Thailand on Wednesday announced plans to buy four Gripen fighter jets in a $500 million deal, choosing the Swedish-made planes over American F-16s as it renews its air combat fleet.
The Gripen E/F models, made by Nordic industrial giant Saab, will replace the Royal Thai Air Force’s older F-16 A/B jets bought in the 1980s.
The announcement is the first phase of a 10-year plan to buy 12 fighter aircraft as Thailand updates its air power.
“This is an important project to strengthen our force to protect our sovereignty,” Air Force Chief Punpakdee Pattanakul told reporters.
The procurement order will be submitted to the Thai cabinet for approval around mid-July and is expected to be finalized by the end of August.
A procurement committee recommended buying the Gripen rather than the F-16 last August after a 10-month process of deliberation. The kingdom already operates 11 older Gripens, as well as dozens of F-16s.
The decision to favour the Swedish fighter over the American one is unlikely to help Thailand’s efforts to reach a tariff deal with US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Thailand is hoping to negotiate a reduction or relief from Trump’s threatened 36 percent levy, announced as part of the president’s sweeping global “reciprocal” tariffs.
Earlier, as EurAsian Times reported, the Royal Thai Air Force selected Gripen-E jets to replace its aging fleet of F-16A/B/B.
The RTAF announced the acquisition in a Facebook post on August 27 last year. The service stated that it wants to acquire Gripen-E/F, which is built by SAAB. The decision was reached after a careful evaluation conducted over ten months.
The RTAF concluded that the Gripen-E/F fighter jet has a capability range that meets the Air Force’s principled and strategic needs. The aircraft can be further developed, resulting in increased multidimensional operational capabilities. The text was machine-translated.
The RTAF had been evaluating the two fighters—the Swedish Saab Gripen-E and the Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70/72 —that were offered to it.
Earlier, in July 2024, an RTAF spokesperson said that the RTAF favored the Swedish jets after conducting a thorough evaluation that demonstrated the Gripen better met its needs.
“The procurement is in process [but is] dependent on the government,” the spokesperson said. However, the final decision was left to the Thai government.
With Inputs from Agence France-Presse
