RTN defends 50 million baht drone procurement amid transparency concerns

[webfact]

Picture courtesy of Bangkok Post.

 

by Mitch Connor

On Wednesday, the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) defended a nearly 50 million baht drone training procurement after critics raised concerns regarding the project’s transparency.

 

Admiral Pokkhrong Monthatpalin, RTN spokesperson, affirmed that the project was above board while elaborating on the Naval Ordnance Department‘s 49.8 million baht acquisition of Phoenix Jet Unmanned Aerial Targets from Air Affairs Australia.

Critics questioned why the deal, finalised in 2020, had not been already implemented, suggesting the purchase was postponed to keep the price below the 50 million baht threshold necessary for higher-level authorisation. Admiral Pokkhrong explained that the RTN had a limited budget, which led the department to modify existing units under contract terms, with replacements to be provided later, Bangkok Post reported.

 

He highlighted that the drone procurement was in accordance with the Defence Ministry regulations, which authorised the RTN chief, rather than the department chief, to make the decision.

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/news/national/navy-defends-50-million-baht-drone-procurement-amid-transparency-concerns

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-05-04

 

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[worgeordie]

Toys for the boys , along with the Blimp , bomb detectors, aircraft carrier ,with no aircraft,

just a few things that wasted a lot of taxpayers money , but benefited others ,

 

regards worgeordie

[Will B Good]

So not even real drones.......just ones with which to practice? 

 

The big purchase is yet to come.........Thai people being ripped off again.

[ozz1]

Where did they buy them radio shack don't look sophisticated compared to the us ones

[rbkk]

15 minutes ago, ozz1 said:

Where did they buy them radio shack don't look sophisticated compared to the us ones

 

44 minutes ago, webfact said:

....from Air Affairs Australia.

Oz.

 

[dinsdale]

33 minutes ago, ozz1 said:

Where did they buy them radio shack don't look sophisticated compared to the us ones

Look pretty sophisticated to me. 

Phoenix Jet UAV Target Drone

The Phoenix Jet has been developed specifically for the Defence Industry as a high performance training solution for a variety of gun and air defence missile systems. The Phoenix Jet provides a realistic threat simulation and enhancements such as MDI, Smoke, IR and Luneburg lenses can be added to meet the requirements of a wide range of weapon systems.

 

	Phoenix
Airframe	Composite Construction.
Manoeuvrability	3g Instantaneous. 2g Substained.
Maximum Speed	330+ knots.
Endurance	60 minutes.
Range	100 km.
Minimum Altitude	15 m.
Maximum Altitude	6000 m.
Max Launch Weight	66 kg.
Max Internal Payload	3.5 kg.
Power Plant	40 kg Jet Engine
Launch System	Catapult Launcher.
Recovery System	Parachute.
Augmentation	Luneburg Lens, IFF, Smoke, IR, Acoustic or Doppler MDI.

 

https://www.airaffairs.com.au/products/phoenix-jet-uav/

 

 

[dinsdale]

21 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Look pretty sophisticated to me. 

Phoenix Jet UAV Target Drone

The Phoenix Jet has been developed specifically for the Defence Industry as a high performance training solution for a variety of gun and air defence missile systems. The Phoenix Jet provides a realistic threat simulation and enhancements such as MDI, Smoke, IR and Luneburg lenses can be added to meet the requirements of a wide range of weapon systems.

 

	Phoenix
Airframe	Composite Construction.
Manoeuvrability	3g Instantaneous. 2g Substained.
Maximum Speed	330+ knots.
Endurance	60 minutes.
Range	100 km.
Minimum Altitude	15 m.
Maximum Altitude	6000 m.
Max Launch Weight	66 kg.
Max Internal Payload	3.5 kg.
Power Plant	40 kg Jet Engine
Launch System	Catapult Launcher.
Recovery System	Parachute.
Augmentation	Luneburg Lens, IFF, Smoke, IR, Acoustic or Doppler MDI.

 

https://www.airaffairs.com.au/products/phoenix-jet-uav/

 

 

Well Mr. confused emoji is back. Sorry you're confused about this post which shows, to me at least, that this is a pretty sophisticated piece of training equipment and my post was in respone to a poster saying it doesn't look sophisticated and the mighty USA can do better. Maybe you're less confused now or is the confused emoji the only one you use? As for the purchase maybe the US one is better but also a lot more expensive and this is why the RTN went with the Australian one.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/inno/stories/news/2022/09/08/drone-manufacturer-kratos-navy-contract.html

[khunjeff]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

RTN spokesperson, affirmed that the project was above board

Ok! Well, nothing to worry about then! ????

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Toys for the boys , along with the Blimp , bomb detectors, aircraft carrier ,with no aircraft,

just a few things that wasted a lot of taxpayers money , but benefited others ,

 

regards worgeordie

Gotta keep the commanders in employment.

[Andycoops]

As soon as I see the word transparency in anything to do with the bureaucracy here, I immediately think of opaque...

[TheFishman1]

Somebody in the Navy is getting a big payday TIT

[metisdead]

Some trolling emojis have been removed, a post discussing the trolling emoji usage has been removed: 

 

11. You will not troll or stalk other members by misusing forum posts, private messages, reactions, emojis or by any other means.

[Bundooman]

7 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Toys for the boys , along with the Blimp , bomb detectors, aircraft carrier ,with no aircraft,

just a few things that wasted a lot of taxpayers money , but benefited others ,

 

regards worgeordie

Not to mention the recent RTN Assault ship recently received and the new, 2nd hand Chinese subs that will now have 'other' engines. 

Toys for the boys indeed!

[MrJ2U]

Come on.

 

Now you've got loads of drones with at least 3 years of dated technology.

 

Mind boggling corruption under this Junta.

 

This has to be approved by pryutt the current defense minister but somehow he still garners voters, albeit uneducated,conservative,  and aged. 

[Enoon]

9 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Look pretty sophisticated to me. 

Phoenix Jet UAV Target Drone

The Phoenix Jet has been developed specifically for the Defence Industry as a high performance training solution for a variety of gun and air defence missile systems. The Phoenix Jet provides a realistic threat simulation and enhancements such as MDI, Smoke, IR and Luneburg lenses can be added to meet the requirements of a wide range of weapon systems.

 

	Phoenix
Airframe	Composite Construction.
Manoeuvrability	3g Instantaneous. 2g Substained.
Maximum Speed	330+ knots.
Endurance	60 minutes.
Range	100 km.
Minimum Altitude	15 m.
Maximum Altitude	6000 m.
Max Launch Weight	66 kg.
Max Internal Payload	3.5 kg.
Power Plant	40 kg Jet Engine
Launch System	Catapult Launcher.
Recovery System	Parachute.
Augmentation	Luneburg Lens, IFF, Smoke, IR, Acoustic or Doppler MDI.

 

https://www.airaffairs.com.au/products/phoenix-jet-uav/

 

 

 

Had Thailand even the smallest % of a worthwhile aviation manufacturing industry they would have developed them themselves.

 

It is a true measure of Thailands backward, stalled development, that it utterly failed to create indigenous, independent, motor cycle/automobile/aviation manufacturing industries.

 

 

 

 

 

[djayz]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Admiral Pokkhrong Monthatpalin, RTN spokesperson, affirmed that the project was above board

There you have it. From the horse's mouth. Case closed. We can all rest assured now.