Germany, Korea, and China Also to Offer Their Light Frigates to The Royal Thai Navy

22 November 2023

Marsun and TKMS are pitching the MEKO A-100 design to meet the Royal Thai Navy's long-term requirements for a new light frigate (photo : AAG)

Germany Shipyard

Marsun Public Company Limited, a Thai shipyard, has teamed up with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) of Germany to offer the German MEKO A-100 light frigate to the Royal Thai Navy (RTN). Under the partnership, TKMS Germany will provide design and technical support for the A-100 light frigate, while Marsun Thailand will act as a leader in Thai industry in supporting the launch, ship building and supply chain needs.

Thai Marsun officials spoke to Janes at the Defense & Security 2023 defense equipment exhibition at Challenger Hall 9-12, Impact Exhibition Center, Muang Thong Thani, Bangkok, Thailand, from 6-9 November 2023 that the partnership between Marsun and TKMS Germany aims at building Thailand's technical and industrial capabilities as well as meeting the needs of the Royal Thai Navy's future frigates.

Construction of the MEKO A-100 frigate could be made possible through Thai Marsun's arrangement with Mahidol Adulyadej Navy Yard. Royal Thai Naval Dockyard (RTND) in Sattahip, Chonburi Province, Thailand. Other Thai industrial enterprises will also be included to produce ship parts, Marsun said.

Another important element of the competitive bid mentioned by the two companies is the modular design of the MEKO A-100 light frigate according to their needs,” said a TKMS official.

A competitive bid for the new frigate has not yet been issued by the Royal Thai Navy. However, Marsun and TKMS are confident that a formal tender will occur soon, maybe around a year 2024.

“There is no timeline for this procurement. But we see a need in the Royal Thai Navy for one additional light frigate and then three more in the next 14 years,” said a Thai Marsun official. He added that these needs not including the Bhumibol Adulyadej series frigates procured from Hanwha Ocean Company (formerly DSME: Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering), Republic of Korea in December 2018 and plans to procure frigates from China.

Officer Marsun told the author: The Thai Navy is likely to have an initial project of one new frigate from 4 ships to replace the corvettes of the HTMS Rattanakosin series, HTMS Sukhothai Royal Ship and other sets of frigates that have been in use for a long time.

As for the MEKO A-100 frigate, which is in partnership with TKMS Germany, Marsun Thailand will also have to work on designing the interior space of the ship and integrating systems according to the needs of the Royal Thai Navy, including collaborating with the Navy Department to improve Mahidol Dock to support ship building in Thailand.

The MEKO A-100 ship model of the German company TKMS has been successfully exported abroad. Offshore patrol boat ORP Ślązak(241) of the Polish Navy, ordered in 2015 and entered service in 2019 and four Tamandaré class frigates for the Brazilian Navy (Marinha do Brasil), which are being built entirely in Brazil in collaboration with Brazilian industry.

Hanwha Ocean displayed models of 2000 ton export frigate at the Defense & Security 2023 show in Bangkok (photo : AAG)

Korean Shipyard

While an official from Hanwha Ocean, Republic of Korea, told the author that The company still expects that will receive a contract to build a series of frigates HMS Bhumibol Adulyadej, the second ship, worth approximately 17,000,000,000 baht ($470,653,500) that has been awaited for a long time.

Ready to offer both the transfer of construction technology in Thailand and the option to build in the Republic of Korea like the first boat Including proposing a 2,000 ton frigate model for export in the project of 4 new light frigates, but the company will still wait for the Royal Thai Navy to issue clear project requirements first.

As for the KSS-III submarine, which enters service with the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) as the Dosan An Chang-ho class submarine and is competing in Poland's new submarine procurement project.

Philippines and Canada are as for opportunities in the Thai Navy, Hanwha Ocean told the author that the company still has to wait for the Thai Navy to contact them to request information from them first, therefore there will be clarity in the presentation.

CSSC displayed models of its 1500 ton light frigate at the Defense & Security 2023 show in Bangkok (photo : AAG)

China Shipyard

CSTC (China Shipbuilding Trading Co., Ltd.), which is the foreign ship export business of CSSC (China State Shipbuilding Corporation), a group of state-owned shipping industry enterprises of the People's Republic of China also presented their products at Defense & Security 2023, including a model of a 6000 ton frigate based on the Type 052D class destroyer, a 4000 ton frigate based on the Type 54A/P class frigate exported to Pakistan. and a 1500 ton light frigate based on the Type 056A class corvette, as well as a 2600 ton submarine model.

The Thai Ministry of Defense has an idea to suspend the Royal Thai Navy's S26T submarine procurement project. That is based on the Type 039B class submarine (NATO assigns the Yuan class code) of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and is changed to one new frigate from China instead.

However, the procurement of new frigates from China is expected to cost around 14,000,000,000 baht ($387,403,800) CSTC China has not provided any comment to the author, saying only that this is a matter that needs to be discussed at the Thai and Chinese government level, not with the company.

(AAG)