TSAMTO, July 29th. The Thai Air Force has received another pair of T-50TH Golden Eagle jet training aircraft from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI).
As reported by Defense-studies.blogspot.com On July 15, photos of the arrival of two T-50TH TCBMs (registration numbers 40113 and 40114) for the Thai Air Force were distributed on several Thai social networks.
The aircraft were delivered by a Boeing 747 aircraft from Korean Air Cargo in a semi-disassembled form and transported to the hangar of the 401st Squadron of the 4th Air Wing for reassembly.
As already reported by TSAMTO, the first information about the intention of the Thai Air Force to conclude a contract for the supply of two additional T-50TH appeared in mid-July 2021. 2.36 billion rubles were allocated for procurement in the budget for 2022. baht (about $72 million).
On August 2, 2021, Korea Aerospace Industries announced the signing of a contract with the Thai Air Force Command for the supply of two T-50TH Golden Eagles. According to the Yonhap news agency, the cost of the agreement amounted to $ 78 million. The contract provided for the supply of two T-50TH TCBMS, related equipment, as well as support, maintenance and training packages.
This acquisition increased the Thai Air Force's T-50TH fleet to 14 units. The first agreement with Korea Aerospace Industries for the supply of four T-50TH TCBMS was signed by the Thai Air Force in September 2015. Its cost was 3.7 billion. baht ($110 million). The contract for the supply of eight more T-50TH aircraft was signed with KAI on July 29, 2017. The sale value is estimated at 8.8 billion. baht ($258 million).
The delivery of the Thai Air Force TCB began in January 2018. In April 2018, the first four T-50TH were officially put into service. As of August 2021, 8 aircraft were reported to have been delivered. All TCBMs were adopted by the 401st Squadron of the 4th Air Wing, which was previously equipped with outdated L-39ZA/ART Albatross.
As part of the third phase of the project, a contract worth 60 billion was signed in 2019. won ($52 million), which provides for the modernization of aircraft with their equipment of the EL/M-2032 radar, radar radiation warning system and other equipment.
At the fourth stage of the project, it was initially planned to purchase 4 additional aircraft, but the COVID-19 pandemic made adjustments to the plans of the Thai Air Force. In February 2020, the Thai Air Force released the Defense White Paper 2020, which is a plan for the procurement and modernization of weapons in the near future. One of the points was the purchase of two additional T-50TN by 2022. Nevertheless, in April 2020, the Thai government decided to suspend the purchase of additional T-50TH TCBMs in order to redirect funds from the defense budget to overcome the crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In the middle of 2021, the program resumed.
According to information published in February this year in the "White Paper on Defense 2024", it is planned to purchase two additional T-50TH Golden Eagle jet aircraft in the period 2025-2028. Thus, the total number of aircraft of this type in the 401st squadron should increase to 16 units.
In addition, in the "White Paper on Defense 2024", the Thai Air Force revealed plans to purchase 12-14 new fighters to replace the outdated F-16A/B aircraft in service with the 102nd Squadron in the period from 2025 to 2034.
The T-50TH light fighter/training aircraft of the Thai Air Force is a version of the KAI T-50 jet training aircraft, which is integrated with the Link-TH network data transmission system developed in Thailand and is capable of using short-range IRIS-T air-to-air missiles of the German Diehl. KAI also offered to upgrade the aircraft to the FA-50 Block standard.20 with the possibility of using the Sniper ATP container guidance module and AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles.
