,+HEAT,+and+HE-FRAG+125+mm+ZPT98+digital+battlefiel+(4).jpg)
The aircraft carrier is designed to operate an air group of V/STOL fighter aircraft and helicopters, and is fitted with a ski-jump. Initial intentions were to operate a mixed air group of Matador V/STOL aircraft and S-70B Seahawk helicopters. However, by 1999, only one Matador was operational, and the entire V/STOL fleet was removed from service in 2006. Although Chakri Naruebet was intended for patrols and force projection in Thai waters, a lack of funding brought on by the1997 Asian Financial Crisis means that the carrier has spent much of her career docked at the Sattahip naval base.
Chakri Naruebet has been deployed on several disaster relief operations, including in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, and in response to separate flooding incidents in late 2010 and early 2011. Outside of disaster relief, the carrier's few other departures from port are for a single training day per month, and transportation of theRoyal Family of Thailand, leading to claims by some naval commentators that the ship is merely an oversized royal yacht.
Chakri Naruebet is the first aircraft carrier to be operated by a Southeast Asian nation.[2] She is assigned to the Third Naval Area Command, and her intended duties include operational support of the RTN's amphibious warfare forces, patrols and force projection around Thailand's coastline and economic exclusion zone, disaster relief and humanitarian missions, and search-and-rescue operations.[1][4][5][2][11] However, at the time the carrier entered service, the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis prevented the necessary funding to operate the ship from being available.[2][11] Consequently, Chakri Naruebet is usually only operational for a single day per month for training, with the rest of the time spent alongside as a "part-time tourist attraction".[1][2][11] The ship rarely leaves the proximity of the Sattahip naval base, and when she does, it is usually to transport and host the Royal Family of Thailand.[1][2] Naval commentators consider Chakri Naruebet to be less an aircraft carrier and more the world's most expensiveroyal yacht, while the Thai media have nicknamed the ship "Thai-tanic", and consider her to be a white elephant.[2][11]
Flooding in the Songkhla Province resulted in the carrier's mobilisation in late November 2000. Chakri Naruebet was anchored at an island marina off Songkhla, and used as a base for helicopters and small boats transporting food, supplies, and wounded.[15]
In January 2003, anti-Thai riots were sparked in Phnom Penh by incorrect news reports of a claim by a Thai actress that the Angkor Wattemple complex belonged to Thailand, not Cambodia. Chakri Naruebet was sent to help with any evacuation of Thai citizens from Cambodia.
Following an undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean, tsunamis struck multiple regions around the Indian Ocean, including theAndaman Sea coast of Thailand. The personnel of Chakri Naruebet were part of a 760-strong response by the Thai military to the disaster This task force was involved in search-and-rescue around Phuket and the Phi Phi Islands, treatment of wounded and handling of dead, and repair work to schools and government facilities.
During the August 2005 filming of Rescue Dawn, a dramatized biographical film of US Navy pilot Dieter Dengler and his capture during the Vietnam War, the flight deck of Chakri Naruebet was used to represent the carrier USS Ranger.
In November 2010, the ship was involved in flood relief operations following the 2010 Thai floods; anchored off Songkhla Province, relief supplies and food were airlifted to people in the region, while hospital patients were evacuated by the ship's helicopters. Chakri Naruebet was sent to Koh Tao in late March during the 2011 Southern Thailand floods, as the heavy storms causing the flooding had isolated the island, requiring the evacuation of tourists and local citizens.
No comments:
Post a Comment