The navy on Wednesday defended a training drone procurement worth almost 50 million baht after critics raised questions about the project’s transparency.
Navy spokesman Adm Pokkhrong Monthatpalin said the project was above board as he explained the reasoning behind the Naval Ordnance Department’s 49.8-million-baht procurement of Phoenix Jet Unmanned Aerial Targets from Air Affairs Australia.
Critics questioned why the 2020 deal had not gone ahead already and suggested the purchase had been pushed back to keep the price below the 50-million-baht threshold for higher-level authorisation.
Adm Pokkhrong said the navy had a limited budget, so the department opted to modify the existing units under the terms of the contract for replacements to be provided later.
He said the drone…
