China's third overseas buyer of Type 039 submarines is said to purchase eight units along with anti-ship missiles.

According to the Bulgarian Military website on April 27, the Egyptian Ministry of Defense has held several rounds of negotiations with China regarding the introduction of eight Type 039 conventional submarines. An agreement has basically been reached. Following the model of the Sino-Pakistani submarine contract, four will be built in China and four will be assembled in Egypt for export.

The price is no longer within the range of the $5 billion that Pakistan could afford, as it is not a contract signed ten years ago. This makes Egypt the third country after Thailand to purchase Type 039 submarines from China. At this moment, Egypt urgently needs to buy submarines, mainly due to its interest in the A1P technology of the Type 039 and its submarine-launched version of the Yingji 82 missile. These capabilities enable the Egyptian Navy to attack Israeli warships from a distance of 150 kilometers.

In addition, today Trump made a call, saying that if Egypt allows free passage of American warships and merchant ships through the Suez Canal, it will make the Egyptian military more eager to possess submarines.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1830631089455104/

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