Thailand to buy 12 Swedish Gripen fighter jets, air force says
[BANGKOK] Thailand plans to acquire a dozen Gripen JAS 39 fighter jets built by Sweden's SAAB over 10 years to replace its ageing fleet of mainly US aircraft, the air force chief said on Wednesday (Jun 4), two years after Washington denied its request to buy F-35s.
Thailand has one of South-east Asia's best-equipped air forces, with 11 JAS 39 Gripen jets and dozens of American F-16 and F-5 aircraft, some of which have been in operation since the late 1980s.
The budget for the first procurement phase from 2025 to 2029 is 19.5 billion baht (S$768.5 million) for four Gripen jets, Air Chief Marshal Punpakdee Pattanakul said. The air force, which had said last year that it wanted to buy more Swedish jets, said it would send the plan to cabinet for approval next month. If approved, the contract was expected to be signed in August.
'We welcome the Royal Thai Air Force's selection of Gripen E/F as its future fighter and look forward to the next steps in this procurement process,' SAAB CEO Micael Johansson said in a statement.
'Gripen E/F is the best solution to provide Thailand with independent airpower for the future which will contribute significantly to the nation's safety and security,' he said.
The Swedish company said it had not signed a contract nor received a firm order yet.
Thailand, which has a long history of military cooperation with the United States and was designated a Major Non-Nato Ally by Washington in 2023, had initially sought as many as eight Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth jets, among the world's most advanced fighter aircraft. But the United States in 2023 declined to sell them over what Bangkok said were issues with training and technical requirements, including maintenance compatibility.
The F-35 is considered a sensitive export sold only to the United States' closest allies, which in the Indo-Pacific include Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. REUTERS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Straits Times
Activist aid ship with Greta Thunberg on board nears Gaza after reaching Egypt coast
The Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Sicily last week with a cargo of relief supplies. PHOTO: REUTERS CAIRO - An aid ship with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, has reached the Egyptian coast and is nearing the besieged Palestinian territory, organisers said on June 7. The Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Sicily last week with a cargo of relief supplies 'to break Israel's blockade on Gaza'. 'We are now sailing off the Egyptian coast,' German human rights activist Yasemin Acar told AFP. 'We are all good,' she added. In a statement from London on June 7, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza – a member organisation of the flotilla coalition – said the ship had entered Egyptian waters. The group said it remains in contact with international legal and human rights bodies to ensure the safety of those on board, warning that any interception would constitute 'a blatant violation of international humanitarian law'. European parliament member Rima Hassan, who is on board the vessel, urged governments to 'guarantee safe passage for the Freedom Flotilla.' The Palestinian territory was under Israeli naval blockade even before the Oct 7, 2023 attack by Hamas that sparked the Gaza war and Israel has enforced its blockade with military action in the past. A 2010 commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar aid flotilla trying to breach the blockade, left 10 civilians dead. In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported coming under drone attack while en route for Gaza, prompting Cyprus and Malta to send rescue vessels in response to its distress call. There were no reports of any casualties. Earlier in its voyage, the Madleen changed course near the Greek island of Crete after receiving a distress signal from a sinking migrant boat. Activists rescued four Sudanese migrants who had jumped into the sea to avoid being returned to Libya. The four were later transferred to an EU Frontex vessel. Launched in 2010, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition is a coalition of groups opposed to the blockade on humanitarian aid for Gaza that Israel imposed on March 2 and has only partially eased since. Israel has faced mounting international condemnation over the resulting humanitarian crisis in the territory, where the United Nations has warned the entire population of more than two million is at risk of famine. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Straits Times
Ukraine says it shot down Russian Su-35 fighter jet
FILE PHOTO: A Russian Sukhoi Su-35S jet fighter performs a flight during the Aviadarts competition, as part of the International Army Games 2021, at the Dubrovichi range outside Ryazan, Russia August 27, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File photo Ukraine says it shot down Russian Su-35 fighter jet KYIV - Ukraine's air forces shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet on Saturday morning, the Ukrainian military said. "This morning, on June 7, 2025, as a result of a successful Air Force operation in the Kursk direction, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet was shot down," the military said on the Telegram messenger. It gave no more details. Russian forces have not yet commented on the matter while Reuters could not independently verify the report. Ukraine's security agency, the SBU, conducted a large drone attack on over 40 Russian military aircraft last week, damaging or destroying tens of Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers, which Russia uses to fire long-range missiles at Ukraine. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Independent Singapore
14 hours ago
- Independent Singapore
‘Make space for Singaporeans to dream': Business struggles spark debate featuring Calvin Cheng over rent, manpower, and the future of local business
SINGAPORE: A recent Facebook post by businessman and former Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng has stirred heated conversation online, after he suggested that rising rents are not the primary cause of Singapore's F&B crisis—and that the government should resist interfering in the free market, especially by imposing rental controls or mandating support for local entrepreneurs. Cheng didn't shy away from admitting that the closures have been heartbreaking—familiar neighbourhood hangouts, late-night bars where friends gathered, even family-run cafes that felt like home, have all folded one after another. Yet he urged us to pause before pointing fingers at landlords. 'Most mall spaces are still taken,' he reminded readers, suggesting that behind every lease negotiation is a landlord weighing risks—sometimes betting on higher rents only to discover too late that demand has shifted. In his view, it's not a matter of landlords callously letting spaces sit empty; it's a delicate, often agonising decision that can leave both tenant and landlord worse off if the timing or market dynamics don't line up. 'It is simplistic to just blame rentals,' he wrote. 'Most of the time, landlords also take a gamble during renewal… If they make the wrong decision, they may end up with a lower rent.' Cheng also claimed that many local F&B entrepreneurs overestimate their financial capacity and falter due to inexperience, rather than being unfairly priced out. Manpower shortages and government policy While defending the market's self-regulation on rents, Cheng was more critical of the government's stance on manpower quotas, especially in the service sector. He asserted that tight restrictions on hiring foreign workers could have led to increased labour costs and service inefficiencies. See also Stories you might've missed, June 16 'I am often served by young, inexperienced and/or disinterested local service staff who never see F&B as a long-term career,' he said. 'If the government really wants to do something, they should relax the quotas on foreign manpower.' Cheng concluded that excessive government intervention in the market often leads to unintended consequences: 'When local entrepreneurs shut down, everyone loses their livelihoods anyway.' Yet Cheng's criticism of young local workers in the F&B sector has struck a raw nerve among many Singaporeans, especially youth and their families, who see part-time service jobs not as careers, but as lifelines. In a country where the cost of living continues to rise sharply—from transport fares to food prices and education costs—40% of polytechnic and university students take up part-time work at cafés, fast-food chains, or bubble tea outlets simply to make ends meet. For some, it's pocket money. For others, it's helping to pay for tuition fees, rent, or to lighten the financial burden on their families. To many of these young workers, the implication that they are 'disinterested' or 'inexperienced' misses the point. The service roles they hold are rarely career pathways—they're a means of economic and social survival in the city. For every customer served with a weary expression, there may be a backstory of exams, caregiving duties, or savings goals stretched thin by the realities of urban school life. Backlash from entrepreneurs and advocates His remarks were met with swift rebuttals from industry figures and local entrepreneurs, many of whom argue that the state has a responsibility to protect small businesses in the face of mounting structural disadvantages. Credit: Calvin Cheng Facebook Wally Tham, owner of the social impact marketing agency Big Red Button, issued one of the most widely resonant rebuttals. 'If the government doesn't protect small local businesses, and Singapore cannot produce large enterprises, we won't have a local culture of business,' Tham wrote. 'Imagine all restaurants only serving Mala offerings and all services imported from the West.' Tham's emphasis on preserving space for uniquely Singaporean business voices—both literal and symbolic—was echoed by other commenters who see rental costs as more than just an economic issue. Cheng, however, dismissed this framing. 'Business is not a culture. Business is about making money,' he replied. 'Good service is a business proposition… Culture is just a misnomer.'hmm. The emotional economics of leasing In a separate comment, Kina Huang, who identified herself as having three decades of experience working with landlords, shared a more human-centred critique. She called attention to what she described as a growing ruthlessness in commercial leasing practices, even toward long-standing, loyal tenants. Credit: Calvin Cheng Facebook 'If a business has been around for more than 15 years, they must have been doing something right. And if they have to close, something external must have gone terribly wrong,' she said. See also MOM: 3 workplace fatalities in 2020 to date 'Lease renewal should be renamed Lease Increment Exercise,' she concluded her comment. Huang recounted how only one leasing agent she encountered in 30 years showed genuine empathy toward tenants, suggesting that most decisions in the space are coldly transactional. A bigger question: What kind of country do we want? Do we want a country where only the biggest players can afford the rent and survive, or do we want to make sure there's still breathing room for the smaller spots that give our neighbourhoods personality? It's tempting to let free-market forces decide—after all, high-profile brands bring in foreign investments and big leases fuel massive growth. But when a local hawker or startup can't renew their lease because the rent jumps too much, it isn't just a business closing: it's one less place where friends meet for kopi, one less corner of our community. If the sheer cost of business keeps squeezing smaller operators, soon there won't be any local names left on the storefronts—just global logos. The real test is whether we can find a way to let big and small businesses coexist, so that big brands, aspiring and small entrepreneurs feel at home here. That balance can shape what Singapore looks and feels like in the years ahead.
