Thailand is boosting its military capabilities, with major programs including modernization of four more Northrop Grumman F-5E/F Tigers and the acquisition of Korea Aerospace Industries T-50 trainers, Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters, maritime patrol aircraft and Saab JAS 39C/D Gripen fighters.

Chinese equipment, including a submarine, is prominent in Thailand’s planning too, though the government in Bangkok emphasizes that Beijing is not an exclusive supplier. Thailand has a long history of buying military equipment from diverse sources, including China.

The acquisitions appear to be part of a 10-year military modernization scheme. The plan, disclosed last year, calls for increasing defense spending to rise to 2% of gross domestic product by 2020 from the current 1.4%. The military’s stated requirements point to likely future orders.

Modernizing the four Tigers, buying Black Hawks and the purchase of the additional T-50s will alone cost more than US$1 billion, raising concerns in a country where economic growth has lagged neighbors’ in recent years. 

The extensive Tiger upgrade will keep the type flying in the Royal Thai Air Force until well into the 2030s. Approval of the work follows a decision in 2015 to upgrade 10 F-5s. The RTAF has about 16 F-5Es, which are single-seat fighters, and 11 F-5Fs, with two seats.

Apparently led by the Elbit Systems unit of Israel Aerospace Industries, the F-5 upgrade is remarkable in its scope for an aircraft of such dated design (F-5 development began in the 1950s). Thailand is replacing avionics and the radar and adding new weapons, a data link, and a helmet-mounted display and targeting pod, yielding the new “Super Tigris.” 

Each airframe is expected to gain 2,400 flight hours of life, keeping Thailand’s F-5s flying for 15 more years. Thailand’s other fighters are JAS 39C/Ds and Lockheed Martin F-16A/B Fighting Falcons.

In July, the Thai cabinet approved the purchase of eight T-50s to supplement four ordered two years before, called T-50THs and due for delivery from this year. The new order is worth US$258 million. The 2015 contract was valued at US$110 million.

“You can see that we are not tied to one particular country,” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said after the cabinet meeting, referring to China. Earlier orders for a Chinese submarine and tanks prompted accusations that his administration, which took power in a coup in 2014, was tied to China.

T-50s will replace Aero L-39 trainers, of which the RTAF operates about 35 as lead-in fighter trainers. The number of L-39s suggests more T-50s are planned. T-50s of the second batch will probably be wired for weapons – as were the four ordered in 2015 – so they will have the capabilities of the FA-50 light attack version.

Six Thai pilots have been in South Korea flying T-50s ahead of the first deliveries. They are undergoing a 17-week conversion course. Thailand will be the third Southeast Asian user of the T-50, after Indonesia and the Philippines.