On Wednesday, the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) defended a nearly 50 million baht drone training procurement after critics raised concerns regarding the project’s transparency.
Admiral Pokkhrong Monthatpalin, RTN spokesperson, affirmed that the project was above board while elaborating on the Naval Ordnance Department‘s 49.8 million baht acquisition of Phoenix Jet Unmanned Aerial Targets from Air Affairs Australia.
Critics questioned why the deal, finalised in 2020, had not been already implemented, suggesting the purchase was postponed to keep the price below the 50 million baht threshold necessary for higher-level authorisation. Admiral Pokkhrong explained that the RTN had a limited budget, which led the department to modify existing units under contract terms, with replacements to be provided later, Bangkok Post reported.
He highlighted that the…
