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| 1st of India's new Scorpene class submarines being launched |
Chaitanya Mallapur, an Indian security analyst, recently said in the Hindustand Times that the visit from a PLA Navy Type 039A diesel-electric submarine to the Pakistan's port of Karachi on its way back to China from the Arabian Sea two months ago sent a warning to India that China's submarine fleet is becoming a greater threat to the maritime security of the nation.
After arriving in Karachi on May 22, the Yuan-class submarine with its crew of 65 crew spent a week there for refueling and restocking. Unlike most convnetional submarines, the Yuan-class sub does not need to surface to breathe. It can stay underwater for weeks due to its air-independent propulsion, according to Mallapur. Currently, India has 14 submarines. Among them, only the INS Chakra, leased from Russia, is nuclear-powered.
Read the full story at Want China Times