This article is written by The Soldier
Many friends know that the smallest aircraft carrier in the world is the Thai one, but few people can say the name of the ship, called "Chakri Nalubet" - not poor memory, but too twisted!
In the 1990s, Thailand's economy developed rapidly, and the GDP growth rate remained at the level of 7 to 8% for more than a decade; with money, the Royal Navy (full name "Royal Army of the Kingdom of Thailand") naturally wanted to buy more good things. Coinciding with the typhoon in the southern provinces of Thailand in 1989, the Navy took this opportunity to propose that if there was an amphibious assault ship carrying helicopters, it would be more effective in responding to such disaster rescue and evacuation; and it would assume the command of the fleet, strengthen coastal patrols, anti-submarine combat capabilities, and effectively enhance Thailand's national defense strength and international status - this is probably the most important thing!
In fact, Thailand does not have any threat of coastal defense, and maritime disaster relief is also one of the daily subjects of the country's navy.
Of course, there are only a few in the world that have the ability to build such ships, and Thailand is certainly not one of them. After receiving quotations from various overseas companies, the conditions offered by the Spanish shipbuilding company Bazin were very attractive:
1. The project quotation does not exceed 400 million US dollars, which is only equivalent to the price of importing an advanced frigate from the United States or Europe;
2. Bazin Shipyard has just delivered the "Prince of Asturias" aircraft carrier to the Spanish Navy in 1988, the industrial supply chain is ready-made, and if a cloned little brother is based on the "A" ship, it can be delivered within 5 years;
3. The "Prince of Asturias" aircraft carrier (hereinafter referred to as "Prince A") is small, but it is a light aircraft carrier that can also perform the tasks of some amphibious assault ships, and it is "more than one fell swoop", which has exceeded the Psychological Expectations of the Thai Navy for "Amphibious Assault Ships"...
▲The picture shows the aircraft carrier "Priprique of Asturias" of the Spanish Navy.
These three items can be said to have made the Thai people at that time irresistible - anyway, the defense expenditure is more than 2 billion yuan a year, and after 5 years, it will become the third aircraft carrier owner in Asia!
The two sides signed an agreement of intent in 1992, and the aircraft carrier was launched in 1996, named after the historical king of Thailand, "Chakri Nalubet" (hereinafter referred to as "Nalubet").
▲ After the Thai Navy picked up the ship that year, the Spanish Navy also specially sent the "Prince of A" (left) to send the twin little brother a ride - really like ah!
The "Nalubet" is basically a scaled-down version of the "Prince of A", and the latter is the deformation of the "sea-making ship" under the tightening of the US military in the 70s, which itself emphasizes the low cost. The Nalubet completely inherited the "cheap" and further simplified it:
The hangar is built directly on the upper deck, the design and construction are difficult, and a large number of civilian ship standards are used; of course, in terms of structural strength and damage resistance, it is almost interesting.
▲ The "sea-making ship" was originally a product of the "oil crisis" in the 70s, the US Navy sold to Congress, but it did not expect to blossom in Spain and Thailand.
The "Prince of A" completely inherited the power system of the "sea-making ship", two LM2500 gas turbines + cogag of the cruise engine; the "Nalubet" replaced the cruise engine with a more fuel-efficient diesel engine, and both ships were pitifully only one large shaft.
The flight deck of the "Nalubet" is 20 meters shorter than the "Prince of A", which is 174 meters - no matter how short the "Sea Harrier" fighter can not be effectively dispatched; in the hull compartment, reserve buoyancy is also compressed, the standard displacement is only 7,000 tons, and the full load displacement is not more than 12,000 tons; and the latter is a light aircraft carrier, but it also has more than 17,000 tons...
It's really a "bean ding" aircraft carrier!
The Sparrow is also a bird of honor – in order to give the carrier a real aviation combat capability, the Thai Navy also spent money to buy 9 second-hand Sea Harrier fighters from Spain (not included in the construction cost of the aircraft carrier), and imported 6 new SeaHawk helicopters from the United States.
▲ The "Sea Harrier" in front: It's embarrassing!
After the ship entered service in 1997, it caught up with the "Asian financial storm", and before it could get away with it, the carrier-based aircraft unit stopped training and even the aircraft were sealed; after a long time, the "Nalubet" formed a slow combat effectiveness, in addition to showing Thai strength, it had no use, basically it had been reduced to a royal yacht, and in recent years, even the sea was very small...
▲This photo looks like it was a long time ago.
There was once an interesting thing:
More than 2,000 years ago, the US military organized the "Rim of the Pacific Joint Military Exercise" in Hawaii, and the invited countries basically gave the host face and sent decent capital ships; only the Thai Navy went to two small landing craft, and the admiral of the leading team also raised the four-star flag in the small boat, and a group of aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, and destroyers in the harbor had to salute a landing craft.
It seems that what brings Thailand to international status is naval etiquette rather than aircraft carriers...
▲ Now it is the world's largest helicopter training ship...
There are three reasons for the embarrassing status of the Nalubet:
First, the total life cost of the aircraft carrier is underestimated.
The purchase of this ship plus ancillary facilities and accessories cost a total of 360 million, but this does not include carrier-based aircraft and weapons systems; the Thai Navy originally planned to install MK41 on the aircraft carrier, but the cost of the aircraft carrier for several consecutive years accounted for 1/10 of the annual defense budget. To know that the majority of a country's defense funds are derived from the salaries and material support of military personnel, the other used to pay for the necessary daily training and equipment maintenance, the cost of procurement can be better than 10% - this is equivalent to the Thai army for several years without adding anything, to the navy "annual supply" of an aircraft carrier.
▲But it is really a "treasure of the town and the country".
But the problem is that "raising" still costs money, the upgrade and maintenance of second-hand carrier-based aircraft, the training of pilots and other professional services, the logistics support support for daily going to sea, and so on... Any one of them cost a lot of money, which has become a burden for Thailand, which has been affected by the economic crisis.
It should be pointed out that spending $360 million on an advanced guided missile frigate to buy an aircraft carrier sounds like a cost-effective thing, but this is only in terms of the relative "moisture" of the arms trade - at the same time, the Bazin Shipyard built the "Prince A" for its own navy.
▲ The second-hand "Sea Harrier" did not take long to retire all - Bai paid a sum of silver for training pilots.
The Thai Navy bought a batch of second-hand "Sea Harriers", which were quite cost-effective at the time, and the cost of upgrading and transformation in the later period was not counted; even when the British were about to retire their "invincible" class aircraft carriers, they also launched an improved version of the "Sea Harrier" carrying a new generation of "Blue Fox" radar and launchable "Sparrow" missiles.
After all, the advanced ones that I bought are wallets that can't hurt!
Second, there is a lack of accurate national defense positioning.
Aircraft carriers are offensive weapons, extensions of sea power; secondary to that, they are also efficient active defense platforms.
▲The picture shows the Spanish Navy's former "Labyrinth" aircraft carrier - formerly known as the "Independence" class of World War II eliminated by the US Navy; why do people insist on engaging in aircraft carriers? The answer lies in this old and small broken ship: there is a realistic need for coastal defense!
Although Thailand has a long coastline, it is sandwiched between the Indochina Peninsula and the Strait of Ma LiuXia – the Passage through the Indian Ocean and the world shipping routes can not be considered by their Royal Navy; and the defense of its own sea ports and shipping, there is no strong enemy threat, except pirates...
▲The historical Thai Navy is also a bit of a material.
The "Nalubet" took the disaster relief as an opportunity to be born for "face", and the role played after service can also be regarded as adhering to the main business - in addition to coming out of the disaster rescue, usually staying in the dock to collect some visit tickets; or taking a little propaganda film on camera, the ship is surprisingly good, and it has been "in service" for more than twenty years and is still the same as the new!
▲ Hmmm! This is when aircraft carriers are most useful.
▲ Thailand tourism, one of the must-see attractions.
Third, the whole life upgrade space is not considered.
According to the above, it is possible that the Thai Navy did not consider the life of this aircraft carrier when ordering this aircraft carrier! Therefore, in terms of displacement and carrier-based aircraft, it is repeatedly compressed, and it is not as good as the amphibious assault ships of many countries.
▲ In the end, it is a well-known tourist attraction, the maintenance status is really good, and it is said that the new ship is believed.
But this question is still worth mentioning, according to the experience of the US military:
The life cycle of the aircraft carrier is about 50 years, and the effective service period should also be 25 to 30 years, which is at least the replacement cycle of two generations of carrier-based aircraft. Therefore, the design of the aircraft carrier must take into account the space for medium-term maintenance, half-life overhaul, and later upgrade of equipment updates, installations, and reconstructions.
Just like the "sea ship" was once the product of the development idea of the US Navy's "consumable equipment", in the hands of the Spanish Navy, the "Prince of A" aircraft carrier has changed almost nothing, except for increasing the displacement, expanding the flight deck area, and even reducing the speed of the ship - because it is necessary to consider the use of the whole life, then what can be done after the "Sea Harrier" carrier aircraft is retired?
▲ The "Prince of A" is still the capital ship of the Spanish Navy, and its continuous air support capability is stronger than that of the multi-purpose "strategic delivery ship"!
And this is precisely the problem that the Thai Navy has not considered at all under the repeated shrinkage of "Narubeck", which has led to today's "aircraft carrier" becoming a 10,000-ton helicopter training ship. The Lockheed side had promised the Thai Navy that their F35B "Fat Electric" could meet the needs of operating on the smaller deck "Narubeck" - at least 3 at the same time...
▲This deck is really too small!
It is better to stick to the original intention of the year and develop an amphibious assault ship, at least to do more.
Although Thailand's aircraft carrier is small, it brings many lessons, and for the navy that is eager to develop aircraft carriers, this is actually a profound negative teaching material!
(End of this issue)
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