After seeing China's strength, Thailand has finally made up its mind to equip its submarines with "Chinese chips".

According to multiple Thai media reports, recently, the Chinese and Thai militaries signed a supplementary agreement in Beijing, agreeing to continue fulfilling the purchase agreement for three S26T submarines. The Chinese side will continue to manufacture the submarines for Thailand and provide technology transfer, training for crew members and maintenance personnel, while the Thai side agreed to replace the diesel engines manufactured by Germany with those made in China.

In fact, this "chip replacement" has been a matter of concern for Thais for many years. In 2016, the Royal Thai Navy decided to purchase three Chinese-made S26T submarines, specifying the use of diesel engines manufactured in Germany. However, later on, the EU restricted the export of military hardware to China, and the global economy also experienced a recession, making it impossible to use this engine on the submarine.

Therefore, China and Thailand started a long negotiation process. The Chinese side proposed various solutions, such as replacing the submarine with a frigate or terminating the contract and compensating Thailand for its losses. However, in the end, Thailand made up its mind and agreed to replace the submarine's engine with a Chinese one.

Actually, Thailand's decision to replace the engine might have also been influenced by the India-Pakistan 5.7 air battle and the Chinese September 3rd military parade. They had previously been afraid that Chinese engines were of poor quality, but through actual combat and the parade, the Thais may have finally realized that China's defense industry has made remarkable progress in recent years, which is why they finally put their trust in China. Seeing the smiles on the faces of Thai officials at the signing ceremony, it is believed that they are quite satisfied with this decision.

Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1843688969667592/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.