The Royal Thai Naval Air Division or RTNAD ( th, กองบินทหารเรือ) is the

Naval aviation Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

of the

Royal Thai Navy The Royal Thai Navy ( Abrv: RTN, ทร.; th, กองทัพเรือไทย, ) is the naval warfare force of Thailand. Established in 1906, it was modernised by the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse (1880–1923) who is known as ...

. The division was officially established on 7 December 1926. The RTNAD has two air wings and one Flying Unit of

HTMS Chakri Naruebet HTMS ''Chakri Naruebet'' (911) ( th, เรือหลวงจักรีนฤเบศร, meaning 'Sovereign of the Chakri Dynasty', the Thai monarchy's ruling family) is the flagship of the Royal Thai Navy (RTN), and Thailand's first and ...

, operating 23 fixed-wing aircraft and 26 helicopters from U-Tapao,

Songkhla Songkhla ( th, สงขลา, ), also known as Singgora or Singora (Pattani Malay: ซิงกอรอ), is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. Songkhla lies south of Ba ...

, and

Phuket Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...

. The First Royal Thai Navy wing has three squadrons; the Second Royal Thai Navy wing has three squadrons and another wing for HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Unit.

History

The establishment Royal Thai Naval Air Division began in 1921, when the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartivongse gave an opinion to the Naval Command Council of Ministry of the Navy on 23 November 1921. The Naval Aviation Division was expedient to set up an air fleet using Sattahip as a base with 2 seaplanes. The Naval Command Council approved this proposal on 7 December 1926. Later, the Royal Thai Naval Air Division has more aircraft living with Royal Thai Air Force Place there are some inconveniences so in 1957, the Navy built the Airport coming up at Ban Utapao, Rayong Province by using the navy budget during construction, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

offered construction assistance and requested to use some parts of

U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield U-Tapao–Rayong–Pattaya International Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานอู่ตะเภา ระยอง–พัทยา; ) also spelled ''Utapao'' and ''U-Taphao'', is a joint civil–military public airport serving ...

in return.

Structure

The headquarters of Royal Thai Naval Air Division has 10 commanding units as follows;: *Personnel Division *Intelligence Division *Operations Division *Logistics Division *Division of Communication and Information Technology *Budget Division *Technical Affairs and Flight Safety Division *Division of Engineering Plans *Administration Department *Finance Department

Commands

Royal Thai Naval Air Division is a combat unit under commissioned of Royal Thai Fleet. The aviation division is divided into 6 regiments, corresponding to one additional command unit namely; Wing 1 Regiment, Wing 2 Regiment, Air Operations Control Regiment, The Flight Station Regiment, Aircraft Maintenance and Repair Center Regiment, Security Regiment and one additional command unit of

Flying Unit. *Royal Thai Navy Airfields **

U-Tapao RTNAF U-Tapao–Rayong–Pattaya International Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานอู่ตะเภา ระยอง–พัทยา; ) also spelled ''Utapao'' and ''U-Taphao'', is a joint civil–military public airport serving ...

used for responsible tasked over the northern part of

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...

. **Songkhla RTNAF used for responsible tasked over the southern part of

. ** Phuket RTNAF used for responsible tasked over the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from ...

(''

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

''). ** Chanthaburi RTNAF used as a frontal operating airfield for

Royal Thai Marine Corps The Royal Thai Marine Corps or RTMC ( th, ราชนาวิกโยธินแห่งราชอาณาจักรไทย) are the marines of the Royal Thai Navy. The Royal Thai Marine Corps was founded in 1932, when the first batta ...

. ** Narathiwat RTNAF used as a frontal operating airfield for

. ** Nakorn Phanom RTNAF used for support Riverine Patrol Regiment tasked along the

Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annuall ...