The RTN commissioned a single Bhumibol Adulyadej-class frigate, built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (now Hanwha Ocean) in January 2019, but the navy always wanted additional hulls.
Indeed, the Navy’s latest white paper lists a requirement for up to four new frigates over the coming 14 years, and it wants to construct them domestically. In fact, this 2023 white paper had frigates at the top of its list of six most important programmes, with an estimated budget of THB80.4 billion (USD2.28 billion).
The RTN has older vessels like one remaining Ratanakosin-class corvette (the other, HTMS Sukhothai, sank last December), four Chao Phraya-class frigates (the Chinese-built Type 053HT dating from 1990-91) and two Naruesan-class frigates (Chinese-built Type 053 commissioned in 1994-95) that need replacement.
No tender has yet been issued for the first or subsequent frigates, with vessels likely to be only contracted one at a time. An informal request for information has occurred, and vendors that Naval News spoke to at Defense & Security 2023 thought a formal tender may appear next year.
Overseas contenders present at the Bangkok event with potential frigate designs included Babcock, China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), Damen, Hanwha Ocean and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS).
TKMS announced a tie-up with Thai shipbuilder Marsun, and they were jointly promoting the MEKO A-100 at Defense & Security 2023. The MEKO A-100 displaces 3,500 tonnes and it measures 107m long.
(Credit: Gordon Arthur)
This relationship between TKMS and Marsun goes back 20 years. If selected, Marsun would build the frigate at the RTN-owned Mahidol Adulyadej Naval Dockyard in Sattahip. They would adapt weapons and systems to match those already in use by the RTN.
Meanwhile, Babcock was promoting the Arrowhead 140 to Thailand. This is the design selected by the Royal Navy for its Type 31 Inspiration-class frigates, as well as by Poland and Indonesia.
Babcock is actively seeking a Thai shipbuilding partner, but its willingness to transfer technology is undisputed given that it is already assisting Remontowa in Poland and PT PAL in Indonesia with their respective Arrowhead 140 projects.
Next, Damen is offering Thailand its SIGMA 10514 frigate, with a scale model of the design on display. Mexico has adopted this SIGMA 10514 design, while Indonesia constructed two Martadinata-class frigates. Damen, too, is seeking a Thai industrial partner.
Hanwha Ocean showed a model of a 2,000-tonne frigate, and the South Korean shipbuilder should be perhaps the most hopeful, given that a second frigate like HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej would make the greatest sense in terms of commonality. A spokesman said Hanwha Ocean is willing and able to build the vessel in Thailand.
However, Hanwha Ocean and everyone else must wait for explicit technical requirements to emerge from the Thai navy.
Submarine budget for frigate procurement
Separately, Thailand’s kerfuffle with China over its S26T diesel-electric submarine may see a frigate separately procured there too. On 20 October, Thai Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang announced a proposal to use the submarine budget for a frigate instead. He stated, “The submarine project is not scrapped but will be shelved for a certain period … It will resume when the country is ready.”
He noted that Sino-Thai strategic cooperation was too important for the sale to be annulled completely. Sutin said purchasing a frigate was “the best way out”, even if its estimated THB17 billion (USD469.2 million) price tag is more than that of a submarine.
However, a Chinese frigate would add unnecessary complication for the RTN, since it would have no systems in common with existing Western-derived warships.
The senseless complexity of Thai naval procurements is illustrated by the Type 071E landing platform dock, HTMS Chang, received earlier this year. Built by CSSC, it was delivered without combat systems or weapons, as the RTN will retrofit Western systems into the hull. This is an expensive, technically risky and slow method of building a fleet. Ironically, one of HTMS Chang’s missions was to act as submarine tender, so that is obviously off the cards at the moment.
The possibility of a solitary “orphan” Chinese frigate has led some to suggest that a pair of OPVs purchased from China might be more logical, as at least they would constitute a class in themselves.
Given that the navy’s 2023 white paper emphasised commonality in military equipment, that pledge may quickly be broken. Saab has previously retrofitted its 9LV combat management system and various sensors on Thai ships, and it would be logical to continue this on future frigates.
CSSC displayed a range of vessels at Defense & Security 2023, all of which it described as “frigates”. One was a 6,000-tonne vessel based on the Type 052D destroyer, another was a 4,000-tonne Type 054A frigate, and the third was a 1,500-tonne corvette based on the Type 056.
Naval News asked CSSC about the submarine and frigate issue, but a representative only said the problem was being discussed at higher levels.
BAE Systems is not interested in offering the Type 26/Hunter-class design to the RTN, as it is presumably over-specified compared to what the RTN requires. However, the company showed a model of its Krabi-class OPV, of which Bangkok Dock built two 90m examples in 2013 and 2019 under a licensing agreement.
Such is the status of shipbuilding in Southeast Asia, where countries are able to build OPVs indigenously, that BAE Systems must seek partnerships with local shipbuilders to support them in their shipbuilding endeavours. Thailand needs up to four additional OPVs.
One issue with the Krabi-class OPV is that the platform does not have a helicopter hangar. This absence could be overcome by a 94m or 111m OPV jointly proposed by BAE Systems and Bangkok Dock.
