The United States Department of Defense (DoD) in late December 2023 confirmed the sale of eight Boeing AH-6i light attack and scout helicopters to Thailand for the Royal Thai Army (RTA). This follows a 2019 approval from the US State Department for the acquisition and a contract signing worth 103.8 million US Dollars in February 2022.
On a separate contract between Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) and Korean Air in December 2021, the South Korean company will build eight AH-6i fuselages of which their final assembly will be done by BDS. It has been reported that these are the same fuselages that will be assembled and delivered to Thailand.
Aside from the helicopters, the RTA will also receive an armament package consisting of 50 AGM-114R Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, ten M134 7.62mm miniguns, four GAU-19/B 12.7mm Gatling guns, 500 70mm Hydra rockets, and 200 Advance Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) guided rockets.
The service also expects to receive 20 helmet-mounted night-vision goggles, eight electro-optical/infra-red (EO/IR) cameras as well as various other equipment and support packages. All combined, the total contract value for these eight AH-6i helicopters is worth around USD400 million.
The RTA will receive the AH-6i delivery starting this year until 2025 to replace its aging Bell AH-1F attack helicopters. These new helicopters will fill the role of providing reconnaissance, and close air support, as well as for special operations purposes.
Photo: Boeing
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