{"id":12896,"date":"2024-08-28T16:44:08","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T15:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=12896"},"modified":"2024-08-28T16:44:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T15:44:08","slug":"thailands-air-force-supports-buying-gripen-fighters-over-f-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/analysis\/defense\/thailands-air-force-supports-buying-gripen-fighters-over-f-16\/2024\/08\/28\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"Thailand\u2019s air force supports buying Gripen fighters over F-16"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, August 28\/BreakingDefense<\/a>\/ — Thailand\u2019s military has publicly endorsed the Saab Gripen E\/F as its preferred choice for the country’s next-generation fighter jet, a decision the Swedish company has welcomed as \u201cvery positive,\u201d though still preliminary.<\/p>\n

In a statement posted on the Royal Thai Air Force\u2019s official Facebook page, the Gripen was identified as the \u201cmost suitable\u201d option for modernising its fleet. While the Thai government will make the final decision, and could potentially override the military’s recommendation, this endorsement marks a significant public show of support for the Swedish aircraft over its competitor, the Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70\/72.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Saab confirmed the Air Force\u2019s announcement, stating, \u201cThis is clearly very positive for Saab and for Sweden, but at this point, there is no contract or order in place. We look forward to continuing discussions with the Royal Thai Air Force and the authorities regarding future fighter capabilities for Thailand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Royal Thai Air Force is seeking to replace ageing US-made F-16 fighter jets with the Swedish Gripen model.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Previous reports suggested the Air Force was leaning towards the Gripen, but this is the first official confirmation of that preference. According to the Bangkok Post, a key factor in the decision was the industrial offsets each manufacturer offered, though specifics of these deals remain undisclosed.<\/p>\n

Reuters reports that the Thai government has allocated approximately $560 million to purchase four new jets between 2025 and 2029, with plans to acquire an additional eight by 2034. Thailand currently operates older versions of both the Gripen and the F-16, which should ease the transition for pilots to the next-generation aircraft, regardless of the final choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, August 28\/BreakingDefense\/ — Thailand\u2019s military has publicly endorsed the Saab Gripen E\/F as its preferred choice for the country’s next-generation fighter jet, a decision the Swedish company has welcomed as \u201cvery positive,\u201d though still preliminary. In a statement posted on the Royal Thai Air Force\u2019s official Facebook page, the Gripen was identified as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[26,2444],"tags":[8850,8926,8965,8966,8967,124,982,8379],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Thai-Air-force.jpg","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12896"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12900,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12896\/revisions\/12900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}