Posted on 09/16/2015 12:33:23 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
China is trying to sell two submarines to Egypt that are cheaper than vessels on offer from Germany, industry sources told Reuters, as Beijing looks to expand weapons exports beyond its traditional customer base in Asia.
Beijing has sought to undercut Western submarine makers on price and by offering attractive export-credit terms for sales in Asia, the sources said. It has won deals with Pakistan and Bangladesh so far.
China displaced Germany as the world's third-largest arms exporter, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in March, though nearly 70 percent of those weapons went to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
An Egyptian military source said China had offered to sell submarines to Cairo.
"We are studying it, but it is not an easy decision," said the source, who declined to give details or be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
An Egyptian military spokesman said he "had no official details" on the issue. China's Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Two industry sources familiar with the matter said Cairo wanted two more submarines after ordering an initial two from ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) (TKAG.DE) of Germany in 2011 that are set to be delivered in 2017. TKMS has been in talks with Egypt for the additional two, they said.
While TKMS declined to comment, Germany's Economy Ministry said it had authorized the construction of the two additional submarines for Egypt.
In a sign of developing ties, German company Siemens (SIEGn.DE) signed an 8 billion euro ($9.05 billion) deal with Egypt in June to supply gas and wind power plants.
Beijing had asked Egypt to consider its newer submarines as a lower-cost alternative, the sources said, adding they did not know the ty
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Good luck with that, China.
Hmmm... do we want a Mercedes submarine or a Wal-Mart submarine?
Well, we are muslims. Let’s go with Wal-Mart!
(On the other hand, I’m not against seeing Germany lose business as they are complicit in flooding Europe with muslims.)
Who in their right mind would crew on a boat made by Harbor Freight?
Lol...so what do you bet your life on? The German made sub or the cut-rate Chinese sub that comes with an offer of free screens for the windows?
I wouldn’t want underestimate the prowess of a country that makes pretty much all the electronics I (and you) use today, builds modern passenger aircraft (Airbus and Embraer), and is one of the largest shipbuilding nations on earth.
I find it rather bizarre the Egypt even wants/needs a submarine...
...seriously a 3rd world Christian persecuting country needs a sub?
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