US to sell military helicopters to Thailand

[EyesWideOpen]

So Thailand has had second thoughts about buying crappy Chinese military equipment ?? :-)

Unlike the USA which imports trillions of dollars worth of 'crappy' Chinese goods every year.

Hard to equate military hardware which is used to protect your country, with a crappy Chinese tool that breaks the first time you use it. But go ahead and try... :-)

Personally I'd think twice about buying military hardware from a country that hasn't won a war in more than 60 years.

Well at least with America there is a history of war, and a somewhat distant win. The only thing China has done on the world stage of warfare is to be used as a whipping post by Japan.... Besides any equipment China has for sale is probably a bad copy reverse engineered from an older piece of American hardware.

[billd766]

From Wikipedia

And that folks is the bottom line on flyaway costs.

Call it 6M $USD x 6 helicopters = 36M $USD. Where does the other $USD 41M fly away to?

Role Light utility helicopter National origin Multinational Manufacturer Eurocopter
American Eurocopter (assembly) First flight 2006 Introduction 2007 Status In service Primary user United States Army Produced 2006–present Number built 250^[1]Unit cost US$5.9 million (flyaway cost, FY2012)^[2]

[CPT]

From Wikipedia

And that folks is the bottom line on flyaway costs.

Call it 6M $USD x 6 helicopters = 36M $USD. Where does the other $USD 41M fly away to?

Role Light utility helicopter National origin Multinational Manufacturer Eurocopter

American Eurocopter (assembly) First flight 2006 Introduction 2007 Status In service Primary user United States Army Produced 2006–present Number built 250^[1]Unit cost US$5.9 million (flyaway cost, FY2012)^[2]

There is bound to be a huge difference in per unit fly away costs for the US order of 345 vs the Thai order of 6.

[Nowhereman60]

Do they really cost that much per aircraft?

they are the best made by American labor with Chinese parts.

[PoodMaiDai]

The fact is, it really doesn't matter how much they cost. Thailand's not paying for the Americans are. We given so much

money to this welfare state that the monies being used is nothing more than the American Tax payers sweat and if they live here," Blood" in some cases

<deleted> ??? The article clearly says this transaction is a sale. The USA is broke, it cannot afford to give away helicopters to third world countries....

Yet they print and borrow so they can.

Give aid to foreign countries. Said foreign countries loses the money via corruption or spends it on military weapons from the USA. The people never see a dollar. It's the same the world over.

Of course, if they don't have aid money they borrow it from a Central Bank. And you know how they cycle goes.

[55Jay]

If they are going to spend that kind of money on a 7-seater, might as well go "Above and Beyond".

* Pearl White add $1,000,000.00

** Delivery in 23 months

[stoli]

Do they really cost that much per aircraft?

Not a bad price actually. I was surprised they were so cheap. About the same price of the Ferrari that the Red Bull heir was driving. lol

[antfish]

So Thailand has had second thoughts about buying crappy Chinese military equipment ?? :-)

just follow the money.

[colin2]

Its realy a Luxury car !. Customs will be baffled as to how they got into the country !.

[Spalpeen]

Hard to equate military hardware which is used to protect your country, with a crappy Chinese tool that breaks the first time you use it. But go ahead and try... :-)

Personally I'd think twice about buying military hardware from a country that hasn't won a war in more than 60 years.

Well at least with America there is a history of war, and a somewhat distant win. The only thing China has done on the world stage of warfare is to be used as a whipping post by Japan.... Besides any equipment China has for sale is probably a bad copy reverse engineered from an older piece of American hardware.

It's true that Chinese helicopters, like this Z10, are still some way behind the American versions, but the Chinese are busy rummaging around in the hard drives of American aerospace firms so it probably won't be long before they catch up.

[Tboy928]

For those interested in what they look like ...

I just hope to hell that they maintain them better then those which have crashed in the past.

.

they need sell them with 2 American mecanics, seems when a Thai start to touch them ,they start fall down like flies..

[KuhnPaen]

So Thailand has had second thoughts about buying crappy Chinese military equipment ?? :-)

Unlike the USA which imports trillions of dollars worth of 'crappy' Chinese goods every year.

Hard to equate military hardware which is used to protect your country, with a crappy Chinese tool that breaks the first time you use it. But go ahead and try... :-)

Personally I'd think twice about buying military hardware from a country that hasn't won a war in more than 60 years.

So England, France, Russia and Germany--who are huge arms suppliers, should not sell weapons either? Psst...in case you didn't get the memo---countries like to fight "un-winable, contained conflicts" --it's good for business.

Edited June 22, 2013 by KuhnPaen

[lee b]

suppose they could be usefull, but seem expensive, never knew they cost that much.

[monkey4u]

Do they really cost that much per aircraft?

In Thailand they do

[BuddyPinkham]

Who is going to fly them? Or do they now know how to keep them in the air?

[surangw]

they should upgrade their comm equipment first , they are still using viet nam ( U S issue) sets in the field

as for the lakota deal, some middle men are making huge bux.

[cobra1]

youre all slagging off Thailands maintenance capabilities on this copters but how many of us westerners can repair a puncture on a scooter in 5minutes 6 seconds for 25 baht and get the correct air pressure of 25psi with out a air gauge

[Spalpeen]

youre all slagging off Thailands maintenance capabilities on this copters but how many of us westerners can repair a puncture on a scooter in 5minutes 6 seconds for 25 baht and get the correct air pressure of 25psi with out a air gauge

The Royal Thai Air Force are still operating F5 fighters and Huey helicopters, both of which are at least 40 years old, so they must have some aptitude for maintenance. (The USAF, of course, still operates 50 year old B52's).

[thaicbr]

Do they really cost that much per aircraft?

In Thailand they do  

Don't forget the import tax for luxury vehicle

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

[geriatrickid]

The fact is, it really doesn't matter how much they cost. Thailand's not paying for the Americans are. We given so much

money to this welfare state that the monies being used is nothing more than the American Tax payers sweat and if they live here," Blood" in some cases

The published numbers are show otherwise. Do you even know how much money the USA has given to Thailand in the past 5 years? There was a big surge in 2012 as flood relief caused an increase to a whopping $15million. To date in 2013 the amount of aid disbursed is $4.1million. Overall the trend has been to diminished numbers. The money is spent on specific projects almost all of which are non military in nature. Here are the US government numbers and an explanation in easy to read charts.

http://foreignassistance.gov/OU.aspx?OUID=326&FY=2014&AgencyID=0&budTab=tab_Bud_Overview

[geriatrickid]

Keep in mind that a helicopter procurement contract also includes;

- Training costs of pilots, technicians and other support staff.

- Ground support equipment, including machine specific tools

- An inventory of spare parts. These helicopters will be used under difficult conditions and with a high frequency. This means that parts will have to be replaced after a set number of hours.

The aforementioned has to be added to the actual cost of the helicopters themselves.

[rakman]

Do they really cost that much per aircraft?

Unit cost US$5.9 million (flyaway cost,) from Wiki. But I would expect they come as a package with spares, etc.

Plus training, probably an on-site support group as well.

[rakman]

For those interested in what they look like ...

I just hope to hell that they maintain them better then those which have crashed in the past.

.

Helicopters are thousand's of parts all moving in the same direction, most of the time.

The US military has averaged about 1 helicopter crash each week, wartime or not for the last 40 years. Civilian crashes are fairly common, especially for emergency medical response.

[FarangTalk]

The choppers I regularly fly on in Thailand are mostly flown by Westerners and Thais are more often the co-pilots.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[craigt3365]

The choppers I regularly fly on in Thailand are mostly flown by Westerners and Thais are more often the co-pilots.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

My buddy is a chopper pilot here. He says 60% of the pilots are Thai...and that number is increasing every year.

[billd766]

youre all slagging off Thailands maintenance capabilities on this copters but how many of us westerners can repair a puncture on a scooter in 5minutes 6 seconds for 25 baht and get the correct air pressure of 25psi with out a air gauge

I believed you up to the air pressure bit.

I always do that bit again when I get home.

[Soutpeel]

The choppers I regularly fly on in Thailand are mostly flown by Westerners and Thais are more often the co-pilots.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

My buddy is a chopper pilot here. He says 60% of the pilots are Thai...and that number is increasing every year.

But to clarify here, what you are both talking about is not the Thai military and the specific company you are both referring to is a private commerical chopper company which is operated by Canadian Helicopters which is one of the best commerical chopper companies in the world providing services to offshore oil & gas

but yes lots of Thai pilots working for them now...even a few Thai lady pilots...

[ginjag]

Pay a little extra and you can have ejector seats fitted.

[Noistar]

Keep in mind that a helicopter procurement contract also includes;

- Training costs of pilots, technicians and other support staff.

- Ground support equipment, including machine specific tools

- An inventory of spare parts. These helicopters will be used under difficult conditions and with a high frequency. This means that parts will have to be replaced after a set number of hours.

The aforementioned has to be added to the actual cost of the helicopters themselves.

Your assumption of course.

Perhaps there will be transparency in identifying the elements in the purchase and their cost.

Until then, your comments are probably accurate but may me be a little naive for a Thai purchase.

[rbrooks]

So Thailand has had second thoughts about buying crappy Chinese military equipment ?? :-)

Unlike the USA which imports trillions of dollars worth of 'crappy' Chinese goods every year.

Hard to equate military hardware which is used to protect your country, with a crappy Chinese tool that breaks the first time you use it. But go ahead and try... :-)

Personally I'd think twice about buying military hardware from a country that hasn't won a war in more than 60 years.

Based on your keen observation then that leaves what country to buy from? Vietnam? Iraq? China? Afghanistan? Thailand? I think America is still one of the best shopping store for military toys.

Edited June 23, 2013 by rbrooks