Lecturer sees benefits to Thai arms industry
Wanwichit Boonprong, an expert on security affairs from Rangsit University, sees long-term benefits from the military developing the Black Widow Spider armoured personnel vehicle.
“By being able to develop its own tanks, the military can avoid debt from purchasing foreign weapons,” he said.
“We may still have to import materials like steel, but being able to build it on our own can help us save creativity costs.”
The tanks can also be deployed in military exercises, such as Cobra Gold, to produce officers with greater competency in military technology.
Counterbalance neighbours
Although the country is not at war, weapons development is still needed to counterbalance neighbouring countries’ arsenals.
“For instance, Indonesia has produced its own anti-aircraft guns.
“We have to keep up too when our neighbours have improved their weaponry.”
Thanks to the Black Widow Spider’s advanced features, it can be either outstanding in the international weapons market, or even good enough for barter
trade.
This opportunity can emerge only when Thailand has developed enough technology to compete with Eastern weapons powerhouses such as China.
The Defence Technology Institute (DTI) could be a good nursery to breed scientific talent for the country.
“We don’t have a lot of military-supported scientists and researchers. Most of them even end up becoming lecturers,” he said.
“Having them working for the DTI could bring out their full potential for practicality.”
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