons, enabling persistent surveillance across vast ocean areas.

Indian frontline destroyers and frigates are equipped with hull-mounted and towed-array sonar systems designed to detect submarine activity at extended ranges. The Navy also operates anti-submarine helicopters equipped with dipping sonars and lightweight torpedoes, providing rapid response capability against underwater threats.

India's coastal surveillance network, maritime domain awareness architecture and growing integration of satellite, airborne and naval sensors create a layered tracking system across much of the Arabian Sea and the wider Indian Ocean Region.

Geography further strengthens India's position. Naval facilities along the western coast, combined with monitoring capabilities extending from the Lakshadweep Islands to the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, provide substantial operational depth and surveillance coverage that Pakistan cannot easily match.

The significance of the Hangor missile firing therefore lies in what it reveals about the trajectory of Chinese military support to Pakistan rather than any immediate shift in regional naval superiority. Pakistan is undoubtedly improving its undersea warfare capability through Chinese assistance, but India retains clear advantages in fleet size, maritime aviation, surveillance infrastructure, nuclear deterrence and anti-submarine warfare capacity.

As additional Hangor-class submarines enter service, the challenge for India will be maintaining technological and numerical superiority beneath the surface. Yet given the Indian Navy's expanding anti-submarine warfare network, nuclear submarine development programs and broader Indian Ocean presence, New Delhi remains well positioned to deter and counter emerging undersea threats in both the Arabian Sea and the wider region.

Agencies