KARACHI: In a departure from the past practice of acquiring submarines from France, Pakistan will buy three German Type 214 submarines.
Walter Freitag, the chief executive officer of the HDW, the largest conventional submarine maker in the world, told our sources on Tuesday in an exclusive interview at the IDEAS 2008 here that his company had finalised technical specifications with the navy to build three Type 214 submarines in Pakistan.
“The commercial contract has been finalised up to 95 per cent,” he said, hoping the final contract in this regard will be signed soon. This is the first time that a clear picture of the billion-dollar deal that the Pakistan Navy is expected to sign in coming months has emerged. Earlier, during mid-90s, the navy had selected three French Agosta 90-B submarines, which were in addition to the two acquired earlier. The deal had generated a lot of controversy at that time.
This time French firm Armaris had offered to supply Pakistan three updated single-hulled, diesel-electric submarines — all-French version of the Franco-Spanish Scorpene boat — equipped with air-independent propulsion, a deal totalling about $1.2 billion.
However, Walter Freitag said he did not see that kind of controversy enveloping this project perceived during the 90s. “The Pakistan Navy understands submarines and ours are the best,” he said, rejecting claims of competitors that the Greek Navy had rejected Type 214.
“In the Hellenic Navy’s case, a neutral surveyor was appointed, who decided that the submarine was technically OK and ready for commissioning,” he said. The HDW CEO said the Type 214 was technologically more advanced than those of competitors. “We use higher grade steel material, which allows greater diving depth,” he said. “Also, we have fuel cell AIPs and can integrate Harpoons with the Type 214.”
The first submarine would be delivered to the Pakistan Navy in 64 months after signing of the contract while the rest would be completed successively in 12 months. Walter Freitag stated that they would be using facilities at the Karachi Shipyard for building Type 214 and minimal upgrade would be required. He added that the Type 214 was 100 per cent German and there was no chance of embargo on it in any case.
Meanwhile, authoritative sources told that the decision to acquire Type 214 over the French submarine was made not only because the submarine was more advanced than the French Marlin, but also because many countries had deployed the Type 214 submarines, so there would be no issue of spares.
They said Turkey would be acquiring six Type 214s, South Korea had ordered six more in addition to three ordered earlier, Portugal had bought two, besides several bought by the German Navy. As such, supportability for the Type 214 for the next 30-35 years would not be a major concern.
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