Information supplied and copyrighted
by Joe Baugher
Service of F-16 Fighting
Falcon with Thailand
Last revised March 19,
2000
In April of 1985, the government of
Thailand made overtures to the United States to purchase twelve F-16As. At that time, the
F-16/79 was considered to be the only version that Thailand would be allowed to receive.
However, in July 1987, Thailand was given approval to go ahead and order the F100-powered
F-16 for the Kongtap Agard Thai (Royal Thai Air Force), and a letter of agreement was
signed in December of 1987 for the purchase of 14 F-16As and four F-16Bs. However, because
of funding restrictions, the initial order through the Peace Naresuan FMS program
was limited to only 8 F100-PW-220-powered Block 15 F-16As and four F-16Bs. Options for the
remaining six F-16A were taken up in mid-1987.
Thailand took delivery of its first F-16A
in a ceremony at Fort Worth in May of 1988. The first batch of F-16s were assigned to 103
Squadron at Korat air base. The Thai F-16s have the Westinghouse APG-66S fire-control
radar, but they do have several non-standard features, such as the ability to carry the
Rafael Python 3 AAM. In addition, they can carry the Thomson-TRT Defense ATLIS-III
automatic TV-tracking laser designator/range- finding pod. Six Rubis low-altitude
night/bad-weather navigation pods were ordered from Thomson-TRT in November of 1993.
Sixteen more Block 15 OCU F-16A/Bs (12As,
4 Bs) were ordered in July of 1992 under Peace Naresuan II. The first example was
handed over in a ceremony at Fort Worth on September 10, 1995. These 1 planes (12 As and 6
Bs) re-equipped No. 403 Squadron based at Takhli, which previously operated the F-5E/F.
The government of Thailand was interested
in seeking funding for a third front-line fighter squadron. Both the F-16C/D Block 50/52
and the F/A-18 were under consideration, as well as the Russian Sukhoi Su-27/35. Thailand
ordered eight F/A-18C/D fighters, but the order was cancelled before delivery because of
the economic problems that afflicted almost all of Asia during the late 1990s. As a
substitute, early in 1999 Thailand began disussing procurement of 12-24 refurbished
surplus USAAF F-16A/B fighters. In November of 1999, the USA authorized the supply of up
to 18 of these machines. On July 11, 2000, approval was granted by the Thai government for
the purchase of 16 surplus USAF Block 15 ADF fighters. Delivery will begin early in 2002.
Two serials are generally carried by the
Thai F-16s, the original FMS serial on the tail and a Thai air force serial which is in
Thai script. For example, in the Thai serial BK.19-13/37, BK.19 is the Thai aircraft
designation for F-16. The next two digits represent the order of delivery, i.e. the 13th
example followed by the last two digits of the Buddist year of delivery 2537. This serial
number is carred on aircraft 91062 (really 91-0062), which also carries a squadron code.
This particular F-16 is assigned to 103 Squadron at Korat air base, so it wears the number
10313, which indicates that it is the 13th example assigned to 103 Squadron.
Serials of Thai F-16s:
86-0378 General Dynamics F-16A Block 15AA OCU Fighting Falcon
to Thailand as 10305
86-0379/0381 General Dynamics F-16B Block 15AA OCU Fighting Falcon
to Thailand as 10301/10303
87-0702/0708 General Dynamics F-16A Block 15AB OCU Fighting Falcon
to Thailand as 10306/10312
87-0709 General Dynamics F-16B Block 15AB OCU Fighting Falcon
to Thailand as 10304
91-0062/0067 General Dynamics F-16A Block 15AJ OCU Fighting Falcon
to Thailand as 10313/10318
Sources:
- Combat Aircraft F-16, Doug Richardson,
Crescent, 1992.
- General Dynamics Aircraft and their
Predecessors, John Wegg, Naval Institute Press, 1990.
- The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and
Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.
- United States Military Aircraft Since
1909, Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
- F-16 Fighting Falcon--A Major Review of
the West's Universal Warplane, Robert F. Dorr, World Airpower Journal, Spring 1991.
- The World's Great Interceptor Aircraft,
Gallery, 1989.
- Modern Military Aircraft--F-16 Viper, Lou
Drendel, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1992.
- Lockheed F-16 Variants, Part 1, World
Airpower Journal, Volume 21, Summer 1995.
- Airscene Headlines, Air International,
November 1995.
- Lockheed Martin F-16 Operators: Part 2,
Peter R. Foster, World Air Power Journal, vol 24, Spring 1996
- Air Power Analysis--Thailand, World
AirPower Journal, Vol 29, 1997.
- ASEAN Air Power, Robert Hewson, Air Forces
Monthly, March 2000.
- Airscene, Air International September
2000.
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