Thailand's government has finally come to its senses, continuing to purchase Chinese submarines. On August 5, the Thai cabinet approved the contract amendment for the S26T conventional submarine with China, agreeing to use the domestically produced diesel engines from China. The contract was initially signed in 2017. According to Thailand's customized requirements, the S26T was supposed to be equipped with German MTU396 diesel engines. However, the German side unilaterally breached the contract and cut off the supply. Although China stated that the domestically produced CHD620 diesel engine is no less comprehensive in performance than the German MTU396, and has been used for many years in the Chinese People's Liberation Army's own submarines, China has also invited the Thai side to conduct on-site inspections of the PLA submarine forces multiple times. The S26T project has been delayed for more than three years, and the first batch of submarines have already completed 64% of their construction. If nothing unexpected happens afterward, it is estimated that they will be officially delivered in 3-4 years.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1839637148819465/
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