Royal Thai Navy to Buy German Submarines

For the past three decades, the Thai navy has been trying to procure a new fleet of submarines. It is possible that in 2012, the Thai government will finally approve the purchase of six secondhand submarines from the German Navy in a government-to-government deal worth 7.5 billion baht. The six submarines are Type 206s. Each of them has the displacement of between 400 to 500 tons, test-depth of 400 fathoms, the main armament of eight 533 mm torpedo tubes; 16 torpedoes can be carried on board at a time and operated by a crew of not exceeding 33. The submarines have a speed of 20 knots (surface) and 12 knots (submerged). Thanks to Thai Asean News Network.