Page 19 - Defense & Security 2023 - Day 1

Thai Aviation Industries Aiding RTAF

Modernisation Needs

Thai Aviation Industries (TAI) is looking at Phase 1 of the upgrade which ran from in service for more than 50 years. Eight
gaining further contracts from the Royal October 2020 to September 2022, included AU-23As had been upgraded earlier and
Thai Air Force (RTAF) in the future to meet a cockpit upgrade which involved the instal- the upgrade of the remaining four aircraft

the latter’s modernisation requirements. lation of four multi-function displays (MFD) was completed this year. The upgrade effort
The aerospace firm is undertaking several on all eight aircraft. Modern avionics such as involved strengthening of the airframe and
upgrade and modernisation efforts for the traffic alert and collision avoidance system installation of new cockpit instruments.
RTAF. The RTAF is continuing with upgrades version 7.1 (TCAS7.1) and automatic depen- The upgraded aircraft are slated to remain
to its Lockheed Martin C-130H transport dent surveillance–broadcast (ADS-B) were in service till 2038, with checks being un-
aircraft fleet, with the upgrade of four more also installed on all aircraft. The centre wing dertaken every five years to decide their
aircraft contracted. The initial upgrade effort portion of the aircraft were also replaced. time in service. TAI had earlier completed
under Phase 1 of the programme, resulted The upgraded aircraft are slated to remain the enhanced midlife upgrade (eMLU) of a
in eight transport aircraft being upgraded in service for another 10 years. batch of RTAF F-16s in 2018. The seven year
and the remaining four aircraft will be mod- effort involved upgrading 18 RTAF F-16A/B
ernised under Phase 2 of the programme. Earlier in October, TAI completed a proj- fighters, to the same level of capability as
The RTAF has been operating its C-130H ect to improve the capability of the RTAF’s that of F-16 Block 50/52s. Upgrade work on
transport aircraft for over 40 years. Fairchild AU-23A gunships which have been the first two aircraft was completed in 2014.

TAI is also responsible for inspecting green
helicopters from the Airbus Helicopters
factory, transporting them, decorating the
interior, and assembling the helicopters
along with delivery to customers Including
contracting and warranty management for
Airbus family of helicopters used in mili-
tary and government missions in Thailand:
H125/H125M, H130, H135, H145/H145M,
H160, H175, H215/H215M and H225/
H225M. Airbus provides engineering sup-
port, knowledge transfer and training. In
February 2022, Safran Helicopter Engines
inked a contract with TAI to support Arrius
2B2Plus engines powering RTAF H135
and H225M helicopters. Over 12 Arrius
and 24 Makila engines are now covered
by Safran’s Global Support Package (GSP).
Safran Helicopter Engines and TAI have
partnered since 2017 to satisfy the RTAF’s
requirements for optimum availability during
their operations.

DEFENSE & SECURITY 2023 NOVEMBER-06-2023 19