Royal Thai Navy
Royal Thai Navy (RTN) กองทัพเรือ, ราชนาวี (RTGS: Kongthap Ruea, Ratcha Navy) | |
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![]() Naval ensign of Royal Thai Navy. | |
Active | 1900-present |
Land | Kingdom of Thailand |
Allegiance | Kingdom of Thailand |
Branch | Royal Thai Fleet Royal Thai Navy Aviation Unit Royal Thai Marine Corps |
Typ | Navy |
Engagements | Paknam Incident Battle of Koh Chang Palace Rebellion Manhattan Rebellion |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Sathiraphan Keyanon |
Notable commanders | Prince Abhakara, the Prince of Chumphon Luang Sinthusongkhramchai |
Insignia | |
Identification symbol | ![]() Symbol of Royal Thai Navy (as shown in the naval jack.) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Naval_Jack_of_Thailand.svg/220px-Naval_Jack_of_Thailand.svg.png)
The Royal Thai Navy (Thai: กองทัพเรือ) is the navy of Thailand and was established in the late 1800s. As of 2006, the Commander of the Navy was Sathiraphan Keyanon, who was also a Deputy of the Council for National Security that seized power during the 2006 Thailand coup.
Similar to the organizational structure of the United States, the Royal Thai Navy includes the Naval Fleet, and the Royal Thai Marine Corps. The Royal Thai Navy operates out of Sattahip Naval Base.
The Royal Thai Navy operates in three Naval Area Commands: Eastern Gulf of Thailand (First NAC), Western Gulf of Thailand (Second NAC), and the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) (Third NAC). The RTN also has two air wings, located at Utapao (RTN First Air Wing) and Songkhla (RTN Second Air Wing).
The United States Navy and Royal Thai Navy conduct the annual joint operation Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT). CARAT is an annual series of bilateral maritime training exercises between the U.S. Navy and the armed forces of Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Philippines.
Current strength
Surface Combatant Vessels
- Aircraft carriers: 1
- Frigates: 10
- Corvette: 7
Fleet Support Vessels
- Patrol boats: 26
- Missile speed boats: 6
- Amphibious assault ships: 9
- Mekong River Patrol Boats:77
- Fleet support ships: 15
- Mine Counter Measure Vessels: 7
RTN Flying Unit
RTN Flying Unit consists of 2 Wings, each has 3 squadorn. HTMS Chakri Naruebet also have her own flying unit, consists of 2 squadorn.
Personnel
- Royal Thai Marine Corps: 20,000 men
- Naval Air Force: 1,700 men
SEALs
List of equipment
The majority of the vessels of the Royal Thai Navy are from the United States (nearly half, over 50 of RTN's 130+ vessels). However, RTN also has craft from Britain, Italy, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Netherlands,People's Republic of China and Australia. Additionally, Thailand does produce many of their own vessels, in particular those of smaller displacement.
News
News about Thai Navy procurement project
New Anti-Ship Missile
Royal Thai Navy announces the decision to perchase C-802 to replace C-801 on Chao Phraya-class Frigate. The deal also include the upgrade of Radar, Electronic Warfare, etc. RTN also aims to buy LY-60 SAM if the fund was allocated. <[1]
New Naval Helicopter
United State announces the permission to sell 6 MH-60S Navay Hawk to Thai Navy to enhance search and rescue capability. RTN already signed contact for 2 units and the other 4 will be procured year by year[2]
According to the news on 4 Dec 2007. RTN decided to launch a plan to buy 14 new helicopter. This include 4 MH-60S and additional 4 Super Lynx 300, also plan to buy the attack helicopter to replace AV-8S while still keep option open for a fixed-wing aircraft. [3]
New Patrol craft of RTN
By The King initiated, Thai Navy build and commissions its news patrol craft T.991 Class. The first ship, T.991, was built in the Royal Thai Navy Dock. Another 2, T.992 and T.993, was build by Mason Shipbuilding in Thailand. These ships also inspected and evaluated closely by The King who gave many ideas to this project. He and The Queen also lead the commissioning ceremony on 30 April 2007.[4]
VIP transport Aircraft
Royal Thai Army and Royal Thai Navy signed contact with Embraer to perchase 2 ERJ-135. 1 aircraft to each force. It will uses for VIP transportation. RTN version also have a MEDEVAC capability.[5]
References
- ^ Thai Military Blog C-802 for Thai frigates
- ^ Defense Industry Daily Up to $246M for 6 Royal Thai Navy MH-60S Helicopters
- ^ Channel News Asia Thai Navy to buy 14 new aircraft
- ^ Thai Military Blog ต.๙๙๑ เรือรบตามพระราชดำริ...ของกองทัพเรือไทย (Thai)
- ^ Embraer Press Release Embraer sign contracts with the Royal Thai Army and the Royal Thai Navy
See also
- Military of Thailand
- Royal Thai Army
- Royal Thai Air Force
- Royal Thai Marine Corps
- Military ranks of the Thai armed forces