The vehicles passed a series of tests conducted by the Royal Thai Navy and were deployed to the RTMC’s Assault Amphibian Vehicle Battalion in Sattahip, about 116 miles (187 kilometers) away from Bangkok. 

This delivery is part of the 448 million Thai baht ($13.5 million) contract signed in August 2023 for the vehicle’s development, construction, testing, and delivery scheduled within one year. 

Chaiseri AWAVs

Powered by a 711 hp engine, the amphibious vehicle has a maximum speed of 105 kilometers (65.2 miles) per hour on land and 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) per hour on water, with a combat range of 600 kilometers (372.8 miles). 

Each AWAV is equipped with the Spanish company Escribano Mechanical & Engineering’s Guardian 1.5 Remote Weapon Station, which operates a 12.7 mm machine gun.

Additionally, it has 76 mm smoke grenade launchers as secondary armaments. 

It has a ballistic protection level of STANAG 4569 Level 3 and Level 3a/3b for mine protection to withstand threats in hostile environments. 

Each AWAV is 9.2 meters long (30.2 feet), 3 meters tall (9.8 feet), 3.1 meters wide (10.2 feet), and around 25.7 tons.

It can carry 11 troops, plus a crew of three comprising a gunner, commander, and driver.

The vehicles were developed based on the prototype model unveiled at the Defense & Security 2023 exhibition in Bangkok and will serve in the RTMC’s current fleet together with its other amphibious platforms. 

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In October 2023, the Thai Ministry of Defense said it would no longer acquire the S26T Yuan-class submarine due to Beijing’s inability to integrate a German-made diesel engine.

Because Berlin does not permit the export of submarine engines to China, the developer offered the Chinese-made CHD620 diesel engine instead but the Thai government refused.

Following a recent visit by Chinese military and shipbuilding personnel to Bangkok, the defense ministry has decided to reverse its earlier decision and “agree in principle” to proceed with the S26T purchase.

The submarine will now be delivered with a Chinese-made engine despite previous opposition from the Thai government.

Compromise

Thailand’s already troubled submarine program is poised to hit further challenges as deliveries are not expected until 2027.

The CHD620 engine has not been used in any submarine, including those in China’s fleet, so testing in Thai waters is likely to take some time.

However, Beijing is making an important compromise by providing Bangkok with a submarine simulator and necessary spare parts.

Once delivered, the Yuan-class attack submarine will be Thailand’s first in over six decades, bolstering its maritime capabilities.

Previously, the Southeast Asian nation wanted three submarines for $1.05 billion, but budget constraints only allowed it to procure one for $403 million.

The post Thailand Reverses Decision on Canceled Chinese Submarine Procurement appeared first on The Defense Post.

Defense Minister Sutin Klungsang said the decision was due to Beijing’s inability to provide the S26T Yuan-class attack submarine with a German-made diesel engine.

Berlin did not allow the export of submarine engines to China due to an arms embargo imposed by the European Union on the Asian military superpower.

To persuade Bangkok to continue the deal without German engines, the developer offered the Chinese-made CHD620 diesel engines instead, and it received approval from the Royal Thai Navy.

However, the Thai government did not agree to the changes, saying it is sticking with the German-made MTU396 diesel engines for the country’s underwater vehicle.

Sutin clarified that the submarine deal has not been canceled but shelved temporarily until Thailand is ready to resume negotiations.

Troubled Project

Even before the issue on engine integration surfaced, Thailand’s Yuan-class submarine acquisition had been hit with several budget and production challenges.

The country initially wanted three submarines for $1.05 billion, but budget constraints only allowed it to procure one submarine for $403 million, slated to be delivered by 2024.

The navy also signed a direct procurement agreement with China, bypassing any approval from the military-backed legislature or the Office of the Auditor General.

Another issue that emerged regarding the program was the submarine’s ability to operate in the shallow territorial waters of Thailand, which many critics have doubted.

Substitute

After announcing the shelving of the submarine deal, the navy came up with two proposals to bolster the Southeast Asian nation’s maritime capabilities.

One is to buy a frigate that can fight against submarines, or seek a new offshore patrol vessel.

Sutin said the Thai government chose the frigate option, which could cost the country about 17 billion baht ($470 million), over 1 billion baht ($28 million) more than the submarine program.

“The frigate option will compromise the navy’s capability slightly when compared with a submarine project but the navy can accept it,” he told Bangkok Post.

The post Thailand Shelves Chinese Submarine Acquisition to Buy New Frigate Instead appeared first on The Defense Post.

Under the three-year contract, Elbit is required to deliver maritime unmanned aircraft equipped with maritime radar, an electro-optical payload, satellite communication, droppable inflated life rafts, and other training capabilities.

“The Hermes 900 Maritime [unmanned aircraft systems] is intended to enable the Royal Thai Navy to perform both blue water and littoral missions, dominate vast swathes of sea and long coastlines, communicate with operational vessels and carry out civilian missions,” the company said in a statement.

Hermes 900 UAS

Elbit’s next-generation, multi-role Hermes 900 features a variety of high-performance sensors that enable precise detection of both ground and maritime targets over a wide spectral range. 

The highly autonomous aircraft has persistent multi-payload capabilities of up to 350 kilograms (771.6 pounds). It can also sustain flight missions for up to 36 hours.

“We are experiencing a growing demand around the globe for our unmanned solutions that are capable of effective integration with operational activities of manned forces across domains of operation, addressing a wide range of evolving threats,” General Manager Yoram Shmuely said.

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According to local media, the company’s pitch bested more than a dozen proposals from Turkey, China, Israel, and the US for the southeast Asian nation’s new maritime surveillance drones.

Navy spokesman Vice Adm. Pokkrong Monthatphalin said that Thailand had signed an approval for the winning bid last week.

A formal contract, reportedly in its draft stage, is expected to be signed within 30 days at the Bang Chang naval air base in Rayong.

The new drones will be deployed at coastal naval bases to support maritime missions along with the four Hermes 450 drones that the Royal Thai Navy currently operates.

Controversy

Before the approval was signed, the move to procure advanced drones for Thailand encountered controversy in parliament.

Two opposition members of parliament accused the navy of not being transparent in the acquisition process.

Yutthapong Charassathien and Anudit Nakorntap claimed that the service favored the Israeli-made drone despite its not having been deployed by any country’s navy.

They also said that the Hermes 900 has a “bad reputation” for crashing.

The Royal Thai Navy dismissed the accusations, claiming the procurement was, indeed, transparent.

The Hermes 900 Drone

The Hermes 900 is a tactical, medium-altitude, long-endurance drone designed to support intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance missions.

It has a takeoff weight of 1,180 kilograms (2,601 pounds) and an endurance of up to 36 hours.

The drone features state-of-the-art avionics, retractable landing gear, and automatic takeoff and landing systems.

Elbit Systems said that the Hermes 900 drones delivered to Thailand will be equipped with high-performance sensors, enabling improved detection of ground and maritime targets “over a wide spectral range.”

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The country’s naval acquisition authority released a report this month soliciting tenders for the 3.96 billion Thai baht ($118.5 million) project.

There are currently four contenders for the contract: two from Israel (Israel Aerospace Industries’ Heron TP and Elbit Systems’ Hermes 900), the Chinese Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group’s Wing Loong II, and the American General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper.

Thai Navy Drone Acquisitions

In December, the Thai Navy also introduced into service an RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system that will perform maritime patrols and reconnaissance missions along the country’s coasts.

The Boeing-made drone was designed to meet the US Navy’s requirement for a small tactical unmanned air system. Thailand is the first country in the Indo-Pacific to operate the drone, which is also used by the US, Canada, the Netherlands, and Poland.

The Asian country is also preparing to procure two additional Camcopter S-100 UAVs from Austria-based Schiebel. It can operate during adverse weather conditions throughout the day and has a range of 200 kilometers (134 miles). The system doesn’t require a prepared area or supporting launch equipment. 

The post Thai Navy Seeking Long-Range Maritime Surveillance Drone appeared first on The Defense Post.

The first ASEAN-US Maritime Exercise (AUMX) between the regional bloc and Washington will last for five days, starting September 2 at the Sattahip Naval Base in Thailand and ending in Singapore.

The drills come at a time of stepped-up U.S. engagement in the region and tensions between Beijing and Southeast Asian nations over the South China Sea, parts of which are claimed by ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Co-led by the U.S. and Royal Thai navies, the exercises will stretch into “international waters in Southeast Asia, including the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea” before concluding in Singapore, according to a statement from the U.S. embassy in Bangkok.

“AUMX builds greater maritime security on the strength of ASEAN, the strength of our navy-to-navy bonds, and the strength of our shared belief in a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Rear Admiral Joey Tynch, who oversees the U.S. Navy’s security cooperation in Southeast Asia.

U.S. assets participating in the exercise include the littoral combat ship USS Montgomery, guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer, three MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters, a P-8 Poseidon aircraft and staff assigned to Destroyer Squadron 7 and CTF 73.

The joint drills have come under criticism for looping in Myanmar’s navy in a rare show of inclusion despite Washington imposing sanctions on the nation’s top army brass over the Rohingya crisis.

All 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will take part in the exercises, which include the boarding of target vessels to simulate search and seizure.

They are unfolding as a Chinese survey ship remains in waters claimed by Vietnam, prompting the Pentagon last week to accuse Beijing of efforts to “violate the rules-based international order throughout the Indo-Pacific.”

China claims the majority of the South China Sea, often invoking its so-called nine-dash line as a supposed historical justification to the waters, which are a key global shipping route.

On a trip to Thailand last month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Southeast Asian nations to push back against Chinese “coercion” in the sea.

But in comments to students during a visit to the Cambodian capital on Monday, Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad said China had a right to feel “threatened” by exercises in the region, calling the drills provocative and a waste of money even as his country takes part in them.

“Now if China were to have naval exercises off New York,” he said to applause, “then I think the New Yorkers might not feel so comfortable.”

With reporting from AFP

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