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French Agosta 90-B Class, Formally Known As Khalid Class, Nuclear Strike Capable Submarine
Pakistani Subs Noticed Close to Gujarat Coast
New Delhi December 11, 2003 (PTI) -
Operations of the Pakistan Navy submarines close to the Gujarat coast have come to notice during the last two months, Defence Minister George Fernandes informed the Lok Sabha today.
"There is also known deployment of Pakistani troops near the West Coast of Gujarat opposite Rann of Kutch and Sir Creek Island," he said in a written reply.
Fernandes said Indian armed forces were monitoring the sea and the land deployment and movement of Pakistani troops.
In other Pakistani Sub news -
Pakistan navy inducts submarine
K J M Varma in Islamabad | December 12, 2003 17]And from www.Seawaves.com -[/i]
Pakistani Assembled Sub Commissions
Karachi December 11, 2003 (DAC) -
Pakistan's navy is set to commission its first "indigenously built" Agosta 90B submarine on Friday, officials said.
The submarine is the second of three Agosta 90B models commissioned from France. A suicide bomber outside their hotel killed eleven French engineers helping Pakistan to build the submarine in southern port city Karachi in May 1998.
The first Agosta 90B under the contract was built in France with Pakistani technicians given on-the-job training.
"This submarine would be commissioned on Friday and handed over to our navy fleet to be able to take part in any operational commitment along with other units of the fleet," navy spokesman Commodore Shahid Nadil told AFP.
"The commissioning of this submarine symbolizes a quantum leap towards national policy of self-reliance in meeting the operational requirements of Pakistan Navy."
The submarine is the second in the series of "Khalid Class" submarines named after the first Agosta 90B and commissioned into the Pakistan Navy in September 1999.
Construction of the second submarine started in 1998 at the navy's dockyard in Karachi as part of the contract with French firm DCN International.
"Successful completion of a technically extremely complex platform is a major milestone in achieving the maximum self-reliance by our navy in meeting its operational requirements," Nadil said.
The design of Agosta 90B submarine is similar to the proven Agosta, built by France in the 1970s. The new Agostas have been fitted with state-of-the-art command and control systems.
They are capable of launching anti-ship missiles and a range of torpedoes and can dive deeper than 300 meters.
The Agosta 90B is designed to operate as an anti-submarine, anti-surface, intelligence gathering and sea patrol vessel.
"The three Agosta submarines could have all been built in France, but one of the main objectives of the contract was to acquire indigenous submarine construction capability," Nadil said.
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Edited By TMSmalley on 1071237788