News Story: Bodies of 5 Thai army men retrieved from helicopter wreckage in northern forest

UH-72 Lakota (Image: Wiki Commons)

BANGKOK, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The bodies of five deceased army soldiers were found on Monday following an apparent crashlanding of their utility helicopter in a forest area of Chiang Mai province on Sunday.

The remains of the five soldiers, including the Fourth Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Nopporn Ruenchand, two pilots and two mechanics, were found at a wreckage site of their helicopter a few km from a radar station on Doi Indanond hill in the northern Thai province, Third Army Region commander Lt. Gen. Somsak Nilbancherdkul said.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Search continues for missing army helicopter in northern Thai forests

UH-72 Lakota (Image: Wiki Commons)

BANGKOK, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- A search and rescue mission has been going on throughout dense forests in northern Thailand where an army helicopter was reportedly missing on Sunday.

The UH-72 Lakota utility helicopter lost contact with ground control since the mid-morning hours while en route to base over the forests of Chiang Mai province, about 900 kilometers north of Bangkok, said Third Army Region commander Lt Gen Somsak Nilbancherdkul.

Somsak denied earlier reports which said that the helicopter was found and all people aboard safe, adding that they are still looking for it, Thai media Post Today reported.

Read the full story at Xinhua

Industry: CAE wins defence contracts valued at more than C$150 million

• MH-60R maintenance and rear-crew trainers for Royal Australian Navy
• Two UH-72A Lakota FTDs for U.S. Army
• Two full-mission simulators for undisclosed customer

Montreal, Canada, July 7, 2015 - (NYSE: CAE; TSX: CAE) - CAE today announced that it has won defence contracts valued at more than C$150 million to provide simulation products as well as training services for global military customers.

Some of the key contracts include providing additional MH-60R training devices for the Royal Australian Navy, additional UH-72A Lakota flight training devices for the U.S. Army, and two full-mission simulators for an undisclosed customer in the Europe/Middle East/Africa region.

The contracts announced today are included as part of CAE's Defence and Security order intake for the first quarter. Also of note, the value of this announcement includes an order for two P-8A operational flight trainers for the U.S. Navy, which was communicated to trade media on June 29, 2015.

"Our focus on being a training systems integrator has enabled us to make good progress on the implementation of our strategy in the first quarter, which included the competitive win to provide the U.S. Army with long-term fixed-wing training services," said Gene Colabatistto, CAE's Group President, Defence & Security. "These additional contracts we are announcing today are all related to the extended use of simulation-based training as part of these programs, further demonstrating that global defence forces are increasingly adopting synthetic training for more of their training requirements."

News Story: Thailand's military confirms interest for the US-made UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopter

Image: Flickr user - John Orrell

The Thai military is moving toward making the American-made UH-72A Lakota Thailand’s main light-utility helicopter with the army planning to add on to last year’s order of 15 Airbus Helicopters choppers with more to replace its ageing fleet of Vietnam-era aircraft, reports today the Bangkok Post.

Thailand's army chief Udomdej Sitabutr said Friday that the US-made helicopter is the choice for the army as part of the plan to modernise its helicopter fleet in the 2016 fiscal year.

The UH-72A Lakota is a non-arms-bearing helicopter which can perform medical and casualty evacuations, provide disaster relief, aid in homeland defense and also work to counter drugs and narcotics. 

He did not detail which of the four variants of the militarised Eurocopter EC145 the military was considering, but an army source said earlier that the army was eyeing UH-72A, an unarmed utility military version of the EC145.

Read the full story at AirRecognition

News Story: (Thailand) PM puts hurry up on defence budgets

South Korean KAI T-50 Trainer (File Photo)

Air force delays plan for new jet fighters

Writer: Wassana Nanuam

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is pushing the military to more quickly draft its spending plans for the 2016 fiscal year and submit them within the month. 

Air Force commander ACM Treetod Sonjance said the Defence Ministry, the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, the Royal Thai Army, the Royal Thai Navy and the Royal Thai Air Force are expected to prepare their budgets by mid-January.

He said Gen Prayut, who is also head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), wants to see how the armed forces and other military units prioritise their spending.

The Royal Thai Air Force has no plan to procure new fighter jets in the next budget year, ACM Treetod said. It will focus on upgrades and maintenance instead.

Preliminary plans call for upgrades to the air force's fleet of F-5 jets at the Nakhon Sawan-based Wing 4 division. The aircraft have been in service for over 30 years.

A Defence Ministry source said the proposed defence spending is likely to be a little higher than the amount approved in 2015. It is estimated to be around 193 billion to 200 billion baht.

According to the source, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) approved a defence budget of 192 billion baht, about 550 million baht lower than the proposed 193.49 billion baht.

Read the full story at BangkokPost

USA: Possible Foreign Military Sale to Thailand for UH-72A Lakota Helicopters

UH-72A Lakota (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons)

WASHINGTON, Sep 29, 2014 - The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Thailand for UH-72A Lakota Helicopters and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $89 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on September 26, 2014.

The Government of Thailand has requested a possible sale of 9 UH-72A Lakota Helicopters, warranty, spare and repair parts, support equipment, communication equipment, publications and technical documentation, Aviation Mission Planning Station, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor technical and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated cost is $89 million.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States, by helping to improve the security of a major non-NATO ally.