On 9 December, the Pakistan Navy held a ceremony to mark the first steel cutting for its domestically built Hangor-class diesel-electric submarine programme. Progress on the class has after a year full of developments in the undersea domain.
The most notable news came from Australia’s decision to ditch its deal with France for conventional submarines and instead build nuclear-powered boats with the help of the UK and the US. The debut of AUKUS shocked the world, angering France due to the loss of a hugely valuable contract for Naval Group and prompting vocal criticism from China.
Since the AUKUS