East Timor (ET) is an avid collector of old patrol boats or boats have been thrust on it from countries seeking influence. So far patrol boats have been gifted by Portugal (2001), China (2010) and South Korea (2011).
The ET government also ordered or tried to order (by soft loan purchase) two patrol boats from Indonesian shipbuilder PT Pal in 2011 for $US40 million.[79]
The ET government also ordered or tried to order (by soft loan purchase) two patrol boats from Indonesian shipbuilder PT Pal in 2011 for $US40 million.[79]
In 2017 ET accepted a gift of two new Guardian-class patrol boats and associated training and logistics assistance from the Australia. The vessels are scheduled to be delivered in 2023.
With between 80 and 250 sailors the still new ET navy's ability to absorb and use 4 or 5 very different types of patrol boats will be interesting.
With between 80 and 250 sailors the still new ET navy's ability to absorb and use 4 or 5 very different types of patrol boats will be interesting.
Was it Churchill who said "Never in the course of history have so Many countries thrown so Many boats at such a small Navy crewed by so Few."
With all this throwing of boats and money around ET might do well to reject some offers OR might there be a temptation to use some unused patrol boats for quiet carriage of high value commodities?
4 comments:
Hi Pete,
When I made that statement I was clear that it was an assumption on my part that the retired RSN Fearless-class PVs could be gifted to other navies, as their 76mm Oto Melera cannons were not removed and refurbished to arm at least some of the latter Independence LMVs (all 8 systems for the LMV were purchased new) I mentioned East Timor as an example, but historically Singapore has transferred military equipment to the Philippines in the past, including 20 UH1s that were refurbished and sold for US$20 million
Thanks Shawn C
I have just removed mention of Singapore and its boats from the ET article.
Thanks for the possible Philippines destination tip.
Cheers
Pete
I believe the first three LMV's did receieve three guns from the PVs, although I do not know if they were subsequently replaced. Would you happen to know when the new guns were purchased and whether they were Compact or SR models?
Correction: the first 3 could have received their guns from the MGBs, which had been moored at Tuas with A gun removed for some time.
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