Royal Thai Naval Air Division
The Royal Thai Naval Air Division or RTNAD is the Naval aviation of the Royal Thai Navy. The division was officially established on 7 December 1926. The RTNAD has two air wings and one Flying Unit of HTMS Chakri Naruebet, operating 23 fixed-wing aircraft and 26 helicopters from U-Tapao, Songkhla, and Phuket. 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 offered construction assistance and requested to use some parts of U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield 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 HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Unit.- Royal Thai Navy Airfields
- *U-Tapao RTNAF used for responsible tasked over the northern part of Gulf of Thailand.
- *Songkhla RTNAF used for responsible tasked over the southern part of Gulf of Thailand.
- *Phuket RTNAF used for responsible tasked over the Andaman Sea.
- *Chanthaburi RTNAF used as a frontal operating airfield for Royal Thai Marine Corps.
- *Narathiwat RTNAF used as a frontal operating airfield for Royal Thai Marine Corps.
- *Nakorn Phanom RTNAF used for support Riverine Patrol Regiment tasked along the Mekong River.
Squadrons
The following squadrons are currently active with the Royal Thai Naval Division.| Squadron | Equipment | Wing | RTAF Base | Notes |
| 101 Naval Air Squadron | Dornier 228 | Naval Air Wing 1 | U-Tapao | |
| 102 Naval Air Squadron | Fokker F27 | Naval Air Wing 1 | U-Tapao | |
| 103 Naval Air Squadron | Cessna 337 Super Skymaster | Naval Air Wing 1 | U-Tapao | |
| 104 Naval Air Squadron | Schiebel Camcopter S-100, Aeronautics Defense Orbiter | Naval Air Wing 1 | U-Tapao | |
| 201 Naval Air Squadron | Fokker F27, Embraer ERJ-135LR | Naval Air Wing 2 | U-Tapao | |
| 202 Naval Air Squadron | Bell 212, Eurocopter EC145 | Naval Air Wing 2 | U-Tapao | |
| 203 Naval Air Squadron | Sikorsky S-76, Super Lynx 300 | Naval Air Wing 2 | U-Tapao | |
| 1 HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Squadron | HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Unit | U-Tapao | ||
| 2 HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Squadron | SH-70B Seahawk, MH-60S Knighthawk | HTMS Chakri Naruebet Flying Unit | U-Tapao |