The Pakistan Navy (PN) operates two Agosta 70 diesel-electric submarines — PNS/M Hashmat (S-135) and PNS/M Hurmat (S-136). These boats weren’t initially constructed for Pakistan. They had been constructed by Dubigeon-Normandie at Nantes, France, within the late Seventies for the South African Navy, designated SAS Astrant and SAS Adventurous respectively. The sale was blocked by the United Nations Safety Council Decision 418 of November 1977, which imposed a compulsory arms embargo on South Africa. France subsequently offered each boats to Pakistan, with PNS/M Hashmat commissioned on 17 February 1979 and PNS/M Hurmat on 18 February 1980. (Wikipedia — PNS Hashmat; Wikipedia — PNS Hurmat)
The Agosta 70 has been in steady PN service for over 45 years — the longest-serving submarine kind within the fleet’s historical past. The 2 boats predate the Khalid-class (Agosta 90B) by twenty years and the Hangor-class (S26) by almost half a century. They’re approaching the tip of their operational lives, although the PN has not formally introduced a retirement date. The Agosta 70 is certainly one of a number of submarine sorts within the Pakistan Navy’s fleet.
Design and Specs
The Agosta 70 is a traditional diesel-electric submarine based mostly on the French Agosta-class design developed by DTCN (now Naval Group) within the early Seventies. France, Spain (Galerna-class), and Pakistan operated variants of the design.
In accordance with Wikipedia and World Safety, the category displaces 1,510 tons surfaced and 1,760 tons submerged. Size is 67 m, beam 6 m, and draught 5.4 m. Surfaced velocity is 12 knots; submerged velocity reaches 20 knots — similar to the Khalid-class’s 20.5 knots submerged. Vary is 8,500 nautical miles at 9 knots, and the check depth is 300 m. The crew complement is 54 — 7 officers and 47 enlisted — considerably bigger than the Hangor-class’s estimated 38, reflecting the Agosta 70’s analogue-era design with fewer automated techniques.
Propulsion comes from two SEMT-Pielstick 16 PA4 V 185 VG diesel engines driving two alternators and a single shaft. The Agosta 70 doesn’t have air-independent propulsion (AIP) — it depends solely on typical diesel-electric energy, requiring the boat to snorkel commonly to recharge its batteries. That is the basic functionality distinction between the Agosta 70 and the PN’s newer submarines: the Khalid-class has MESMA AIP, and the Hangor-class makes use of Stirling AIP. With out AIP, the Agosta 70’s publicity to detection throughout snorkelling is considerably better.
The category is armed with 4 550 mm bow torpedo tubes — notably a special calibre from the 533 mm normal utilized by the Khalid-class and Hangor-class. The unique torpedo match included the French ECAN L5 Mod 3 and ECAN F17 Mod 2, and the boats had been later certified to fireside the UGM-84L Harpoon Block II anti-ship missile — an American weapon that gave the Agosta 70 a standoff anti-ship functionality it didn’t have in its authentic French configuration. (Wikipedia — PNS Hurmat)
The sensor suite displays late-Seventies French expertise: a Thomson CSF DRUA 33 radar, Thomson Sintra DSUV 22 sonar, DUUA 2D and DUUA 1D sonars, and a DSUV 62A towed array. These techniques haven’t obtained the excellent sensor improve that the Khalid-class is present process by way of the STM mid-life improve program.
Operational Historical past
PNS/M Hashmat and PNS/M Hurmat had been the PN’s major submarine functionality by way of the Nineteen Eighties and Nineties — the interval between the retirement of the Daphné-class boats and the arrival of the primary Khalid-class submarine in 1999. The Agosta 70s had been the one submarines within the PN’s stock through the 1999 Kargil disaster, one of the crucial vital India-Pakistan army confrontations since 1971.
The boats have undergone periodic overhauls and upkeep on the PN Dockyard in Karachi to increase their service lives. Nevertheless, by the 2020s, each boats had been displaying their age. The Centre for Land Warfare Research (CLAWS) — an Indian Military assume tank — reported in June 2025 that PNS/M Hurmat “suffers from a defective starboard engine and digital warfare system, rendering it utterly non-operational.” Whereas this evaluation comes from an adversarial supply and needs to be weighed accordingly, the broader level — that the Agosta 70s are nearing the boundaries of their hull life — is per the boats’ age and the PN’s personal emphasis on fleet growth by way of the Hangor program.
The PN Dockyard’s expertise sustaining the Agosta 70 over 4 many years — together with hull repairs, engine overhauls, and sensor upkeep — constructed the institutional experience that KSEW later drew upon when assembling the Khalid-class PNS/M Hamza within the 2000s. As Quwa’s evaluation of Pakistan’s pivot from package meeting to defence design documented, the economic lineage runs from Daphné-class upkeep by way of Agosta 70 sustainment by way of Agosta 90B meeting to the Hangor ToT program at KSEW. Every step constructed on the earlier.
The South African Connection
The Agosta 70’s origin as a South African order is greater than a historic footnote — it formed the boats’ availability and the PN’s alternative. The UN arms embargo on South Africa (Decision 418) was imposed in response to apartheid-era insurance policies and the nation’s nuclear weapons program. France had already laid down each boats when the embargo took impact, leaving Dubigeon-Normandie with two orphaned submarines.
Pakistan, which had been working the French Daphné-class because the late Nineteen Sixties and was accustomed to French submarine expertise, was a pure purchaser. The acquisition gave the PN two comparatively trendy submarines at a time when Pakistan’s defence finances was constrained and different suppliers had been restricted. The boats arrived in Pakistani service pre-built and absolutely outfitted — no ToT, no native meeting. The economic participation that characterised the later Khalid-class and Hangor packages was not a part of the Agosta 70 deal.
Retirement and Substitute
The Agosta 70 is being retired from frontline service because the Hangor-class fleet enters the fleet. The Hangor’s 2,800-ton displacement, Stirling AIP, and trendy sensor suite make it a qualitatively totally different platform from the 1,760-ton, non-AIP Agosta 70.
Nevertheless, the PN has not formally decommissioned both Agosta 70 boat as of Could 2026. Provided that the KSEW-built Hangor batch will not be anticipated to finish till the early 2030s, the PN might retain the Agosta 70s — even in a reduced-readiness or coaching function — till sufficient Hangor-class boats are in service to completely cowl the fleet’s patrol necessities. As Quwa’s Silent Service evaluation famous, the PN’s present fleet of 5 submarines can not maintain a significant variety of boats on patrol concurrently. Retiring the Agosta 70s earlier than the Hangor fleet is full would widen that hole.
The Agosta 70’s eventual retirement can even take away the final non-AIP submarines from the PN’s fleet, making it a completely AIP-equipped drive — a transition that started with PNS/M Hamza’s MESMA integration in 2008 and concludes with the Hangor induction.
The Naming Lineage
The PN’s submarine naming conventions create a thread connecting the Agosta 70 to each its predecessors and successors. The Daphné-class boats — PNS Hangor, PNS Shushuk, PNS Mangro, and PNS Ghazi — carried names that the PN has now reused for the 4 Chinese language-built Hangor-class submarines. The Agosta 70 boats (Hashmat and Hurmat) and the Khalid-class boats (Khalid, Saad, Hamza) drew their names from Islamic army historical past. The naming sample displays the PN’s method to institutional continuity: new boats inherit the legacy of the lessons they change.
Be taught Extra
Khalid-Class (Agosta 90B) Submarine: Pakistan Navy’s Spine Since 1999 — The category that succeeded the Agosta 70 because the PN’s frontline submarine.
Hangor-Class Submarine: Pakistan Navy’s S26 Program — The fleet that’s changing each the Agosta 70 and complementing the Khalid-class.
Inside Pakistan’s Pivot From Equipment Meeting to Defence Design — The economic lineage from Agosta 70 upkeep by way of Khalid-class meeting to Hangor building.
The “Silent Service” is Nonetheless the Way forward for Pakistan’s Navy — Why the PN’s submarine fleet stays its most consequential functionality funding.
Word: Quwa will replace this web page because the PN discloses the Agosta 70’s decommissioning timeline.
