ROYAL THAI NAVY

The 'Royal Thai Navy' () 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.

Contents

Current strength

Surface Combatant Vessels

Feet Support Vessels

Naval Air Unit

Aircraft

Helicopters

Personnel

SEALs

List of equipment

Aircraft carrier (1)

Frigate (10)

Corvette (7)

Amphibious Assault (9)

References

See also

External links

Current strength

Surface Combatant Vessels

★ Aircraft carriers: 1

★ Frigates: 10

★ Corvette: 7

Feet 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

Naval Air Unit

Aircraft

★ 2 P-3T maritime patrol aircraft

★ 2 Fokker F-27 Mk.200 maritime patrol aircraft,

★ 7 Dornier DO-228-212 maritime patrol/light transport aircraft,

★ 2 Fokker F-27 Mk.400 transport aircraft,

★ 3 GAF Nomad N-24A light transport aircraft,

★ 1 Canadair CL-215 fire fighting aircraft,

★ 10 Cessna 337H-SP anti piracy patrol aircraft,

Helicopters

★ 6 Bell 212 helicopters,

★ 5 Sikorsky S-76B helicopters,

★ 6 Sikorsky S-70B Sea Hawk anti-submarine helicopters,

★ 2 Super Lynx Mk.110 anti-submarine helicopters.

★ On order are 2 UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters and up to 6 SH-60R anti-submarine helicopters.Of the latter it is believed 2 have been ordered,but 6 have been notified to the US congress as a proposal on the FMS sale.It is expected the remaining 4 helicopters will be ordered incrementally.The Bell 214ST helicopters were recently grounded following a fatal crash on 23 March,2007.
The fleet of A-7 Corsair aircraft is out of service and but stored as reserves,and the AV-8S fleet are in flyable conditions.

Personnel

★ Marines: 18,000 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.

Aircraft carrier (1)

★ HTMS Chakri Nareubet (CV911)

Frigate (10)

★ Knox class frigate (renamed Phutthayotfa Chulalok class)

★
★ HTMS Phutthayotfa Chulalok (FFG 461)

★
★ HTMS Phutthaloetla Naphalai (FFG 462)

★ Jianghu class frigate

★
★ 455 HTMS Chao Praya (053T): Based on the Type 053H2 (Jianghu III), built for export in 1991 as 053T (T = Thailand).

★
★ 456 HTMS Bangpakong (053T): Same as above

★
★ 457 HTMS Kraburi (053HT): Improved 053HT-H design, built in 1992 for export. Helicopter deck + YJ-81 (C-801) SSM's.

★
★ 458 HTMS Saiburi (053HT): Same as above.

★ Naresuan class (Type 25T) frigate

★
★ 421 HTMS Naresuan (25T): Enlarged 053 hull (length 120 m, width 13 m, displacement 2,980 tons) with helicopter deck, built for Thailand in 1995-1996 without weapons. Thailand fitted the vessel with Western engine (LM2500), radar, and weapons (Harpoon SSM, Fitted for but not with Sea Sparrow). ^[1]

★
★ 422 HTMS Taksin (25T): Same as above ^[2]

★ Training frigates

★
★ 433 HTMS Makut Rajakumarn (ASW frigate, built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in 1973.)^[3]

★
★ 413 HTMS Pin Klao (Cannon class destroyer escort, formerly USS Hemminger (DE-746),) ^[4]

Corvette (7)

★ Ratanakosin class corvette

★
★ 441 HTMS Ratanakosin

★
★ 442 HTMS Sukhothai

★ Tapi class corvette

★
★ 431 HTMS Tapi

★
★ 432 HTMS Khirirat

★ Khamronsin class corvette (ASW)

★
★ 531 HTMS Khamronsin

★
★ 532 HTMS Thaychanon

★
★ 533 HTMS Longlom

Amphibious Assault (9)

★ Sichang Class ''PS700 medium landing''

★
★ 721 HTMS Sichang

★
★ 722 HTMS Surin

★ Anthong Class ''LST 542 medium landing''

★
★ 711 HTMS Anthong

★
★ 712 HTMS Chang

★
★ 714 HTMS Lanta

★
★ 715 HTMS Prathong

★
★ 733 HTMS Pangan

★ Kut Class ''LSM 1 utility landing''

★
★ 731 HTMS Kut

★
★ 732 HTMS Kram
Thailand took delivery of 2 OPV's from China in 2006. The ships were ordered in 2002 and built in Shanghai. The OPV has 1,440 ton displacement and equipped with a 76mm gun, twin 40mm gun, and a helicopter. They've been given the numbers HTMS 511 Pattani and HTMS 512 Naratiwat. While these two ships are technically off-shore patrol vessels, they do have the potential to be fitted with additional weapons in case of war. [1]

References

1. http://www.forecastinternational.com/archive/ws/ws11485.htm
2. Toppan, Andrew. March 25, 2002.World Navies Today: Thailand at www.hazegray.org
3. Clyde-built database
4. Information provided by Capt. B. Boonsong to usshemminger.com

See also

★ Military of Thailand

★ Royal Thai Army

★ Royal Thai Air Force

★ Military ranks of the Thai armed forces

External links

★ '(Thai)' Official site

★ Global Security – Thailand navy