# Royal Thai Naval Air Division

The Royal Thai Naval Air Division or RTNAD (Thai: กองบินทหารเรือ) is the Naval aviation of the Royal Thai Navy. The division was officially established on 7 December 1926. The RTNAD has two air wings and one Flying Unit of HTMS Chakri Naruebet, operating 23 fixed-wing aircraft and 26 helicopters from U-Tapao, Songkhla, and Phuket. The First Royal Thai Navy wing has three squadrons; the Second Royal Thai Navy wing has three squadrons and another wing for HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Unit.

## History

The establishment Royal Thai Naval Air Division began in 1921, when the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartivongse gave an opinion to the Naval Command Council of Ministry of the Navy on 23 November 1921. The Naval Aviation Division was expedient to set up an air fleet using Sattahip as a base with 2 seaplanes. The Naval Command Council approved this proposal on 7 December 1926.
Later, the Royal Thai Naval Air Division has more aircraft living with Royal Thai Air Force Place there are some inconveniences so in 1957, the Navy built the Airport coming up at Ban Utapao, Rayong Province by using the navy budget during construction, the United States offered construction assistance and requested to use some parts of U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield in return.

## Structure

The headquarters of Royal Thai Naval Air Division has 10 commanding units as follows:
* Personnel Division
* Intelligence Division
* Operations Division
* Logistics Division
* Division of Communication and Information Technology
* Budget Division
* Technical Affairs and Flight Safety Division
* Division of Engineering Plans
* Administration Department
* Finance Department

### Commands

Royal Thai Naval Air Division is a combat unit under commissioned of Royal Thai Fleet. The aviation division is divided into 6 regiments, corresponding to one additional command unit namely; Wing 1 Regiment, Wing 2 Regiment, Air Operations Control Regiment, The Flight Station Regiment, Aircraft Maintenance and Repair Center Regiment, Security Regiment and one additional command unit of HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Unit.
* Royal Thai Navy Airfields
** U-Tapao RTNAF used for responsible tasked over the northern part of Gulf of Thailand.
** Songkhla RTNAF used for responsible tasked over the southern part of Gulf of Thailand.
** Phuket RTNAF used for responsible tasked over the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean).
** Chanthaburi RTNAF used as a frontal operating airfield for Royal Thai Marine Corps.
** Narathiwat RTNAF used as a frontal operating airfield for Royal Thai Marine Corps.
** Nakorn Phanom RTNAF used for support Riverine Patrol Regiment tasked along the Mekong River.
| Squadron | Status | Role | Type |
| Wing 1 ||||
| 101 | Active | SAR | Maritime patrol aircraft |
| 102 | Active | ASuW and ASW | Maritime patrol aircraft |
| 103 | Active | Forward air control | Maritime patrol aircraft |
| 104 | Active | Maritime surveillance | Unmanned aerial vehicle |
| Wing 2 ||||
| 201 | Active | Military transport | Maritime patrol aircraft |
| 202 | Active | Military transport | Helicopter |
| 203 | Active | ASuW and Military transport | Helicopter |
| HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Unit ||||
| 1 | Inactive | | |
| 2 | Active | ASW and Military transport | Helicopter |

### Squadrons

The following squadrons are currently active with the Royal Thai Naval Division.
| Squadron | Equipment | Wing | RTAF Base |
| 101 Naval Air Squadron | Dornier 228 | Naval Air Wing 1 | U-Tapao |
| 102 Naval Air Squadron | Fokker F27 | Naval Air Wing 1 | U-Tapao |
| 103 Naval Air Squadron | Cessna 337 Super Skymaster | Naval Air Wing 1 | U-Tapao |
| 104 Naval Air Squadron | Schiebel Camcopter S-100, Aeronautics Defense Orbiter | Naval Air Wing 1 | U-Tapao |
| 201 Naval Air Squadron | Fokker F27, Embraer ERJ-135LR | Naval Air Wing 2 | U-Tapao |
| 202 Naval Air Squadron | Bell 212, Eurocopter EC145 | Naval Air Wing 2 | U-Tapao |
| 203 Naval Air Squadron | Sikorsky S-76, Super Lynx 300 | Naval Air Wing 2 | U-Tapao |
| 1 HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Squadron | - | HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Unit | U-Tapao |
| 2 HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Squadron | SH-70B Seahawk, MH-60S Knighthawk | HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Unit | U-Tapao |

## Aircraft
### Active aircraft

| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Quantity | Notes |
| Fixed-wing aircraft |||||
| Fokker F27 | Netherlands | Anti-submarine warfare, Military transport | 2 MK4003 MK200 | |
| Dornier 228 | Germany | Search and rescue | 7 | Also used in Royal Rain Project. |
| NAX seaplane | Thailand | Search and rescue | 4 | Serial no.s NAX-01 to NAX-04, locally built by Naval Aircraft Experimental. |
| CASA/IPTN CN-235 | Spain | Maritime patrol aircraft | (+3) | 3 on order |
| Embraer ERJ-135LR | Brazil | VIP transport aircraft | 2 | |
| Cessna 337 Super Skymaster | United States | FAC aircraft | 4 H-SP3 SP2 G | |
| Helicopter |||||
| Sikorsky S-76B | United States | Search and rescue, Military transport | 5 | |
| WestlandSuper Lynx 300 | United Kingdom | Anti-surface warfare | 2 | |
| Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk | United States | Anti-submarine warfare | 6 | HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Unit. |
| Sikorsky MH-60S Knighthawk | United States | Military transport | 2 | HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Unit. |
| Eurocopter EC145 | Germany | Military transport | 5 | |
| Bell UH-1N Twin Huey | United States | Military transport | 7 | |
| Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles |||||
| Aeronautics Orbiter 3B | Israel | Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Unknown | In use since 2020. |
| Elbit Hermes 900 | Israel | Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Unknown | Ordered in 2022. |
| Aeronautics Defense Dominator | Israel | Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Unknown | [Documented by a few sources, not yet seen]. |
| Boeing Insitu RQ-21 Blackjack | United States | Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Unknown | [Documented by a few sources, not yet seen]. |
| DTI U-1 'Sky Scout' | Thailand | Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Unknown | It is unknown whether they are only in the army service. (In use since 2017.) |
| DTI D-Eyes 02 | Thailand | Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Unknown | It is unknown whether they are only in the army service. (In use since 2017.) |
| VTOL Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles |||||
| TOP Falcon-V | China Thailand | VTOL Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Unknown | In use since 2017. |
| Narai 3.0 | Thailand | VTOL Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Unknown | In use since 2018. (In use with the Navy and Armed Forces HQ). |
| Schiebel Camcopter S-100 | Austria | VTOL Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Unknown | In use since 2020. |
| NRDO MARCUS-B | Thailand | VTOL Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Unknown | In use since 2020. (For use on board the Chakri Naruebet aircraft carrier). |

### Historic aircraft

| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Service | Quantity | Notes |
| Avro 504N | Thailand United Kingdom | Trainer | 1929–1948 | 2 | Built locally. |
| WS-103S | Japan | Reconnaissance | 1938–1946 | 6 | |
| Nakajima E8N | Japan | Reconnaissance | 1938–1946 | 27 | |
| Aichi E13A | Japan | Reconnaissance | 1939-1945+ | 6 | Three aircraft ordered in 1939 and three in 1941. |
| Mitsubishi A6M Zero | Japan | Fighter | 1942–1945 | 3 | |
| Beechcraft 35 Bonanza | United States | Reconnaissance | 1948–1951 | 3 | |
| Piper Pa-11 | United States | Reconnaissance | 1949–1951 | 2 | |
| Fairey Firefly | United Kingdom | Fighter | 1951-1951 | 12 | 10 F Mk. 1 and 2 T Mk. 2 |
| de Havilland Tiger Moth | United Kingdom | Trainer | 1951-1951 | 30 | |
| Curtiss SB2C Helldiver | United States | Bomber | 1951–1955 | 6 | |
| Grumman HU-16D | United States | SAR | 1962–1981 | 3 | |
| Grumman S-2 Tracker | United States | ASW | 1966–1999 | 12 | |
| Cessna O-1G Bird Dog | United States | Reconnaissance | 1968–1997 | 8 | |
| Cessna U-17 | United States | Reconnaissance | 1974–1997 | 8 | |
| Bell 205 UH-1H | United States | Utility helicopter | 1975–?? | 4 | |
| Douglas C-47 Skytrain | United States | Military transport | 1978–1999 | 13 | |
| Canadair CL-215 | Canada | SAR | 1978–2017 | 2 | |
| GAF N.24A Normad | Australia | Military transport | 1984–2015 | 5 | |
| Bell 214ST | United States | Utility helicopter | 1987–2010 | 5 | |
| LTV A-7E Corsair II | United States | Attack | 1995–2007 | 21 | All airframes stored. |
| Lockheed P-3 Orion | United States | ASW | 1996–2014 | 5 | Second-hand but modernized before delivery |
| Hawker Siddeley AV-8S Matador | United Kingdom | Attack | 1997–2006 | 9 | Second hand from the Spanish Navy Spanish Navy Air Army Used on HTMS Chakri Naruebet. |

## Rank structure

| Equivalent NATO Code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF-1 | Cadet Officer |
| Officer ranks | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Officer ranks | จอมพลเรือ | พลเรือเอก | พลเรือโท | พลเรือตรี | พลเรือจัตวา$^1$ | นาวาเอก | นาวาโท | นาวาตรี | เรือเอก | เรือโท | เรือตรี | นักเรียนนายเรือ |
| Officer ranks | Admiral of the Fleet | Admiral | Vice Admiral | Rear Admiral | Commodore or Rear Admiral (lower half)$^1$ | Captain | Commander | Lieutenant Commander | Lieutenant | Lieutenant Junior Grade | Sub Lieutenant | Midshipman |
| $^1$Rank on paper, not actually used in the Royal Thai Navy. ||||||||||||
| Equivalent NATO Code | OR-9 | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-1 |
| Enlisted ranks | | | | | | | | No insignia |
| Enlisted ranks | พันจ่าเอกพิเศษ | พันจ่าเอก | พันจ่าโท | พันจ่าตรี | จ่าเอก | จ่าโท | จ่าตรี | พลทหาร |
| Enlisted ranks | Master Chief Petty Officer | Senior Chief Petty Officer | Chief Petty Officer | Petty Officer 1st class | Petty Officer 2nd Class | Petty Officer 3rd Class | Seaman | Seaman apprentice |