• An annual joint fighter jet exercise between Thailand and China will resume later this month.
• The annual event has been put on hold for two years due to the pandemic in South East Asia.
• The “Falcon Strike” exercise has been held four times since 2015 and will begin on August 14.

The Thai air force announced that an annual joint fighter jet exercise between Thailand and China will resume later this month after being put on hold for two years due to the pandemic, with a former US air base chosen to host the event.

The “Falcon Strike” exercise has been held four times since 2015 and will begin on August 14 at a base in northeastern Udon Thani that housed US forces during the Vietnam War.

The drills, the dates of which were decided in June, take place during a month in which China conducts major exercises in the sea and airspace around Taiwan in a show of military power in response to the United States. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the self-governing island, which Beijing considers to be its own.

Thailand is the United States’ oldest ally in Asia, but ties have been strained since a military coup in 2014. Thailand has attempted to strengthen its relations with China by making several defence purchases.

The Thai air force is one of the best-equipped in the region, and it is looking to buy F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin Corp to replace some of its ageing F-16 models.

Thailand will not deploy F-16s for the exercises with China, according to an air force source who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media, but will instead use Saab JAS-39 Gripen fighters and German-made Alpha Jet light attack aircraft.

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