Thai air force selects Barak MX

A Barak MR interceptor is seen being fired from the Barak MX launcher. (Israel Aerospace Industries)

The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) has selected Israel Aerospace Industries' (IAI's) Barak MX air and missile defence system to meet a requirement to enhance the protection of RTAF bases and assets.

The RTAF's Logistics Department said in a notice released in late November that the planned procurement features one initial Barak MX battery and is worth THB3.4 billion (USD107 million).

It added that the procurement will fulfil the RTAF's Military Base Defence Development Project, a programme outlined in the RTAF's white paper in June 2025.

This document called for the acquisition of a ground-based air-defence system by 2028 that provided surface-to-air missile capability over a range of at least 30 n miles (or about 56 km).

The Barak MX was unveiled by IAI in 2018. According to IAI, the system is a modular and scalable networked air/missile defence system that links sensors, launchers, and Barak effectors into a single architecture.

The system is integrated with three principal effector types: the Barak MR (medium range), which has a maximum range of 35 km; the Barak LR (long range), which has a range of 70 km; and the Barak ER (extended range), which has a range of 150 km.

The RTAF base development project was initiated in May but the requirement for enhanced RTAF base protection was underscored by Thailand's brief but intense conflict with neighbouring Cambodia in July.

In this conflict Cambodia mainly deployed artillery systems. These included a series of 122 mm multiple rocket launcher (MRL) systems such as the Soviet-era BM-21 Grad and RM-70 and China's Type 90B.