US Readies to Seize Opportunities for In-Depth Look at China’s Submarine Tech

(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — The United States hopes that China’s submarine sales to countries like Thailand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh will reveal some insights into its submarine technology, which has been closely guarded as a secret.

The technical specifications of submarines are highly classified by the countries that operate them.

“…information about the subsystems supplied by China to submarines for export to Thailand, Bangladesh, and Pakistan can provide direct insights into the real capabilities of Beijing’s undersea assets,” said a German expert in a report from the US Naval War College.

In the report, Dr. Sarah Kirchberger, a professor at the University of Kiel and a former naval analyst with the shipbuilding company TKMS, stated that the lack of transparency in China’s submarine production makes it very difficult to assess their true underwater warfare capabilities.

For analysts, they only become aware of China’s new submarines once they are completed or through satellite imagery.

Thailand signed a contract with China in 2017 to acquire an S-26T Yuan-class submarine worth $350 million (RM1.57 billion), while Bangladesh bought two used submarines from Beijing in 2016.

Pakistan obtained eight Hangor-class submarines from China, with four of them being built in China and the other four in South Asia.

Bangkok was supposed to receive its first submarine from China this year or next year, but due to engine problems, the Southeast Asian nation had to wait at least 40 months (three years and four months) before it could receive the Yuan-class S-26T submarine.

Thailand is now expected to receive its first submarine from China in mid-2027.

However, the issue with the first Thai submarine’s engine seems to have been resolved recently after Bangkok agreed to use China’s own CHD 620 diesel-electric submarine engine proposal. The engine was developed by the Henan Diesel Engine company.

 

Thailand agreed after lengthy negotiations with China.

Both countries reportedly reached an agreement last June, which will see Thailand’s first submarine equipped with China’s domestically produced CHD 620 diesel-electric engine.

However, Beijing requires an additional 40 months before it is ready to deliver Thailand’s first submarine equipped with a locally made engine to Southeast Asia.

Due to the engine issue, Thailand as a whole had to wait for 10 years to get its first submarine, and that’s if the contract doesn’t encounter further issues in the future. — DSA

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