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http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #365 AUGUST 2018 // 29

‘Thai Force One’ in the UK

Richard Vandervord

Piotr Butowski

THE THIRD SSJ100-

95SBJ for the Royal

Thai Air Force

(RTAF, Kongtap

Agard Thai) landed

at Bangkok Airport on

June 19, completing

the service’s Superjet

fleet. The aircraft was

delivered from Zhukovsky,

outside Moscow, with an

intermediate landing in

Islamabad, Pakistan. The

Superjet – c/n 95132,

Thai Air Force serial L18-

3/61 and board number

60319 – made its first flight

at Komsomolsk-

on-Amur on May

22 last year and was

then customised at the

Superjet International (SJI)

facility in Venice, Italy.

The contract for the

RTAF’s third Sukhoi

Business Jet (SBJ) was

formalised on December

15, 2016. Earlier, on

September 15, 2014,

Thailand signed a deal

for two SBJs (board

numbers 60317 and

60318), which were

officially commissioned on

August 31, 2016. The first

aircraft made its maiden

flight at Komsomolsk-

on-Amur on October 23,

2015 and was flown to

Zhukovsky for acceptance

testing on November

9 of the same year. It

was then outfitted with

its VIP interior. The first

two aircraft were handed

over at the SJI facility in

Venice on July 15, 2016.

All three Thai SBJs

are operated by 603

Squadron based at Don

Muang. Piotr Butowski

Indian

Apache

order

approved

THE US State Department

has approved the

possible Foreign

Military Sale (FMS) to

India of items that will

support a proposed

direct commercial sale

of six AH-64E Apache

helicopters. The FMS

deal is valued at $930m

and includes: 14 T700-

GE-701D engines, four

AN/APG-78 fire-control

radars, four Block

III Radar Electronic

Units (REUs), four AN/

APR-48B Modernized

Radar Frequency

Interferometers (M-RFIs),

seven Modernized Target

Acquisition Designation

Sight/Pilot Night Vision

Sensors (MTADS-PNVS)

and 14 embedded

GPS inertial navigation

systems (EGI). Armament

comprises 180 AGM-

114L-3 Hellfire Longbow

missiles, 90 AGM-114R-3

Hellfire IIs and 200

Stinger Block I (FIM-92H)

missiles. Also included

are rockets, training and

dummy missiles, 30mm

cannon and ammunition.

The six Apaches for

the Indian Army are in

addition to 22 examples

ordered in 2015 for

the Indian Air Force.

Bangladesh

orders more

K-8Ws
THE BANGLADESH Air
Force ( B A F, Bangladesh
Biman Bahini) has ordered
an additional batch of
K-8W Karakorum jet
trainers from China’s
Hongdu Aviation Industrial
Group. The government-
to-government contract
was signed on June 20 at
BAF Air Headquarters. The
exact number of aircraft
involved in the new deal
was not made public, but
last October government
sources said the country
planned to buy seven
more of the type in two
batches, in fiscal years
2017-18 and 2018 -19.
The BAF currently
has eight of the type in
service – the first four
having been delivered in
September 2014. They are
operated by 15 Squadron
in Jessore. Dave Allport

Initial NC-212i deliveries to Vietnam

TWO NC-212i transports

have recently been delivered

to the Vietnam People’s

Air Force’s (VPAF’s) 918th

Transport Regiment ‘Hong

Ha’. Serials 8991 (test

registration AX-2121) and

8992 (test registration

AX-2122), arrived at Gia

Lam air base, Hanoi, to join

the unit on May 22 after a

ferry flight from the factory

in Bandung, Indonesia.

The VPAF aircraft were

completed some time ago,

but delivery was held up

due to delays in the supply

of sub-systems for the

autopilot and subsequent

certification of the new

systems. It is unclear

when Vietnam ordered

these two aircraft, as

there has been no official

contract announcement.

Three of the earlier Airbus

Military C212-400s are

also in service with the

Vietnamese Maritime

Police, and a third NC-212i

was reportedly delivered

in June. Dave Allport

Royal Thai Air Force

receives third and

fi nal Superjet

Philippines

eye more

FA-50s

THE PHILIPPINE

government aims to

acquire additional

FA-50PH light combat

aircraft/trainers from Korea

Aerospace Industries

(KAI). Secretary of

National Defense Delfin

Lorenzana announced

plans to acquire around

12 more jets during a

symposium organised by

the Philippine Air Force

(PAF, Pilipinas Hukbong

Himpapawid). Lorenzana

stated that President

Rodrigo Duterte wants

to add to the Fighting

Eagle fleet based on the

aircraft’s performance in

the campaign to liberate

Marawi City from Islamist

militant control last year.

Talks with South Korea

over a new FA-50 have not

yet begun, Lorenzana said.

In March 2014, the

Philippines signed a

$417.95m contract for

12 FA-50PHs, delivered

between December 2015

and May last year.

Thailand seeks attack helicopters

THE ROYAL Thai Army

(RTA) plans to acquire

at least six new attack

helicopters to replace

its ageing fleet of AH-1F

Cobras. Funding for the

procurement is included in

next year’s defence budget.

An RTA procurement

committee is evaluating

proposals, reported to

include the AH-1Z, AH-64,

Ka-52, Mangusta, Mi-28,

Tiger and the Z-19. An

initial batch of four AH-1Fs

was delivered in November

1990, with an attrition loss

occurring in July 2001.

Another four refurbished

Cobras were acquired via

the US Excess Defense

Articles programme, and

were accepted into RTA

service in June 2012.

ROYAL THAI Air Force

( R TA F, Kongtap Agard Thai)

A340-541 60204 (HS -T Y V,

c/n 698) is repositioned

at Stansted Airport on the

evening of June 21. The

aircraft departed the UK

for Toulouse, France, the

following morning. This

is the RTAF’s only A340,

operated by 602 Squadron,

the Royal Flight, at Don

Muang. Having previously

leased a Thai Airways

example for VIP flights

from 2012, this former

Thai Airways example

was acquired during

2016 and underwent VIP

conversion in Hamburg.