PUBLISHED: 15 Mar 2024 at 05: 00
Starting in the second half of this year, the Royal Thai Air Force will be looking to purchase either Swedish-built Gripen E-series fighter jets or US-made F-16 Block 70, according to ACM Phanpakdee Pattanakul, the RTAF captain.
He made the brief public while speaking to senior air force personnel who were undergoing professional training at the RTAF headquarters yesterday.
The options have been narrowed down to the Gripen E-series and the F-16 Block 70 because it is impossible to purchase US F-35 fighter jets as originally planned, he said.
The air pressure is considering decommissioning three of the RTAF’s seven existing squadrons because their jets are aging, adding that each regiment has 12 aircraft.
He claimed that the air force must keep maintaining the same amount of combatants to assist both teaching and operations and to keep up with the number of fighters maintained by Thailand’s neighbors.
The new jet may replace the abandoned ones, he added.
A panel has been set up to determine which of the two fighter jet types will provide the best price, he noted.
The air pressure requested 19 billion baht for the first four new fighter planes for the fiscal year 2025, which will begin in October, according to a cause. The flight procurement plan should start in May or June of this year if the cabinet approves the request.
The weather department’s white paper includes a list of its future development objectives, including the aircraft procurement initiative.
A master plan to employ particle AI technologies, which combines advanced machine learning with quantum computing, is one of the other significant areas of air force development, according to AMC Phanpakdee.
As the weather push reduces its personnel while maximising its potential, he said, this R&, D plan may be put into practice.