Thai Navy Under Pressure to Buy ‘Notoriously Loud’ Chinese Submarine Engine After Germany Embargo

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Thai officials are scheduled to visit China this month to continue negotiations over a botched submarine deal, in which Beijing sold the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) submarines without engines.

Sources at the Thai defense ministry told Asia Nikkei that Thailand is still considering a deal from China as Beijing attempts to save face after it failed to ensure it could procure German engines to go in its S26T Yuan-class submarine. The RTN and China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co. (CSOC) signed a $402 million contract for the submarine in 2017.

Germany’s Rolls Royce engine maker MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH refused to supply its MTU396 engine to the submarine maker due to a long-standing EU embargo on supplying arms to China’s communist regime, causing the unresolved delay.

The European Union arms embargo was imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

The German Embassy in Thailand said in February that Beijing hadn’t consulted with Germany before it signed the contract with Thailand.

The submarine was to be delivered in 2023. China is now offering its CHD620 engine made by CSOC.

The RTN in February was reported to have visited Wuhan in China to inspect the substitute engine and negotiate a new deal.

After inspecting the engine, the RTN expressed concerns that the CHD620 is of inferior quality to the German-made engines in the contract.

Zachary Abuza, professor of Southeast Asian security at the Washington-based National War College, told Asia Nikkei, “Although there have been real improvements in Chinese submarine engines, the ones on offer are notoriously loud.”

The Thais said they expect their new submarine to match the standard of the Chinese navy, which has secured 56 diesel-electric engines from MTU over the years despite the embargo.

The RTN has three conditions for accepting the China-made engines: a guarantee of replacement, compensation for construction delays while waiting for the engines, and a guarantee for the safety of the future vessel crew.

“But if the substitute from CSOC cannot pass the test, the contract must be terminated, and the two sides will have to hold talks to discuss compensation or a refund,” said navy spokesman Adm. Pokkrong Monthatphalin, according to a report by Bangkok Post in August last year.

According to the contract, CSOC is allowed to replace any component with a comparable equivalent, Pokkrong said.

Thailand Modernizes Its Navy

Thailand is working to upgrade its naval defenses by 2036.

At the time of the purchase in 2017, navy spokesman Adm. Jumpol Loompikanon said the RTN’s four Japanese submarines were approaching 60 years of age and that new submarines were necessary to protect the country’s maritime interests.

But cuts to the navy’s annual budget and a history of prioritizing price in procurement decisions have made China a more common partner.

“In our surveys of 1,800 Thai officers conducted [between] 2015 to 2017, we found that price was considered the most important reason for the attractiveness of Chinese military equipment,” Greg Raymond, a senior lecturer at the Strategic and Defense Studies Center at the Australian National University, told Asia Nikkei.

Thailand has also bought a multi-purpose amphibious ship, HTMS Chang, and a Type 071E (Yuzhao)-class landing platform dock from China.

The RTN first warmed to the CHD620 replacement deal after Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Thailand in November 2022 for the 17th G-20 Summit.

However, public criticism and questions soon gained momentum, challenging whether Thailand really needs the new submarines.

Thailand is not a claimant in the South China Sea dispute its Southeast Asian neighbors have with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

‘China Is the Biggest Threat to Thailand’

Anders Corrs, an Epoch Times contributor and founder of risk analyst firm Corr Analytics Inc., wrote in March 2022, “You can bet your bottom dollar that China’s submarines could never be used to defend Thailand against the Chinese navy—if they have obsolete technology, kill switches, or trackers built into them. Ultimately, China is the biggest threat to Thailand, as only China in Asia is aggressively expanding its maritime and territorial boundaries.

“The more recent refusal of MTU to sell its engines to China apparently reflects a new regulation in Germany against their sale. That, at least, is progress,” Corrs said.

“Until Moscow and Beijing improve their human rights and stop their territorial aggression, dual-use technologies should be the first export to these countries that are completely embargoed.”

Ties between Thailand and the CCP regime have warmed since relations with the United States cooled after a military coup in Thailand in May 2014.

According to local media, if a deal is reached, the new submarine would not be delivered until at least August 2026, with a potential extension to 2027.

The Chinese navy has over 58 diesel-electric submarines, plus six nuclear-powered attack subs.

China-based companies have also sold submarines to Bangladesh, the Burmese military, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Aldgra Fredly and Reuters contributed to this article.