Myanmar Navy Starts Submarine Training in Pakistan

A small contingent of Myanmar Navy (MN) personnel has begun submarine warfare training in Pakistan, a move that suggests Myanmar is finally taking concrete steps towards developing a subsurface capability.

Around 20 officers and ratings arrived in Karachi in late April/early May to begin basic familiarisation training with the Pakistan Navy (PN), according to diplomatic sources. It is likely the contingent is based at the PN's Submarine Training Centre at PNS Bahadur, an onshore facility in Karachi that offers simulator training in diving, propulsion, and sonar tape listening and analysis.

The PN's submarine service has relied on French boats almost since its inception in the 1960s, and today operates two obsolescent Hashmat-class Agosta-70 boats and three modern Khalid-class Agosta-90Bs.

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