Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) commander ACM Seksan Kantha has unveiled a 2027-2028 roadmap to strengthen the force’s capabilities and safeguard Thailand’s airspace and sovereignty under the vision of an “Unbeatable Air Force”.
Speaking at the Navaminda Kasatriyadhiraj Royal Air Force Academy in Saraburi on Monday, ACM Seksan said the plan reflected evolving security challenges, including changing situations along the Thai-Cambodian border, increasingly frequent natural disasters and growing regional tensions across the region.
The RTAF aims to improve its ability to counter emerging threats, including information warfare, cyberattacks and drones, while integrating capabilities across air, cyber, space and electromagnetic operations.
ACM Seksan said modern warfare increasingly involves multiple domains, including land, sea, air, cyber and space, with artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous systems, robotics, satellites and networked sensors playing growing roles.
Low-cost weapons, including drone swarms, first-person-view drones, fibre-optic drones and kamikaze drones, also posed increasingly complex threats.
Global conflicts have driven up defence spending and equipment costs while disrupting supply chains. They have also highlighted vulnerabilities around strategic waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Malacca and the Taiwan Strait.
Lessons from Thai-Cambodian border operations underscored the need to prepare for both conventional attacks and non-military threats, maintain military diplomacy and counter misinformation and disinformation, ACM Seksan said. The force must also be prepared to respond to natural disasters.
The RTAF is developing its space capabilities through projects including the Napa 3 and Napa 4 satellites. Its network-centric strategy aims to improve shared situational awareness and joint operations by integrating intelligence, air defence, counter-drone, cyber and electromagnetic systems.
The 2027-2028 roadmap includes 10 procurement programmes, 20 defence-industry cooperation projects and nine research and development initiatives. Priorities include replacement fighter aircraft, armed unmanned systems, precision-guided weapons, air defence systems, drone-detection radar, transport aircraft and helicopters.
ACM Seksan stressed that humans would retain control over military decisions, saying AI can’t replace human judgement.