Page 34 - ADT NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2021 Online Magazine

THE ALIGNMENT OF BEST COST, SCHEDULE, AND pletion for the 12 aircraft order and announced
PERFORMANCE TO REPLACE ITS EXISTING FLEET in November, that it had completed technical
OF AGING AERO L-39 ALBATROS AIRCRAFT AND inspection milestones ahead of schedule. “The
Royal Thai Air Force is eager to equip its cadre
ADVANCE THE CAPABILITIES OF ITS FLEET WITH THE of student pilots with the Beechcraft T-6TH
LATEST TECHNOLOGY.” Texan II aircraft,” said Betsy Relph, the Textron
Aviation Defence T-6 programme manager for [ AIR SYSTEMS ]
Textron Aviation Defense is scheduled to provide training to Thai Thailand. “We showcased all 12 of the aircraft
maintenance professionals in 2023 in Thailand; pilot training will during a recent visit from the RTAF acceptance
be conducted in Wichita, Kansas in 2024. The aircraft will join the committee and are especially proud that RTAF
RTAF fleet in 2024. Air Chief Marshal Chanon Mungthanya was
here to fly the T-6.”
Aiding Interoperability All 12 aircraft on order are slated to be deliv-
The purchase of the aircraft is part of the overall plan to facilitate ered to the Royal Thai Air Force Flying Training
the development of Thailand’s aerospace industry and also aligns School located at Kamphaeng Saen Air Base
with the country’s S-Curve 11 strategy, which not only supports between late 2022 and early 2023. “Flying the
the growth of the domestic defense industry but also encourages RTAF Beechcraft T-6TH Texan II from the his-
international partnerships. The introduction of the aircraft — des- toric hangar where the entire global fleet of T-6
ignated the Beechcraft AT-6TH in Thailand — will also aid the aircraft are manufactured was a very memo-
modernization efforts of the air force and enhance interoperability rable milestone,” said RTAF Air Chief Marshal
between the U.S. Air Force and the RTAF.
Chanon Mungthanya. “These aircraft will equip
our students with a significant technological
“RTAF pilots and concerned parties found the attributes of the AT-6 advantage in preparation for their transition
procurement program extremely favorable,” said AM Pongsawat to advanced fighter and attack aircraft.” The
Jantasarn, RTAF’s chairman of the procurement committee. “It will Beechcraft T-6TH Texan II is the first RTAF pro-
also benefit both Thai and U.S. mutual interests, strengthening the curement contracted in support of S-Curve 11, a
enduring strategic partnership between our nations.”
Thai plan that focuses on the modernization of
key capabilities and promotes the development
T-6TH TEXAN IIs for RTAF of the Thai defense industry. Textron Aviation
The RTAF also has 12 Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) Beechcraft Defence will also deliver ground-based training
T-6TH Texan II aircraft on order under an October 2020 con- systems for pilots and maintenance profession-
tract worth US$162 million contract. Thailand is the first Asian als, a mission planning and debrief system as
nation and the eleventh international fleet operator of the trainer part of the contract.
aircraft. Textron Aviation Defense is nearing manufacturing com-
The global Beechcraft T-6 Texan II fleet of
nearly 1000 aircraft has logged more than 4.6
million flight hours with daily readiness rates of
up to 91 percent among the Textron Aviation
Defense-supported international T-6 fleet.

T-6 programmes across the U.S. Air Force,
Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Coast Guard
graduate more than 2,000-plus pilots annu-
ally, in addition to the Hellenic Air Force, the
Argentine Air Force, the Israeli Air Force, the
Royal Air Force, the Iraqi Air Force, the Royal
Canadian Air Force, Mexican Navy, the Mexican
Air Force, the Royal Moroccan Air Force,
the Colombian Air Force and the Royal New
Zealand Air Force whose T-6 programmes
graduate more than 2,700 pilots. T-6 training
is also undertaken at the NATO Flight Training
programme in Canada, the Euro NATO Joint
Jet Pilot Training Programme (ENJJPT) at
Sheppard AFB in Texas and the U.S. Air Force
Aviation Leadership Programme from which
more than 300 pilots belonging to 42 countries
graduate each year.

34 | November / December 2021 WWW .GBP .COM.SG/ ADT