Air force: New jets a 'necessity'
published : 10 Mar 2022 at 13:40
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Wassana Nanuam
The Royal Thai Air Force has insisted on the need to buy new fighter jets to replace existing aircraft scheduled for decommissioning.
A spokesman for the Royal Thai Air Force on Wednesday said it is the duty of the force to be fully prepared for national security.
The air force is also required to follow the Defence Ministry's operation plan on national security and defence.
The decommissioning of fighter jets began last year and is scheduled to finish in 2031. By 2032, the air force will have less than half the number of jets it once had.
Modern fighter jets are also needed for the air force's security cooperation with other countries in the region, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, an air-force panel is still investigating the crash of a fighter jet, which went down on Tuesday in Chaiyaphum.
The jet's flight data recorder has been retrieved but is badly damaged, he said.
The air force will have to seek help from the US with data extraction.
The pilot who survived the crash remains in hospital.
Learn from listening
Vocabulary
- cooperation: a situation in which people or organisations work together to achieve a result that will benefit all of them - การร่วมมือกัน
- decommission: to take out of use or service - ปลดประจำการ. ปลดออกจากตำแหน่ง
- defence: protecting somebody/something from attack - การป้องกัน, การต้าน, การ พิทักษ์
- duty: something that you have to do because it is part of your job, or something that you feel is the right thing to do - หน้าที่, ความรับผิดชอบ
- extraction: the act or process of removing or obtaining something from something else - การถอน, การดึงออก
- necessity (noun): a thing that you must have and cannot manage without, e.g., good, clothing - สิ่งจำเป็น
- retrieve (verb): to get something back, especially something that is not easy to find - ได้กลับคืนมา
- security: protection; safety from attack, harm, or damage - ความมั่นคง, ระบบรักษาความปลอดภั, ความปลอดภัย
