China will build four of the eight submarines in the port city of Karachi under a defence deal signed with Pakistan. The construction of the submarines would simultaneously begin in Pakistan and China. China would also transfer the technology to Pakistan for submarine construction. The implementation of the agreement would augment the existing submarine related capacity. The three Agosta 90-B submarines of French design form the core of Pakistan’s current submarine fleet that also includes two ageing Agosta-70 submarines.
It is speculated that the deal was for Yuan-class Type-041 diesel-electric submarines equipped with AIP systems. Pakistan had earlier explored the options of buying submarines from France and Germany, but those deals did not materialise. A training centre would be set up in Karachi for this purpose.
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