Humble Analyst
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PN's major and only offensive weapon platform which can hunt and strike remaining undetected for quite some time is the SUBMARINE.
The Submarine VS Strike Aircraft Debate
Pakistan's Submarines will keep IN ships and subs at bay, when PN subs are operating near Pakistan's coastline and protecting Pakistan's EEZ. IN aircrafts like P-8 or any other ASW aircrafts wouldn't dare come near PN subs as the air space would be guarded by F-16's and JF-17's. Submarines possess torpedoes, that can be fired at long range and any angle. The torpedo can also be programmed to lock on, and pursue the acoustic signature of the target ship, if range is exceeded. At longer ranges, they can engage with Harpoon anti-ship missiles, fired from a torpedo tube.
PN submarine will face a tough time against IN's P-8's etc because aircraft can not only provide a longer reach weapon wise, but thanks to sonobuoys and other sensors, allow a firm track on the submarine and at that point, it is nothing more than a slow target which cannot ward off an aircraft through SAM. Pakistan's submarine can be warned off by just dropping an active buoy by IN aircraft in front of submarine and pinging it.
Submarine lacks in speed where as one of the advantages that an aircraft and a surface ship has is speed. While a submarine’s weapons are longer range, a burst of speed can close the distance and mess their targeting solution quickly. Passive targeting involves Target Motion Analysis which works great if the target maintain course and speed, but if the target is constantly changing both, becomes much harder.
The issue with strike aircrafts is that they will be detected by enemy's radar and engaged by IN/IAF aircrafts. So aircrafts lose on the element of surprise, which a submarine posses to its advantage, till of course its discovered and engaged. So submarine has lesser enemies (P-8 and other ASW aircrafts) till its detected where as strike aircrafts will have a large number of IN and IAF aircrafts engaging them as they approach to engage IN Naval targets, apart from other SAM systems which could be ground based or ship based.
True that aircarft have primary anti-air capability and a secondary strike capability, which means thay can conduct CAP's and escort missions and strike ground targets and Naval ships, where as submarines can strike ground and naval targets having no air defence capability. This makes aircrafts a better asset in terms of multi role capability.
Submarines hold a unique advantage, the PN submarine force can keep much of IN surface and submerged elements engaged in anti-submarine warfare for as long as the war continues. Anti-submarine warfare relies on numbers, many ships and aircrafts tasked with finding and fighting one submarine. With the induction of 8 new submarines, this is exactly what PN is hoping for in an event of war. These will be diesel-electric, actually diesel running on batteries are hardest to detect as they will proceed into shallower water and are far quieter. Since they prefer noisier locations, hunting these subs becomes harder.
In IN waters, the stealth profile of PN subs plus the long range that they can operate is the chance that PN could be willing to take by sending a few across and keeping IN tied down as much as it can in protecting its coast, which is in 1000's of Km's. This holds a major disadvantage for IN and major advantage to PN subs.
Thanks for the detailed answer and it does highlight a need of more aircraft for coastal and waters defence.PN's major and only offensive weapon platform which can hunt and strike remaining undetected for quite some time is the SUBMARINE.
The Submarine VS Strike Aircraft Debate
Pakistan's Submarines will keep IN ships and subs at bay, when PN subs are operating near Pakistan's coastline and protecting Pakistan's EEZ. IN aircrafts like P-8 or any other ASW aircrafts wouldn't dare come near PN subs as the air space would be guarded by F-16's and JF-17's. Submarines possess torpedoes, that can be fired at long range and any angle. The torpedo can also be programmed to lock on, and pursue the acoustic signature of the target ship, if range is exceeded. At longer ranges, they can engage with Harpoon anti-ship missiles, fired from a torpedo tube.
PN submarine will face a tough time against IN's P-8's etc because aircraft can not only provide a longer reach weapon wise, but thanks to sonobuoys and other sensors, allow a firm track on the submarine and at that point, it is nothing more than a slow target which cannot ward off an aircraft through SAM. Pakistan's submarine can be warned off by just dropping an active buoy by IN aircraft in front of submarine and pinging it.
Submarine lacks in speed where as one of the advantages that an aircraft and a surface ship has is speed. While a submarine’s weapons are longer range, a burst of speed can close the distance and mess their targeting solution quickly. Passive targeting involves Target Motion Analysis which works great if the target maintain course and speed, but if the target is constantly changing both, becomes much harder.
The issue with strike aircrafts is that they will be detected by enemy's radar and engaged by IN/IAF aircrafts. So aircrafts lose on the element of surprise, which a submarine posses to its advantage, till of course its discovered and engaged. So submarine has lesser enemies (P-8 and other ASW aircrafts) till its detected where as strike aircrafts will have a large number of IN and IAF aircrafts engaging them as they approach to engage IN Naval targets, apart from other SAM systems which could be ground based or ship based.
True that aircarft have primary anti-air capability and a secondary strike capability, which means thay can conduct CAP's and escort missions and strike ground targets and Naval ships, where as submarines can strike ground and naval targets having no air defence capability. This makes aircrafts a better asset in terms of multi role capability.
Submarines hold a unique advantage, the PN submarine force can keep much of IN surface and submerged elements engaged in anti-submarine warfare for as long as the war continues. Anti-submarine warfare relies on numbers, many ships and aircrafts tasked with finding and fighting one submarine. With the induction of 8 new submarines, this is exactly what PN is hoping for in an event of war. These will be diesel-electric, actually diesel running on batteries are hardest to detect as they will proceed into shallower water and are far quieter. Since they prefer noisier locations, hunting these subs becomes harder.
In IN waters, the stealth profile of PN subs plus the long range that they can operate is the chance that PN could be willing to take by sending a few across and keeping IN tied down as much as it can in protecting its coast, which is in 1000's of Km's. This holds a major disadvantage for IN and major advantage to PN subs.
