China is moving forward with plans to build a repair and maintenance centre in Thailand, following October’s delivery of VT4 main battle tanks. This will create a more flexible solution for the maintenance of Chinese weapons in Thailand.
The initial plan to build this facility was started by Chinese technicians and engineers sent to Thailand. Following delivery the first batch of VT4s by Norinco, a total of 437 different spare parts were despatched for initial maintenance as part of a one-year deal, as well as the need to guarantee spares, technical service and repair support for 25+ years.
The process will be to first stock spare parts for the VT4s and VN1 8x8 APCs, as well as spares for other military hardware from China in the future.
Since 1987, when the Thai military started procuring lower-cost Chinese weaponry, it has been routinely difficult to obtain spare parts and to perform maintenance. This forced some systems temporarily out of service.
To resolve these issues after Thailand ordered and imported a lot of military hardware from China in the past five years, China offered the option of establishing such a joint military facility in Thailand. A local repair and maintenance centre will benefit equipment support in the future.
Apart from setting up the centre, some technologies will be transferred too. This is a key component of Chinese arms sales to Thailand as it will eventually enhance self-reliance.
Earlier, Ukraine, who supplied BTR-3E1s and Oplot-M tanks to Thailand, also reached an agreement to build a military production facility there.
Deputy Minister of Defence Gen Udomdej Sitabutr commented, ‘Cooperation with an allied country to build a military production facility is essential because, in the future, when some military hardware from that country is out of service, equipment will need to be repaired and maintained. If that can be done by ourselves, or some key spare parts can be built ourselves, then we can save a lot of budget to solve those issues.’
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