The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) seems to have had a change of heart in relation to its trouble-riddled task of procuring a submarine engine from the Chinese government.
In June, the RTN will enter negotiations with China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co (CSOC), a state-run shipbuilding enterprise. Their talks will focus on whether the RTN will choose a Chinese-made engine as a substitute for a German-made one for an S26T Yuan-class submarine being assembled in China.
The reconciliatory tone is quite different from that of April 2022, when Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, speaking in his capacity as the defence minister, publicly disclosed that the navy would call off the deal if it could not get the engine specified in the original contract.
This is a government-to-government deal that was signed during the former Yingluck Shinawatra government, when Gen Prawit Wongsuwon was defence minister. The arrangement ran into problems after Germany refused to sell its MTU 396 diesel engine to China as it was designated a military/defence item. China did not ask or coordinate with Germany before signing the contract with Thailand, so it offered the German MTU engines as part of their product.
This turn of events came after the RTN paid a visit to People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in China from April 12-18. At the meeting, Chinese authorities informed the RTN they would accept three conditions relating to warranty, compensation and safety, according to navy commander Adm Choengchai Chomchoengpaet. The PLA Navy pledged to support the certification of the Chinese-made CHD620 engine and also hand over a second-hand submarine to sweeten the deal.
If the RTN agrees to the offer, China will join Pakistan as the first two countries in the world to use the CHD620 prototype on their U-boats. Unlike the RTN, however, Pakistan has much more experience with submarine technology. Currently, its navy has activated eight submarines imported from various countries, such as the United States, France and Italy, as well as another eight from China. Pakistan's navy can also assemble its own small subs.
In contrast, the last time the RTN had submarines was in World War I and II, when it operated four small subs made in Japan. This explains why the RTN is so strict in insisting the CSOC use the MTU 396 diesel engine, or at least an equivalent that has been tried and tested in other subs rather than a prototype model.
The latest development shows how the Thai military lets diplomacy direct its purchases of arms rather than safety and technical concerns. The RTN refused to accept the CHD620 prototype last year, yet the Thai government keeps giving the concessionaire leeway.
This is not the first procurement mishap for the Thai military.
Let's not forget the 350-million-baht blimp planned for surveillance operations in the restive deep South that was grounded after just a few years, or the GT200 bomb detectors bought for the highly inflated price of 1.2 million baht apiece that all turned out to be duds with no electronic parts.
These shopping sprees aren't just a waste of taxpayers' money -- they have corroded the public's trust in the military. As such, the RTN must be firmer on negotiating for the benefit of the country. It should insist on getting the technology it really wants -- rather than whatever the vendor wishes to peddle, or whoever the government wants the navy to cosy up to.
