You know what's crazy there, SC bro? The work to build the 3rd (out of 4 orderd) Meko A200 Frigate just started at the German shipyard which means that the first and 2nd are completed and the as this one gets done, the 4th will start being built at the Alexandria shipyard ISA according to the contract. The speed at which these things are being put together is insane!
The first Meko will be launched in March and undergo sea trials etc. and eventually delivered to the ENF. It'll really be something to improve the number of frigates which is what interestingly enough is what we were saying way back when they received the French FREMM.
So the frigates in the ENF will be:
1) 1 French FREMM
2) 2 Italian FREMMs Berghamini class
3) 4 Meko A200
for a total of 7 frigates. The corvette numbers are tough to figure out at the moment since we don't really know if the ENF signed the Italian deal for those 20 smaller corvettes. Either way, the numbers should end up being very satisfying but the Frigates are looking good and I have a feeling there will be another deal that will raise that number from 7 to possible 9 or even 12 to come soon. Just amazing the pace of this naval modernization.
At first I was thinking the heck with anything French right now because of the way the Rafale deal has gone and the sour taste we've gotten from those dealings. And until Dassault agrees to at least the option for 12 more, I don't think we should deal with them at all and exercise that ability to go somewhere else and not be tied down to one supplier that we've worked so hard to establish. But then I looked at the specs of that Scorpene submarine as well as the SMX Ocean and, assuming that the French would be anywhere near serious about offering the ENF that type of submarine for high seas, then perhaps it might be worth at least listening to and seeing what the offer is.
I find it interesting that the ENF would even be interested in a high seas submarine in the first place. I don't think the French or the Germans would offer them out of the blue unless our boys inquired about them. Which leads me to this thought which is what are they thinking of doing with those? Are they planning on venturing outside of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea (although the Red Sea is awfully shallow in total for any submarine really and most of the work and patrolling would be further down in the gulf of Suez where it starts to get much deeper and conducive to submarine travel. But with a high seas sub, they must be thinking of venturing much further out into the Indian Ocean and perhaps to the Arabian Sea or even all around Africa. Some fascinating thoughts that accompany this possibility. What are your thoughts? And
@Kellar777 what do you think about these subs in the ENF? And other members too? Haven't seen
@ARCH٤R for a while or
@HD Seeker-5000 or even
@Philip the Arab has been missing for a little while.
