By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THAILAND TODAY (May 16) finally agreed to have a Chinese engine, and not a German engine, installed aboard a Chinese-built submarine purchased by the Thai navy, a navy source said.
The Thai navy has agreed to procure the Yuan-class S26T submarine with the Chinese-made CHD620 engine in lieu of the German MTU396 engine, the sale of which had been ultimately denied as part of the European Union’s trade embargo measures against Beijing.
The construction of the S26T submarine by China’s Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co. has been extended for 1,217 days, thus resulting in the delivery of the boat not being anticipated until more than three years from now, the source said.
Renamed as “a power generator”, the CHD620 engine has never so far been installed aboard any other submarines including those of the Chinese navy, however.
Viewed as sort of compensation for the 12.4 billion baht submarine deal, a submarine simulator will be provided for Thai sailors plus some spare parts, combinedly worth 200 million baht, the source said.
The navy had earlier paid seven billion baht in down payment for the Chinese-built submarine, Thailand’s first in six decades, whose delivery had been postponed since last year.
The latest negotiations on the navy’s trouble-plagued submarine procurement project have been held at the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Bangkok since earlier this week between representatives of the Thai side and those of China’s Bureau of Military Equipment & Technical Cooperation.
Defence Minister Suthin Khlangsang who did not attend the final, bilateral talks had earlier advised a Chinese-built frigate be procured in lieu of the Chinese-built submarine but commanding admirals had insisted that they would ultimately prefer the S26T submarine, albeit without the German engine as earlier specified in the purchase deal.
Former navy chief Luechai Ruddit had pushed for procurement of the S26T submarine, a copycat of the Russian-built, Kilo-class submarine, picking the Chinese-built boat over its rivals such as a South Korean submarine and a secondhand German submarine.
It remains to be seen whether a couple more submarines of the same type will be finally procured in the future since the navy’s submarine purchase plan originally called for a trio, beginning with the trouble-plagued one.
CAPTIONS:
Top: A Chinese built S26T submarine. Photo/en.people.cn and published by China Daily
Front Page: A submarine. Photo: Thai Rath
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