태국, F-16ADF 12기를 대체해 그리펜/바이퍼 도입 추진

[위종민]

태국 공군 참모총장이 이번 달 스웨덴과 미국을 방문해 F-16A/ADF 12기를 대체할 그리펜이나 F-16V 도입에 대한 세부 사항을 논의할 예정이라고 합니다. 시일이 촉박해 기종은 6월에 결정한다고 하네요. 

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Defense/Thai-air-force-to-replace-12-fighter-jets-with-new-planes

Thai air force to replace 12 fighter jets with new planes

Thai air force to replace 12 fighter jets with new planes

Kingdom eyes technology transfer in deals with Sweden, U.S.

A Thai air force F-16 performs during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, northeast of Bangkok, in 2015.   © Reuters

MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR, Asia regional correspondentMay 7, 2024 11:24 JST

BANGKOK -- Thailand's air force chief will fly to Sweden and the U.S. this month to discuss details of a planned procurement of new fighter jets, a deal that could include a technology transfer agreement to foster the Southeast Asian country's nascent arms industry.

Air Chief Marshal Panpakdee Pattanakul's sights are set on either the Swedish-made Gripen or the U.S.-made F-16 Block 70/72 to replace a squadron of 12 aging F-16 As and F-16 ADFs. The plan was spelled out earlier this year in a white paper the Thai air force released to explain its security assessment for the 2024-2037 period.

Defense Ministry sources say the clock is ticking for the air force to finalize the deal, with a special procurement committee scheduled to decide in June which squadron gets the green light. 

The purchase plan has also gained urgency after Bangkok had to launch jets to patrol Thailand's western border through April as the civil war in neighboring Myanmar worsened.

Cabinet approval for funds from the budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which begins in October this year, has been endorsed in principle, but it can still be subject to cuts ahead of the vote on the budget. The first phase of procuring four jets out of the planned 12 is estimated to cost 19 billion baht ($517 million).

As a sweetener to win political support, the air force chief has agreed to include an "offset" clause in the contract. An offset requires the seller to compensate buyer through licensed production, subcontractor production, technology transfer or foreign investment.

That condition has already created bipartisan support in Thailand's parliament for the deal. "This will ensure economic and technological benefits for Thailand, so it is important to have these clauses as a form of compensation," Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, a lawmaker with the opposition Move Forward Party and head of the parliamentary committee on the armed forces, told Nikkei Asia. It echoes similar sentiments expressed by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin during his meetings earlier this year with Panpakdee, according to government insiders.

A Swedish-made Gripen aircraft from the Royal Thai Air Force performs during an air show at an air base in Bangkok in 2013.   © Reuters

Bangkok already has 50 F-16s in its fleet and a squadron of Gripens, which it purchased in 2008, becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to buy the Swedish multirole fighters.

Military analysts say Thailand's demand for an offset revises an old policy. "They have been part of arms deals in the 1990s and early 2000s, but seem to have 'hibernated' for some time until now," said Siemon Wezeman, a senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a Swedish think tank that tracks the global arms industry.

The Thai army's truck-mounted multiple-launch rocket system illustrates a previous offset, which followed a deal struck with China to locally develop a guided rocket system based on a Chinese model to cover the 70- to 150-kilometer range.

Thai-Chinese ties on the defense front have come under scrutiny among Bangkok-based Western intelligence officials. The Thai army and navy have both turned to China for hardware, while the air force remains wedded to its Western defense links. 

"It is about protecting defense technology, and concerns that the Chinese may get access during their interactions with the Thais," said one intelligence source at a Western mission. "This will be a factor due to come up with Thailand's plans to buy the fighter jets."

[백선호]

2002-2003년에 도입했네요.

https://www.f-16.net/f-16_users_article20.html

On July 14th, 2000, the Thai government decided to purchase 16 F-16s (15 A's and 1 B in the ADF version) to establish a third F-16 squadron. The aircraft were delivered in August and October 2002 and the remainder in July 2003. Also 2 block 10OCU aircraft were purchased for spare parts reclamation.

Standard air-to-air armament is the AIM-9 Sidewinder. In 1995, the RTAF acquired a number of Python 3 missiles, followed by AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles in 2003.

[위종민]

4대는 퇴역한 모양이네요. 중고기 도입한 지 20년이니 교체할 때가 되긴 됐군요. 바이퍼 생산라인이 거진 풀가동률이라고 하던데 신속히 도입 가능한 그리펜이 팔릴 수도 있겠습니다.