Premier’s denial of missile purchase from US called ‘misunderstanding’
DESPITE HIS earlier denial, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday admitted that the Navy plans to purchase Harpoon Block II missiles from the United States to be installed on a newly built frigates.
Prayut said that his remark on Saturday, saying that the government does not have a budget for any more weapons, was due to his misunderstanding.
“Budgets for the missiles were long approved and already included in [the Navy’s] annual budget. It’s nothing new. I just couldn’t remember everything,” the premier said.
The US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) last week notified Congress on Thailand’s requested purchase of the anti-ship missiles worth Bt 827.7 million.
Navy spokesperson Jumpol Lumpiganon said that the missile procurement has been part of a frigate deal between Thailand and South Korean shipbuilder signed in 2013.
The missiles, if approved, will be part of the Navy’s budgets from 2017 to 2019 via the US Foreign Military Sales program, the Navy said in a press release.
Once the US Congress approves the sale, the two countries should be able to sign the deal. The missiles should be delivered to Thailand within the next three years, the Navy added.
Prayut, meanwhile, said that the military budget needs to be higher because previous governments did not pay enough attention to national defence.
“We need a budget to buy and fix [military hardware] to protect our land and maritime resources, facilitate disaster relief and for military training purposes,” he said. “If we use trashy gadgets, are we going to keep up with [other countries]?”
