Thailand suspended its purchase of 96 Ukrainian-manufactured armored personnel carriers last week
Thailand suspended its purchase of 96 Ukrainian-manufactured armored personnel carriers last week after the $117 million deal hit a snag due to a controversy raised in the Southeast Asian country, according to Germany’s dpa news agency.
The deal, first reported in August, involved the sale of 96 BTR-3E1 APCs.
Thailand has since raised questions regarding the Ukrainian-made armored personnel carriers’ after-sale maintenance. Some Thai experts said the BTR-3E1 APCs in question were unsuitable for the needs of the Thai military because its armor is not thick enough to sustain a hit from a rocket-propelled grenade.
Thailand’s defense minister, Boonrawd Somtas, said the deal would be suspended until the Thai military receives additional clarification from its Ukrainian counterparts.
Mykhailo Samus, an analyst with Kyiv-based arms and military consultancy Defense Express, said the BTR-3E1 design is a new armored personnel carrier based on the Soviet-designed BTR-80 and was not made to sustain such a direct RPG strike.
“As far as I know, no armored personnel carrier in the world can sustain a hit from a rocket-propelled grenade,” he said.
Samus suggested that the current controversy surrounding the deal is connected to recent changes in Thailand’s political landscape.
According to earlier reports, Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the commander in chief of Thailand’s army, supported the purchase of the armored personnel carriers from Ukraine, but resigned from his position on Sept. 30. He was then appointed deputy prime minister. The controversy arose around the APC purchase after the political change, Samus said.
“We have a standard situation, when different sides around the deal in Thailand want to clarify the entire situation and find out whether Ukrainian APCs are good enough, [possibly with the intention of lobbying] a purchase of armored personnel carriers manufactured by some other country,” Samus added.
State-run Ukrspetsexport, which exports and imports military and special products and services, had been administering the deal. The company would not provide comment regarding the halted APC deal.
