The successful performance of the Gripens over Thailand and Cambodia has significantly bolstered interest by other potential foreign buyers on the global arms market.
With the 2025 border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, a brief but intense flare-up in part over disputed territories near the Preah Vihear temple area, having seemingly drawn to a close, it is important to assess how the militaries performed in combat against each other.
Much ink will be spilled on the border clashes in the weeks and months to come. Yet one fact is immediately clear: Thailand, a designated “major ‘non-NATO’ ally” of the United States and one of the largest purchasers of advanced American and Western weapons, far outperformed the Cambodians, who instead source their weapons and platforms primarily from China.
The Role of the JAS 39 Gripen in the Thailand-Cambodia War
One system in particular that helped put the Thai military over the edge was the Saab JAS 39 Gripen multirole combat jet developed in Sweden. The Gripen’s deployment not only highlighted Thailand’s evolving air capabilities, but also demonstrated the jet’s effectiveness in a limited, asymmetric border war.
To understand the Gripen’s performance, it is essential to contextualize the conflict and Thailand’s overall military posture. The dispute traces back to historical claims over border regions—some of which, such as the Preah Vihear temple, were also the flashpoint for previous skirmishes in 2008 through 2011.
The 2025 escalation began with Cambodian rocket and artillery barrages into Thai territory, necessitating retaliatory strikes from the Royal Thai Army and Air Force (RTAF). Thailand, possessing a more modernized military compared to Cambodia’s forces, leveraged their air superiority to target command posts, artillery positions, and troop concentrations.
As India’s Dassault Rafale Flopped, Thailand’s Gripen Excelled
Thailand’s air force operates a mixed fleet, including American F-16 Fighting Falcons and the Gripens, with the latter performing a key component of its 11 single-seat Gripen-C and dual-seat Gripen-D models. This conflict represented the Gripen’s inaugural kinetic combat mission globally, nearly three decades after its introduction, shifting its reputation from a peacetime asset used in reconnaissance to a true, proven combat platform.
Thailand does not operate the Dassault Rafale, and no Rafales were used in the Thailand-Cambodia border clashes, making a head-to-head comparison difficult. But the Gripen’s outstanding performance in Southeast Asia came in marked contrast to the lackluster performance of the Rafales by India’s Air Force during the brief India-Pakistan war that flared in May of this year. In that conflict, the costlier, more advanced Western systems underperformed compared to the Chinese-made weapons and platforms employed by the Pakistanis.
Following initial airstrikes conducted by Thailand’s American-made F-16s on July 24, two days thereafter, a pair of Gripen jets operated alongside two more F-16s, targeting Cambodian artillery positions responsible for shelling Thai border areas. The mission involved precision-guided munitions, including the 500-pound GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs, which allowed for accurate strikes from standoff distances to minimize exposure to ground threats.
Equipped with French ATLAS-II laser/optical targeting pods and potentially Korean KGGB GPS-guided bombs, the Gripens demonstrated enhanced precision capabilities, enabling to engage targets while evading Cambodia’s limited air defenses, such as Chinese KS-1C medium-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).
Support from Sweden’s Erieye airborne early warning and control (AWACS) systems, also operated by Thailand’s Air Force, played a pivotal role in threat reduction and mission coordination—providing real-time situational awareness that helped avoid potential engagements with Cambodian SAMs.
Why the Gripen Was So Effective Against Cambodia
The Gripen’s simple and straightforward design worked in its favor in the recent war. For instance, it enjoys a smaller radar cross-section (RCS) compared to the F-16, making it harder for Cambodian radar to detect. The JAS 39’s operating costs are significantly lower than other Western produced planes, too, making it a sound choice for nations with limited military budgets. The Gripen can also operate from shorter runways, making it ideal for rapid deployment from Thailand’s mountainous and jungle-like terrain.
Because of the short duration of the conflict, the Gripen was not fully tested in its newfound combat role. But its ground-attack capabilities were shown to be reliable. Following the tenuous ceasefire, Thailand’s cabinet approved the purchase of another four Gripen E/F models for around $600 million—part of a larger plan to acquire 12 jets and upgrade the fleet with Meteor long-range missiles and additional Saab 340 AWACS aircraft.
That decision by the Thai government is aimed at modernizing the RTAF and phasing out their aging F-16s by 2035. The successful performance of the Gripens over Thailand and Cambodia has significantly bolstered interest by other potential foreign buyers on the global arms market. A similar trend occurred for Chinese-made systems following the relatively successful performance of those systems in the previously mentioned Indo-Pakistani War earlier this year.
Is the Thailand-Cambodia War Really Over?
Of course, the war is not truly over. A ceasefire is not a peace deal. Tensions are still simmering just beneath the muggy surface of Indochinese affairs. And, as those tensions simmer, with observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) now monitoring the border, the Gripen’s debut underscores the evolving role of air power in modern border disputes, potentially influencing the acquisition preferences and deterrence strategies throughout Southeast Asia.
In any event, the truest victor of the recent conflict appears to have been Sweden’s Saab corporation and their JAS 39 Gripen. One can anticipate what is likely to be a flurry of interest from developing militaries around the world—notably in places such as Latin America, where these planes are already present in large numbers—in light of their excellent performance in combat.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a contributor at Popular Mechanics, who consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
