The Thai government has announced that it is the second and third attack submarines’ acquisition will be delayed.  Thailand originally planned to acquire two submarines worth US$720 million from China, with the 7-year funding program.  

In the original plan, the Thai government was supposed to allocate more than US$100 million to the project under the fiscal year 2021 as initial payment.

The Thai government said that it will re-negotiate with China to move the procurement to 2022, which also means pushing back the planned delivery date beyond 2024.

The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) has already ordered one submarine based on the Yuan-class diesel-electric attack submarine of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN), designated as the S26T, in a deal signed in 2017.

The two additional submarines are part of the plan to order a total of three submarines as part of Thailand’s defence strategy as its neighbours like Myanmar have started adding submarines into its fleet.