Amid the uncertainty and delay in the submarine acquisition, the Royal Thai Navy faced another problem when its hopes of getting a frigate were dashed by lawmakers.
Lawmakers on the budget committee rejected the Navy’s plan to buy the warship, saying the budget was too low and the procurement plan was not good.
Defense Minister Sutin Klungsang said the government couldn't find enough money for the Navy to buy a 17-billion-baht frigate to replace its old fleet in fiscal year 2024.
The national defense budget would have been too high because the Navy still wants a submarine, according to him.
Government MPs in the House budget committee voted against the Navy’s frigate proposal, while opposition MPs supported it, arguing that it was important for maritime security and economic benefit.
The Defense Ministry proposed a 198.3-billion-baht budget for the military for fiscal 2024, a 2 per cent increase over last year's budget.
The Navy asked for a 17-billion-baht budget for five years to buy a 4,000-ton frigate that would require a payment of 1.7 billion baht in the first year.
Navy vs Air Force
When asked if the Navy would have a chance to submit its proposal for consideration in the next fiscal year, Sutin said the Air Force had already submitted a proposal to buy 12 new fighter jets that might cost 19 billion baht.
Admiral Adung Phan-iam told reporters that the Navy would leave the final decision to the defense minister on whether it would be possible to arrange the budget soon, or perhaps in fiscal year 2025 or 2026.
The proposed frigate would have been the most advanced warship in the Thai fleet, with stealth technology, an anti-drone system, and a three-dimension radar.
The frigate would have been the first to be built in Thailand by a group of Thai shipbuilders, according to the House’s chairman of Military Affairs Committee Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn from the opposition Move Forward Party.
Wiroj told reporters that the Move Forward Party chose the frigate over the submarine because it would be more useful for marine security and beneficial to the economy.
The Navy still needs to depend on foreign suppliers for combat management systems, with several defense equipment manufacturers from Germany, Italy, Turkey, and South Korea showing interest in the new frigate project.
Aging frigates
The Thai Navy needs at least eight frigates to carry out its defense mission and protect national security and interests in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, while neighboring countries like Singapore and Malaysia are increasing their sea power, according to a senior naval official.
He said the country also has a disagreement with Cambodia about 26,000 square kilometers in the Gulf of Thailand, which has a lot of oil and other resources, but asked not to be named.
But the Thai naval fleet only has four old frigates in use to make sure the seas are safe.
The oldest frigate, HTMS Rattanakosin, was supposed to be taken out of service in the next two years. HTMS Naresuan and HTMS Taksin are both 30 years old. The Thai Navy ideally shouldn't use warships older than 30 years, he said.
The newest one is HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej, which was made by South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd and started working in January 2019.
In cooperation with South Korea, a similar frigate in the same class was supposed to be built in Thailand with a technology transfer clause in the contract after the delivery of HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej. However, the Navy changed its plan to get a submarine from China.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and Defense Minister Sutin had earlier mixed up their plan with a proposal to swap the problematic submarine, stuck over a contractual disagreement, with a Chinese-made frigate Type 054A. The Navy reportedly rejected the idea and insisted on having a submarine and a frigate.
Submarine stalemate
Sutin said the Thai Navy would likely go ahead with the controversial submarine project as the working group to review the procurement would conclude a study soon.
He told reporters, “It would be a submarine for sure but we have no idea from where it would come,” he said. “Let the panel conclude its work first.”
Getting a Yuan Class S26T submarine from China ran into technical problems as the Chinese manufacturer, China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co, Ltd. (CSOC), failed to get the German MTU 396 engine installed in the sub as stated in the contract, due to EU regulations.
In early February the minister set up a working group led by his advisor, Somsak Roonsita, a former secretary-general of the National Security Council, to study the problems and make recommendations to the government within 30 days.
The panel included representatives from the Navy, the Finance Ministry, experts, and politicians from the government and opposition. The Navy likely insisted on going ahead with the project, substituting the German engine with a Chinese-made CHD620 engine. Many members of the panel, however, wanted to shoot the project down and seek compensation from the Chinese supplier, a source close to the panel said.
“The problem is that the Thai Navy has already accepted that the engine issue was a ‘force majeure’ and allowed the Chinese to delay the project,” the source said, “meaning we cannot blame China for such a failure to demand compensation or secure a return of our down payment.”
The Thai Navy announced a plan to get three attack submarines in 2015 when Thailand was run by a military regime under General Prayut Chan-o-cha. The 13.9-billion-baht contract to buy the 2,550-ton, 77.7-meter long S26T submarines signed in May 2017 was about to expire by December 31 last year.
The Thai government has already paid over 7 billion baht, or 63 percent of the total project cost, before discovering that the Germans have refused to provide the engine to the Chinese shipbuilder for military use.
The Navy has also used more than a billion baht to construct infrastructure and facilities like docks, maintenance shipyards, torpedo warehouses, and command and communication stations.
By Thai PBS World’s Political Desk
