Thailand Offers Spare Parts And Armored Vehicles To Ukraine

According to Defense Studies, the Royal Thai Army (RTA) has planned to repair and manufacture spare parts and components for Ukrainian tanks, armored vehicles and pieces of equipment, using its own inventory in Thailand. This includes BTR-3E1, BTR-4MV1 8×8 armored personnel carriers, Oplot-T main battle tanks and KraZ 6322 trucks.

Previously, Defense Studies reports, the Royal Thai Army (RTA) had set up a policy to resolve the lack of spare parts for the maintenance of vehicles, weapons and equipment after their manufacturers had gone out of business or had closed the production line of those systems. Hence, the RTA was supporting the private industry and domestic agencies in the production of replacement parts.

For example, Defense Studies mentions, the development, design and production of a rubber seal ring set for a 155 mm howitzer, namely, a heavy artillery GHN-45A1, a U.S.-made M198 howitzer, and 40mm Boford L/70 antiaircraft guns, pieces of equipment for which the repair problems are now the same for the Ukrainian army. It’s been more than ten years since the BTR-3E1 family of wheeled armored vehicles replaced the Deutz diesel engine with the MTU-Mercedes-Benz, and the Oplot main battle tank, which took several years to complete, existed even before the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, and then the war in Donbas.

Concerning military systems for the Ukrainian army, at the opening ceremony of the annual Royal Thai Navy training for the year 2022, the Thai Marines told the media that the maintenance of the Ukrainian BTR-3E1 wheeled armored vehicles can use up to 98 percent of the parts found in Thailand, including the battery produced by the military battery factory.

Other vehicle systems such as the Oplot-T main battle tank or the KrAZ trucks can also be discussed with the Ukrainian and Thai operators such as Chaiseri or Panus, who have the capability to support the production of replacement parts.

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