Her Majesty Queen Suthida is scheduled to undergo training on Royal Thai Air Force Gripen fighter jets from today, August 20, until September 4 in Surat Thani, progressing through the RTAF’s pilot training procedures towards a solo flight.
According to a report from an army reporter dated yesterday, August 19, Queen Suthida is already a pilot and will train to fly the Gripen herself.
Her Majesty has reportedly made several private visits to Wing 7 in Surat Thani, known as the Home of Gripen, where she spoke with pilots who had carried out operations to protect the country and studied the fighter aircraft.
Before the planned Gripen training, Her Majesty underwent flight training on the L-39 at the Royal Thai Air Force Flying Training School in Kamphaeng Saen and completed several simulator sessions. Her performance during the training was assessed as excellent.
This week, Queen Suthida has been undergoing further simulator training with the Royal Thai Air Force at Don Mueang before moving on to training in an actual Gripen at Wing 7.
The programme will follow the RTAF’s pilot training procedures, with the air force overseeing the training and providing guidance as Her Majesty progresses towards a solo flight.
The report also states that Queen Suthida would become the first queen in the world to fly a fighter jet and a Gripen.
The development was also described as great for Saab of Sweden, the manufacturer of the Gripen, and the Royal Thai Air Force.
In similar news, Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya visited Linköping, Sweden, where she observed a live demonstration of the Gripen D fighter jet and learned more about Swedish air combat technology.
The story Queen Suthida trains for solo Gripen fighter jet flight as seen on Thaiger News.
