F-16 Jet Fighters To Be Decommissioned In Next 5 Years: Air Force Chief

[webfact]

 

AIR FORCE CHIEF ACM Panpakdee Pattanakul today (Oct.4) confirmed a squadron of US-made jet fighters at a major air base in Nakhon Ratchasima will be decommissioned in the next five years.

 

ACM Panpakdee said a new squadron of jet fighters are yet to be procured in place of the ageing General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon jets which are currently deployed at Wing 1 air base and scheduled to be decommissioned from 2028.

 

A procurement plan for a new squadron of jet fighters to replace the F-16s might probably be submitted for approval by the government as soon as in fiscal 2025, the air force chief said.

 

By Thai Newsroom Reporters

 A Thai air force F-16 Fighting Falcon jet flying high.  Photo: Thai Rath

 

Full story: THAI NEWSROOM 2023-10-05

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

[Gknrd]

Good news, I hope they buy the Chinese fighter jets.. I saw a documentary on them.. The most unreliable and useless planes being sold on the market.. I don't remember what country that bought a bunch of them now , but they were saying they were all but useless pieces of garbage.

[RichardColeman]

Sounds like a reason the military will start ranting about the ban on new procurement to me

[Sydebolle]

Aha, a new shopping list in the making .......... well, no surprises here unfortunately 8-) 

[ezzra]

Those F16 are a mean flying machine and can still pack a punch in either battle and reconnaissance  works (more than enough for Thailand needs anyway) and if they will go a proper refurbishment, they can fly at least 10 more years, but it seems that someone decided to it's time to spend few billions for new aircraft that will do the same job those F16 can do....

Edited October 4, 2023 by ezzra

[IAMHERE]

Now is the time to negotiate with the USA for where the F-16's can be given to. Given as in the USA will reimburse Thailand for if the F-16's go to the Ukraine. 

[sammieuk1]

All you need is a few spitfires as your never likely to fight anybody ????

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, Sydebolle said:

Aha, a new shopping list in the making .......... well, no surprises here unfortunately 8-) 

Srettha's pulled the purse strings tight on military expenditure.

[rwill]

Get some jets with no engines to put alongside submarines with no engines.

[mfd101]

Quick! We need some F35s or even F22s to meet all contingencies!

[rudi49jr]

Maybe give them to Ukraine?

[John Drake]

Go fly a kite. Instead.

[PETERTHEEATER]

8 hours ago, ezzra said:

Those F16 are a mean flying machine and can still pack a punch in either battle and reconnaissance  works (more than enough for Thailand needs anyway) and if they will go a proper refurbishment, they can fly at least 10 more years, but it seems that someone decided to it's time to spend few billions for new aircraft that will do the same job those F16 can do....

Airframes have an ultimate fatigue life which can be controlled to some degree by limiting high-G flight manouvres. Fatigue life might be extended by refurbishment but at high cost making it uneconomical. I suspect the RTAF will, sensibly, plan ahead to procure replacements.

[PETERTHEEATER]

59 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Go fly a kite. Instead.

That's a Thai language expression not known to Isaac Newton.????

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, rudi49jr said:

Maybe give them to Ukraine?

I certainly hope that the war in Ukraine will be well over by the time these aircraft become available.

[Moonlover]

9 hours ago, Gknrd said:

Good news, I hope they buy the Chinese fighter jets.. I saw a documentary on them.. The most unreliable and useless planes being sold on the market.. I don't remember what country that bought a bunch of them now , but they were saying they were all but useless pieces of garbage.

So why do you hope that the RTAF precure 'useless pieces of garbage?'

[Poilu]

9 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

All you need is a few spitfires as your never likely to fight anybody ????

They would demand Messerschmitt 109 because it has Benz engine.

[Moonlover]

3 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

12 hours ago, ezzra said:

Those F16 are a mean flying machine and can still pack a punch in either battle and reconnaissance  works (more than enough for Thailand needs anyway) and if they will go a proper refurbishment, they can fly at least 10 more years, but it seems that someone decided to it's time to spend few billions for new aircraft that will do the same job those F16 can do....

 

3 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Airframes have an ultimate fatigue life which can be controlled to some degree by limiting high-G flight manouvres. Fatigue life might be extended by refurbishment but at high cost making it uneconomical. I suspect the RTAF will, sensibly, plan ahead to procure replacements.

The RTAF could do a lot worse than replacing them with the latest version of the F16. They are still in production in a much updated form and are likely to remain so for many years. As @ezzra says they are an excellent aircraft and it would make assimilation a much easier task.

[Sydebolle]

On 10/5/2023 at 6:47 AM, hotchilli said:

Srettha's pulled the purse strings tight on military expenditure.

Never forget who put Srettha into the driver's seat in the first place. Absolutely nothing happens in the Land of Smiles without the blessing of the boys in uniform - since 1932 that is ???? 
So he will be walking a tight rope if he wants to interfere with his ideas on their shopping list 8-)