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DATE:23/11/10
SOURCE:Flight International
Thailand signs for more Gripen fighters, anti-ship missiles
By Craig Hoyle
Thailand has signed a planned follow-on order for Saab-produced fighter and surveillance aircraft and added anti-ship missiles to its air force's future inventory.
A new agreement covering the supply of six more Gripen Cs and a second Saab 340-based airborne early warning and control system aircraft was secured in Stockholm on 23 November.
It was signed by Royal Thai Air Force commander in chief Air Chief Marshal Itthaporn Subhawong and Gunnar Holmgren, director general of Sweden's Defence Materiel Administration (FMV).
Thailand has previously ordered six Gripen C/Ds and one Saab 340-based AEW&C aircraft
Saab has valued the new contract at around SKr2.2 billion ($317 million).
The company will deliver the new batch of single-seat Gripens in 2013 and upgrade the Erieye surveillance radar-equipped Saab 340.
It will also supply its RB15F anti-ship missile: a subsonic, sea-skimming design with a maximum range of over 108nm (200km).
The new deal represents the long-planned second instalment of a 2008 contract for four Gripen Cs, two Gripen D trainers, one AEW&C aircraft and a Saab 340 trainer.
It also includes the provision of logistics support and personnel training, the FMV says.
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