By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THAILAND will quietly procure eight more Gripen E/F fighter jets in addition to four others of the same type the purchase of which has been earlier placed with Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab AB, according to an air force source.
The Thai air force which has earlier purchased four Gripen E/F fighter jets for 138 million dollars each has planned to buy eight more of the Swedish-made, fourth-generation, tactical combat aircraft to make a new squadron of a dozen fighter jets for deployment at Wing 1 in Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat, the country’s largest air force base, by fiscal 2028.
The planned procurement of the Gripen E/F was primarily meant to replace the ageing US-made, F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets deployed at Wing 1 since the last three decades whilst another squadron of F-16s is also currently deployed at Wing 4 in Takhli.
In addition, a squadron of a dozen Gripen C/D fighter jets are currently deployed at Wing 7 in Surat Thani where a ceremonial parade of the Swedish-made combat aircraft was held today (July 20) to mark their 15th anniversary of deployment and attended by air force chief ACM Seksan Khantha and supreme commander Gen. Ukrit Boontanont.
The Gripen C/D jets from the southern air base had joined the F-16s from the Korat air base in last year’s Thailand’s armed campaign against Cambodia’s armed forces along the former’s lower-northeastern borderlines, signifying the first time ever for the Swedish-made military aircraft of this type to engage in real combat anywhere in the world since their manufacture began in 1987.
In 2017, one Gripen C/D accidentally crashlanded, killing the pilot during an air show on the National Children’s Day at Wing 56 in Songkhla with spatial disorientation of the pilot being reportedly concluded as the cause of the fatal mishap.
CAPTION:
This and Front Page: ACM Seksan Kantha and supreme commander Gen. Ukrit Boontanont attending a ceremonial parade of Gripen C/D fighter jets in Surat Thani today, July 20, 2026. Photos – Naewna
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