{"id":368560,"date":"2026-10-09T03:54:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T03:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/368560\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T03:54:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T03:54:54","slug":"thailands-queen-suthida-completes-first-solo-gripen-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/368560\/","title":{"rendered":"Thailand&#8217;s Queen Suthida completes first solo Gripen flight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Queen Suthida of Thailand flew a Saab JAS 39C Gripen solo for the first time on October 8, 2026, at the Royal Thai Air Force\u2019s (RTAF) Wing 7 in Surat Thani province, according to an account released by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/phralanofficial\/posts\/pfbid0M7tMdLG8Mro7ApdkFpAs6MetUWQpWhk5hQ99GRFt7QDzUuSLTvFo2GkhaMRmmMVXl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Bureau of the Royal Household.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The flight took place at the base in Phun Phin district at 10:06 local time and was observed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, Air Chief Marshal Seksan Kantha, commander of the RTAF, and the Wing 7 commander.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After a briefing on the flight plan, the Queen carried out a pre-flight inspection of the single-seat fighter and taxied to Runway 22 for takeoff.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"King Maha Vajiralongkorn presenting the Golden Gripen Order Patch to Queen Suthida after her solo flight\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"Two military personnel on a runway exchange a medal during a ceremony with photographers filming in the background\" class=\"wp-image-146308\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/King-Maha-Vajiralongkorn-presenting-the-Golden-Gripen-Order-Patch-to-Queen-Suthida-after-her-solo-fl.jpeg\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"King Maha Vajiralongkorn presenting the Golden Gripen Order Patch to Queen Suthida after her solo flight\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/King-Maha-Vajiralongkorn-presenting-the-Golden-Gripen-Order-Patch-to-Queen-Suthida-after-her-solo-fl.jpeg\" alt=\"Two military personnel on a runway exchange a medal during a ceremony with photographers filming in the background\" class=\"wp-image-146308\"  \/>King Maha Vajiralongkorn presenting the Golden Gripen Order Patch to Queen Suthida after her solo flight. (Credit: Bureau of the Royal Household)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The solo sortie lasted 41 minutes. After she landed, the King presented her with a bouquet and attached a Golden Gripen Order Patch to her left sleeve. According to the palace account, the Gripen Order, an honorary association in Sweden, presented the patch and accepted the Queen as a full member.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The account also identifies her as Thailand\u2019s first female Gripen pilot.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>From simulator training to a solo fighter flight\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The flight marked the culmination of a conversion course for Fighter-Attack Aircraft Type 20, the RTAF designation for the Gripen, which the Queen undertook at the air force\u2019s invitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the palace, the course followed the RTAF\u2019s standard Gripen pilot training syllabus. It began with 45 academic and emergency-procedure subjects between June and July 2026, followed by 20 simulator sorties.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Queen then progressed to flying the two-seat JAS 39D Gripen with an instructor, accumulating approximately 10 hours before transitioning to the single-seat JAS 39C.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Queen Suthida has logged more than 1,188 flying hours\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Queen first flew on May 13, 2010, in a Cessna T-41D of Squadron 604 at Wing 6 in Bangkok. She subsequently gained experience on the CT-4E Airtrainer, Pilatus PC-9, Mooney M20M, and Piper PA-34 Seneca.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also serves as co-pilot alongside King Maha Vajiralongkorn on royal flights aboard Boeing 737-400 and 737-800 aircraft, having accumulated more than 450 hours on the latter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her total flying experience across all aircraft types now exceeds 1,188 hours, according to the palace account.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Thailand prepares to expand its Gripen fleet\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wing 7 is home to the RTAF\u2019s Gripen C\/D squadron, which entered service in 2011 and marked its 15th anniversary at the base on July 20, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thailand received 12 Gripen C\/D fighters and currently operates 11, after losing a JAS 39C in a January 2017 crash.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Thai Air Force is preparing to expand its fleet with the latest generation of the Swedish fighter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thailand ordered four Gripen E\/F fighters in August 2025. In May 2026, an RTAF delegation led by Air Chief Marshal Seksan reviewed the start of assembly of the first Thai Gripen E at Saab\u2019s facility in Link\u00f6ping, Sweden. Saab has said deliveries under the contract will take place by 2030.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queen Suthida of Thailand flew a Saab JAS 39C Gripen solo for the first time on October 8,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-368560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}