PN has no destroyer plans
There was a brief debate I had with a former head of PN programs, whose exact title escapes me, but he also served as Ambassador to a close neighboring country.
The core of the discussion was about the role of surface vessels versus submarines, combined with missile boats and A2/AD (Anti-Access/Area Denial) strategies.
The key point is that PN’s primary focus for surface ships lies in peacetime roles such as projection of power, diplomacy, force involvement, and anti-submarine warfare (ASW).
Surface combatants serve dual functions in conflict scenarios. They can act as "bait" to provoke enemy engagement while simultaneously serving as vital sensors to provide targeting information for other assets in the system.
During peacetime and low-intensity operations, surface combatants have a near-dominant role in presence missions and operational responsibilities.
However, in wartime or high-intensity environments, in a broader integrated system, surface combatants are deliberately employed as less valuable and more dispersed units.
This dispersion minimizes risk to key assets while complementing a potent submarine fleet and missile boats, creating layered defenses and offensive kill zones.
The combined effect is to snare the Indian Navy (IN) into pre-planned kill zones, leveraging submarines' stealth and missile boats' striking power supported by surface ships acting as sensors and engagement triggers.
Given Pakistan’s limited defense budget, challenging geography, critical sea lines of communication (SLOCs), and the relative size and capability of the Indian Navy, this integrated approach is highly effective when executed properly.
Pakistan’s constrained resources make it impractical to match India ship-for-ship or technology-for-technology in conventional surface combatants. Instead, focusing on a combined system of dispersed surface combatants, missile boats, and a strong submarine fleet maximizes cost-effectiveness and leverage.
The geography such as narrow littoral waters, chokepoints, and proximity to key SLOCs amplifies the advantage of stealthy, agile, and surprise attack-capable platforms like submarines and missile boats.
By using surface vessels primarily for peacetime presence, diplomatic signaling, and ASW, Pakistan preserves its limited naval assets and maintains an economy of force.
In wartime, these surface vessels act as sensors and engagement bait to channel the Indian Navy into carefully prepared kill zones dominated by submarines and missile boats. This creates a layered A2/AD bubble that threatens India’s SLOCs and limits their freedom of maneuver.
This approach’s success depends heavily on strong coordination between all branches of the Pakistani military, including the Air Force and Army, as well as overarching strategic alignment in wartime.
C4ISR (command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) integration, effective logistics, and rapid response capabilities are critical to turning this multi pronged system into a credible deterrent and wartime force multiplier.
Now, no plan survives contact with the enemy - so it’s just a case of execution in ensuring that PNs plan takes less hits versus INs
