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Thailand joins the missile
game
By Richard S Ehrlich
BANGKOK - The United States is supplying
advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAMs) to
Thailand because of "an imminent threat" posed by
Russian rockets offered to China and Malaysia, according
to weapons monitors.
The US decided to deliver
eight AMRAAMs to Thailand after Washington earlier
insisted the warheads would only be exported if Bangkok
suffered a potential military threat.
"We have
no comment on arms deliveries to Thailand," a
tight-lipped US Embassy spokesman said when asked about
the air-intercept missiles being delivered.
Wade
Boese, research director of the Washington-based Arms
Control Association, said in an e-mail interview: "The
United States committed to sell Thailand AMRAAMs a few
years ago, but did hold off on delivery because US
policy regarding AMRAAMs is not to be the first to
introduce that particular type of missile into a region
unless other comparable missiles already exist there.
"The strict US policy on exporting AMRAAMs
reflects the lethality of the missile," Boese said. The
AIM-120C AMRAAM is prized for being able to kill an
enemy plane, or intercept an incoming rocket, before the
AMRAAM-firing pilot actually sees the target.
The sophisticated air-to-air missile offers
"beyond-visual-range capability", which also allows the
AMRAAM-firing pilot to fly away before the warhead
explodes - colloquially known as "fire and forget",
"launch and leave" or "shoot and scoot".
"Essentially, the missiles are pilot equalizers
in the sense that it puts the outcome of a potential
dogfight more on the missile's technical capabilities
and not the skills of a pilot," Boese said.
The
Arms Control Association reported in its September issue
of Arms Control Today: "In its annual report on Chinese
military power released on July 28, the Pentagon
reported that China now possesses the Russian-made AA-12
Adder missile, which is comparable to the AMRAAM.
"The Bush administration told Congress earlier
this year that Beijing's ability to relocate the
missiles, and Russian offers to sell Adders to Malaysia,
create an imminent threat justifying AMRAAM deliveries
to Thailand and Singapore," Arms Control Today reported.
Under the new arrangement, Singapore could receive up to
100 AMRAAMs, while Taiwan may receive 200, according to
weapons monitors.
A Russia-Malaysia weapons deal
worth an estimated US$900 million was clinched during
Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit in August to
Kuala Lumpur, the report said. Putin agreed to supply 18
advanced combat aircraft, known as Su-30MKM jets, to
Malaysia within the next few years, it said.
"An
educated guess would be that Russia will sell AA-12s to
Malaysia to arm the planes," Boese said.
Malaysia currently possesses 18 Russian MiG-29N
fighters plus eight US-built F/A-18D combat aircraft,
Arms Control Today said.
Thailand enjoys
relatively good relations with all its neighbors,
including Malaysia on its southern peninsular border and
with China to the north.
"Burma is probably the
most significant current potential external threat" to
Thailand, Jane's Defense Weekly's Bangkok-based
Asia-Pacific editor Robert Karniol said in an interview.
"But the Burmese don't have an air-force capability to
match the Thais."
Cross-border, ground-to-ground
mortar clashes occasionally erupt between Thailand and
Myanmar (formerly Burma) in the northern, opium-rich
Golden Triangle region where Myanmar-based
drug-smuggling guerrillas hold sway.
"There is
no arms race" in Southeast Asia, Karniol said. "There is
an arms buildup. An arms race indicates an imminent
threat of hostilities. An arms buildup is a
modernization of military capability."
The
respected Bangkok Post newspaper, quoting an
unidentified Thai Air Force source, reported on October
24: "The United States has delivered advanced medium
range air-to-air missiles to Thailand to maintain the
military balance in the region. They arrived two months
ago [in August], shortly after the [Thai] Air Force
received 16 second-hand F-16 fighter jets worth a total
of $130 million."
"There were reports that the
US planned to deliver the missiles in September or
October, but I have not seen any confirmation that they
have been delivered," Matthew Schroeder, an Arms Sales
Monitoring Project research associate at the
Washington-based Federation of American Scientists, said
in an e-mail interview. "Raytheon has at least one
contract to produce eight AMRAAM air vehicles for
Thailand."
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co,
Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for
information on our sales and syndication policies.)
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