Submarine Match-Ups: India Vs. Pakistan

India and Pakistan have fought 4 major wars in the last 50 years, and 2 of those wars involved action at sea. A critical function of war at sea is sea denial, a task best carried out by submarines. During the 1971 war, the Pakistani submarine Ghazi was deployed in East Indian waters to block access to East Pakistan's (now Bangladesh's) shores, and was sunk. Any major future conflict would likely see combat both on and under the waves.

Indian Submarines

India has two types of diesel-electric submarines in active service. The most numerous is the Russian-made Sindhughosh/Kilo class, supplemented by the German-made Shishumar/Type 209 class.

The Kilo class is the most popular export submarine in the world. It is capable of 17 knots on the surface and 10 knots submerged, with a range of 6,000 miles on its diesel engines and 400 miles on its batteries, with an estimated endurance at sea of 45 days. The test depth is 980 feet. The vessel carries an SA-8 anti-air missile system, 6 bow torpedo tubes that use either the Type 53-65 passive wake homing torpedo, the TEST 71/76 anti-submarine, active-passive homing torpedo, or mines. The submarine is fitted with anechoic tiles on the casings and fins to absorb both active sonar and noise from within the submarine, and it is thought to be the quietest diesel-electric boat at sea. The US Navy even calls it "the Black Hole."

The Type 209-1500 U-Boat can do 11.5 knots surfaced and 22.5 knots submerged. It has a range of 10,000 miles on the surface and under diesel power; 8,000 miles submerged and under diesel power; and 400 miles on batteries. The test depth is 1,640 feet. The design has the thoughtful feature of being situated so the commander can see the entire top surface of the boat from the periscope. It has 8 bow torpedo tubes, with the Indian Navy using AEG-SUT Mod-1 wire-guided active/passive homing torpedoes and mines.

Pakistani Submarines

Pakistan also deploys two submarine designs, both of them French-built. The Agosta 90B class has a surface speed of 20.5 knots and a submerged speed of 10.5 knots, with a range of 8,400 miles while snorkeling. The test depth is 1,140 feet. The vessel has 4 bow torpedo tubes that can fire either torpedos or the famous French Exocet anti-ship missile, as well as mines. The Agosta 70 class is an older version of the same submarine.

Result: INDIA! The current Indian submarine fleet is based on diesel-electric submarines built by the best diesel-electric submakers in the business: Russia and Germany. The Type 209 is faster, better armed, and outranges the Pakistani French-made subs, and the Kilo is even better than the Type 209. In terms of the quality of submarines, India is vastly superior and wins this comparison easily.

Sources: http://www.globalsecurity.org/; http://indiannavy.nic.in/; http://www.paknavy.gov.pk/