[DIRTYSECRET]

Where they gonna park(hide)it?

[Dogbert41]

What are they buying it with? They have NO MONEY. Just our aid.

[Windflier]

Do Germans really still call submarines ‘U-boats’, or is this just another case of journalistic malpractice?

[Stonewall Jackson]

The Egyptian Navy already has several German warships in its inventory and they have been in the market for a couple of modern subs to replace their aging Romeo-class subs for some time. They had been looking at Russian Kilo's, but these subs would have to be extensively modified to fire the missiles and torpedoes the US has been providing Egypt for years. The German Type-209's would come already set up for such weapon systems.

[Strategerist]

I recently completed my thesis, which was on worldwide naval proliferation.

Basically, the single most important thing I found is that one should never, EVER believe reports about Third World submarine purchases until the subs are actually built and delivered.

Countries like Thailand have supposedly bought submarines 5-6 times in the last 20 years; they still have none. Venezuela has been supposedly buying Russian KILO class submarines for the last 7 years.

You see a lot of panicky articles about some sort of out-of-control worldwide submarine proliferation; actually the total number of subs in the world isn’t rising, and the number of countries with submarines is actually going down. They’re just expensive.

The only countries in the world that actually have a growing sub fleet of any note are China, South Korea, and Vietnam.

The Egyptians desperately need to replace their Romeos (which, remarkably, have been modified to fire US Harpoon missiles) but I can’t conceive of them being able to afford new-build Type 209s; used Type 209s - possibly.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Will these boats actually sink?

If they sink, will they surface again?

[Lil Flower]

We’re building Egyptian gunboats right here in the US.