No deal yet on Russian tanks, govt says

Ministry spokesman Major-General Kongcheep Tantrawa-nich said Prawit and Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusri-pitak would visit Russia ahead |of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s visit in March, but there |was no plan to discuss the purchase of Russian tanks during the visit.

However, he said the Army needed to procure new tanks and there were several countries, including Russia, proposing to sell their products.

Army spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree said an Army committee was working on the specifications of suitable tanks, which would be procured to replace ageing ones, but it had not yet made a decision.

Earlier, press reports suggested that the Russian T-90 tanks were among the likely candidates being considered by the military to replace 51 US-made M-41 tanks that have been used since |the Vietnam War. A budget |of Bt9 billion is reported to have been set aside – and spread |over three fiscal years, from |2016 to 2018 – for this procurement. 

Army sources said an earlier plan was to buy Oplot, or T-84 tanks, from Ukraine but there was an “export licensing problem” following the coup in May 2014. As a result, the Army looked at buying from other sources such as Russia, South Korea and China, with the Russian models considered the most suitable.