On Wednesday, the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) defended a virtually 50 million baht drone training procurement after critics raised concerns regarding the project’s transparency.
Admiral Pokkhrong Monthatpalin, RTN spokesperson, affirmed that the challenge was above board whereas elaborating on the Naval Ordnance Department‘s 49.eight million baht acquisition of Phoenix Jet Unmanned Aerial Targets from Air Affairs Australia.
Money questioned why the deal, finalised in 2020, had not been already applied, suggesting the purchase was postponed to keep the price beneath the 50 million baht threshold essential for higher-level authorisation. Admiral Pokkhrong defined that the RTN had a restricted budget, which led the department to switch current units beneath contract terms, with replacements to be provided later, Bangkok Post reported.
He highlighted that the drone procurement was in accordance with the Defence Ministry rules, which authorised the RTN chief, rather than the division chief, to make the choice. Admiral Pokkhrong additionally insisted that the department’s committee had rigorously assessed the winning firm, concluding that it was an acceptable choice.
The contract, signed on March 10, 2020, underwent two revisions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The first revision, made on November 26, 2020, accommodated on-line training, whereas the second, made on December 30, 2020, rescheduled delivery.
Admiral Pokkhrong additional revealed that another amendment in the contract allowed for the final cost of 2.485 million baht to be completed without a “setting to work” phase. The division requested the naval attaché in Canberra to hold out a manufacturing facility acceptance take a look at because of the continuing pandemic, and online coaching occurred from April 19 to April 30 this yr..