New frigate put through its paces
The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) on Monday ran a drill to test the capabilities of its new frigate HTMS Chang, which it aims to use it as a “floating fortress” in marine disaster mitigation, amphibious operations, and as a field hospital in an emergency situation.
RTN Commander-in-Chief Admiral Choengchai Chomchoengpaet supervised the drill, which took place off Yao Beach in Chonburi’s Sattahip district.
Choengchai noted that the upper Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea have experienced several severe monsoon swells over the years, causing both small boats and large ships to sink and resulting in damage to lives and property of both the public and private sectors.
This includes the sinking of corvette-class HTMS Sukhothai off the coast of Prachuap Khiri Khan province in December last year, resulting in the loss of 29 navy personnel, the biggest in RTN’s history.
He said the new frigate can serve as a mobile command centre during marine disaster operations, as well as provide offshore assistance to isolated areas including islands.
The drill on Monday saw three helicopters, two landing craft, vehicle, personnel (LCVP) boats, two landing craft mechanized (LCM) boats, and one assault amphibious vehicle (AAV) in action, staging a rescue of boat crews lost at sea and bringing them to safety.
HTMS Change can withstand sea state 9, or waves higher than 14 metres. In the past, Thailand has recorded storms of similar severity four times: Tropical Storm Harriet in 1962, Typhoon Gay in 1989, Tropical Storm Linda in 1997, and Tropical Storm Pabuk in 2019.
The new frigate can carry 56 AAVs, 20 main battle tanks (MBTs), six LCMs, nine LCVPs, and two landing craft air cushion (LCAC) as well as 650 personnel in full gear.
Equipped with 11 medical laboratories, three patient rooms, eight treatment rooms for x-ray, surgery, dentistry, diagnostics, clean room, and general operations, the HTMS Change can serve as a level 2 field hospital.
The new frigate is the latest model of a type-071 landing platform dock and was built by China Shipbuilding Trading for 6.1 billion baht. It was delivered to Thailand on April 17.
