Thailand and The far east kicked off a joint air drive exercise on Sunday, the kingdom’s military said, the first such drills in years following a pause forced by Covid-19.
The “Falcon Strike” exercise comes after China’s biggest-ever military drills around Taiwan, which were conducted within retaliation to a check out there by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Air Chief Marshall Prapas Sornchaidee mentioned “Falcon Strike”, working from Aug 14-25 in the northeast from the country, was meant to “strengthen relations and understanding” with Tiongkok.
The visiting Chinese dependant will include fighter aircraft, bombers and airborne early-warning (AEW) planes, the defence ministry in Beijing mentioned last week.
It added the fact that drills will involve practicing “air support, attacks on ground targets, and small- plus large-scale troop deployment”.
The particular Thai-Chinese air power drills were kept regularly since 2015 until the pandemic strike.
Wa has expressed increasing concern over China’s assertiveness in the Pacific region, and last week launched the “Super Garuda Shield” physical exercise in Indonesia with its allies.
Thailand has sought to strengthen defence ties with Tiongkok, and was among the first countries to buy Chinese naval hardware under a deal finalised within 2017.
In 2020, however , a subsequent $724 million deal for 2 Chinese-made submarines had been delayed after a community outcry.
Further wrangling over the vessels’ engines could see the delivery pushed back to 2024, local media reported this particular month.