The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) has recommended the acquisition of the Saab Gripen E/F after an evaluation between the Swedish type and the Lockheed Martin F-16.
The commander of the RTAF, Phanphakdee Phattakul, has forwarded the Gripen E recommendation to the government, according to a report by the Bangkok Post, quoting an anonymous source.
The recommendation comes after a lengthy analysis of the Gripen E/F and F-16 Block 70/72.
Following the downselect, the government must approve any Gripen order, which must also work its way through the Thai government’s budgetary process.
FlightGlobal understands that in addition to 12 fighters, Bangkok also requires both direct and indirect offsets.
It is understood that the US government has recommended both new F-16 Block 70/72s or refurbished F-16s. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, however, has yet to post Foreign Military Sales notification about any possible sale to Thailand.
Financing appears to be a challenge with obtaining the US fighter. According to a recent Bangkok Post report citing defence minister Sutin Klungsang, US Ambassador to Thailand Robert Godec offered Bangkok the opportunity to obtain F-16s via a loan arrangement.
Obtaining the fighters via a loan would allow more aircraft to be obtained, but Klungsang was reported as saying that the interest rate is “too high”.
The RTAF has experience with both the F-16 and Gripen. Cirium fleets data indicates that it operates 47 F-16A/Bs with an average age of 34.3 years, and 11 Gripen C/Ds with an average age of 12.5 years.
In March, an RTAF white paper outlined its requirements for new aircraft but suggested a lack of progress since a similar white paper from 2020.
The white paper again requested the replacement of F-16s serving with 102 Sqn. Whereas the 2020 white paper called for 12 new fighters to be obtained from 2023-2028, the updated white paper pushes the timeframe back, seeing a need for 12-14 fighters to be acquired between 2025 and 2034.
