Germany’s Diehl Defence has been awarded a support contract for the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF)’s IRIS-T short-range missile system, which has been integrated to the service’s Northrop F-5TH, Lockheed Martin F-16A/B, and Saab JAS39 Gripen C/D combat aircraft.
Diehl Defence announced on 16 October that the new contract was signed in Germany earlier in the same month and aims to improve the RTAF’s ability to operate the IRIS-T missile system across their entire fleet. The contract comprises integration support, technical logistics support and live firing support, it added.
“This [contract] follows a long-lasting, extensive and successful collaboration of both sides on the deployment of IRIS-T missiles from Diehl Defence on RTAF aircraft,” said the company in its statement.
“By signing this agreement with Diehl Defence, the RTAF is again stepping ahead, proving their extraordinary capabilities to integrate and to certify new weapons into their existing fleet, following the successful integration of IRIS-T into their F-5 TH aircraft,” it added.
The RTAF earlier announced in August that it has selected the Saab JAS 39 E/F Gripen over the Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70/72 to replace a squadron’s worth of ageing F-16A/B aircraft.
The plan to acquire new combat aircraft centres on the replacement for the RTAF’s ageing Lockheed Martin F-16A/B fleet which will be retired in 2028. It is understood that the fighter replacement programme will be divided into three phases, with the first expected to begin in October 2025.
It is likely that the RTAF will seek to integrate the IRIS-T missile system into the new aircraft, and the new support contract apparently provisions for such an eventuality.
“This agreement is yet another milestone to strengthen the long-lasting collaboration with the RTAF and to widen the usage of IRIS-T to further platforms,” the company stated, noting that the service has operated the missile system since 2013.
The IRIS-T is a 5th-generation short-range air-to-air missile and has been integrated into other contemporary combat aircraft such as the Boeing F/A-18 and Eurofighter Typhoon. It is also being integrated to the Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-21 Boramae.
by Jr Ng
