Inventory
Peace Naresuan I
In April of 1985, the government of Thailand made overtures to the United States to purchase twelve F-16A's. At that time, the F-16/79 was considered to be the only version that Thailand would be allowed to receive. However, in July 1987, Thailand was given approval to go ahead and order the F100-powered F-16, and a letter of agreement was signed in December of 1987 for the purchase of eight F-16A's and four F-16B's under the Peace Naresuan I Foreign Military Sales program. Thailand took delivery of its first F-16A in a ceremony at Fort Worth. All 12 aircraft of Thailand's first F-16 order are of the Block 15OCU variety. Peace Naresuan II
Together with the signing of the first contract, the Thai Air Force was already seeking to add 6 more aircraft to the inventory. At the end of the eighties the Thai government signed a contract to purchase 6 more F-16A's under the Peace Naresuan II contract. These aircraft were also of the OCU version.
Peace Naresuan III
In September 1995 Thailand received the first aircraft of a second batch of eighteen new F-16A/B Block 15OCU aircraft, 12 A-models and 6 B-models. They have been used to establish a second F-16 squadron based in Thailand. The last six of those F-16s were delivered to Thailand in February 1996. This event marked the end of the production for all Block 15 F-16s for Lockheed Martin. The Block 15 has been in continuous production for over fourteen years and, at 983 aircraft, is the largest block produced.
eace Naresuan IV
In March 1999, the US announced it was prepared to sell used F-16 jet fighters to Thailand. In May 2001, the United States acquired eight F/A-18 Hornet jet fighters ordered by Thailand because the cash-strapped country was unable to complete the contract after the Baht plunged in July 1997. President Bill Clinton had told Thai Premier Chuan Leekpai in March 2001 that the United States was prepared to take over the 1996 fighter purchase contract and to limit the Thai government's obligation to the $74.5 million it had already paid. That decision relieved Thailand of the burden of paying the remaining $317 million on the purchase order or paying termination costs of up to $250 million. The advance money could be used to pay off the second hand F-16s.
On July 14th, 2000, the Thai government decided to purchase 16 F-16s (15 A's and 1 B in the ADF version) to establish a third F-16 squadron. The aircraft were delivered in August and October 2002 and the remainder in July 2003. Also 2 block 10OCU aircraft were purchased for spare parts reclamation.
Singapore donation
On November 18th, 2004 it was announced that Thailand was to receive the remaining 7 RSAF F-16A/B's (3 Alpha models and 4 Bravo models). They were all handed over in the course of January 2005. Instead of a standard purchase between two governments, these airframes are donated by the government of Singapore to the Thai Air Force. In return the RSAF can train on the Thai air base of Udon Thani a number of days each year. This deal signifies the good relationship between these two ASEAN member countries.
