The internet is home to a wide spectrum of opinions about how Norinco equipment performed during the Thailand–Cambodia conflict of 2025. And by “wide spectrum,” everything from “performed flawlessly” to “fell apart when someone sneezed.” That’s the internet, right?
But one thing is certain: The Royal Thai Army ordered more VN‑1C IFVs in January 2026, immediately after the conflict.
Bangkok Post Jan 2026. (link)
“The Royal Thai Army (RTA) has moved to strengthen its combat capability by signing a procurement agreement worth about 1 billion baht for additional VN1 wheeled armored vehicles from China under the 2025 fiscal year defense budget.”
The VN‑1C Variant: What Thailand is actually buying aren’t the older VN‑1s, they are buying the VN‑1C, the upgraded variant featuring the UW4B 30 mm unmanned turret.
- 30 mm autocannon
- Modern fire‑control
- Stabilization for firing on the move
- No crew in the turret (always a plus when things explode)
It’s a meaningful upgrade over the earlier manned‑turret VN‑1s Thailand already fields as the photos below show
It’s becoming a standard saying that “the PLA hasn’t seen combat in years,” which — to be fair — is a great thing for the civilian population. But, that doesn’t mean PLA‑origin systems never see combat. They do. Just not in China. Again, a great thing in my book. I am sure someone in the internet would disagree but that’s the internet, right?
Thursday, July 24, 2025
Selected China Defense Blog entries of the Royal Thai Army
Friday, September 13, 2024
What do they perfer? She is 30 or She is 40?
The Royal Thailand Army ordered another batch of 1,000-round 122mm
rockets from China, including the SHE-30 range 30 km and the SHE-40
range 40 km, feeding the equipped with the SR-4 modular 122mm rocket
launcher (export version of Type 11 MRL) also imported from China.
Although the Thailand National Defense Technology Institute has brought the required technology to home-made 122mm rockets and has performed testing, the domestic version of the SHE family has yet to be mass produced.
Friday, August 30, 2024
Norinco Export Of The Day: SM-4A Rapid-Fire 120mm Mortar System on VN-1 platform ( ZBD-09 8x8 amphibious APC chassis)
The shorter barrel of the new SM-4A, which is based on the W99 (82mm) Chinese version of the Vasilek, is its main advantage over the earlier SM-4, 120mm, as it enables it to be fitted into the majority of APC/IFV that are now in service or offered for export. As this blog has pointed out that Chinese land systems have recently experienced an export success of late, mostly around to their 105mm 6x6 wheeled gun for direct fire and supporting APC/IFV, the SM-4A will enhance the in-direct fire support that many prospective export clients are seeking.
SM-4A in service with The Royal Thai Army
Saturday, February 06, 2021
Photos of the day: VN-1C of the the Royal Thai Army
38 VN-1C were ordered in 2017 and they now have been commissioned to the a CAV regiment.
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Thailand, first export user of Norinco's new PR family of 122mm MRL system
Monday, April 27, 2020
VT4 MBT lands a third export customer.
http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/view/2020-04/27/content_9802049.htm
Latest VT4 battle tanks delivered to foreign buyer: report
Source
Global Times
Editor
Wang Xinjuan
igeria
A Thai army's newly purchased Chinese-manufactured VT4 main battle tank deploys during a simulated warfare exercise at the Royal Thai Army Cavalry Center in Saraburi Province, Thailand, in 2018. File Photo: IC
China is delivering two customized VT4 main battle tanks to an undisclosed foreign buyer.
Transported by trucks, two VT4 tanks left for their destination following a launch ceremony, Weihutang, military affairs column affiliated with China Central Television, reported on Friday, citing a video released by the Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group under the state-owned China North Industries Group (NORINCO).
The tanks are not the standard VT4 version and instead are equipped with a different turret boost design. The front design features a new explosive reactive armor, Weihutang said.
This upgraded VT4 offers enhancements with extra protection capabilities, the report said, citing military experts.
Further details on the deal have not been released, such as the purchase amount, overall value, and client name.
Also known as the MBT3000, the VT4 is a new generation of made-for-export combat tank designed for the international market, Weihutang said, noting that it is one of the most popular Chinese weapons available and has been sold to Thailand and Nigeria.
The VT4 is equipped with a 125-millimeter smoothbore gun, can fire armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot (APFSDS), high explosive anti-tank cartridges, and missiles with a 5-kilometer range.
Equipped with a China-made 1,200-horsepower diesel-fueled engine and a hydromechanical drive system, the VT4 can travel at a maximum speed of 70 kph and a maximum cross-country speed of 50 kph.
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
VT4 MBT is now equipped with the heavy FY-4 ERA
Monday, August 09, 2010
Type 69 sleeps with the fishes
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/187444/fisheries-dept-brings-in-the-big-guns
The last call of duty for 25 Chinese-made tanks will not be as killing machines but to provide a breeding ground for marine life in the Gulf of Thailand.
The T69-2 tanks have been handed over to the Department of Fisheries and will form artificial reefs.
Some were transported by truck from the Surathampitak Camp in Nakhon Ratchasima to Bangkok's Klong Toey Port yesterday.
The rest will follow tomorrow and Monday.
Then they will be shipped from the port and placed in the compound of Thaksin Ratchaniwet Palace in Narathiwat before being dropped into the Gulf of Thailand off Narathiwat and Pattani.
The tanks will serve as artificial reefs to provide breeding grounds for marine life.
Col Mungkorn Wankrua, deputy chief of the Ordnance Department's munitions maintenance centre, said yesterday the delivery of the tanks was in response to Her Majesty the Queen's artificial coral project initiated to improve marine ecosystems and increase fish stocks in the sea off Thailand, particularly in the southern provinces of Narathiwat and Pattani .
The tanks were placed in service for the 16th Tank Battalion in 1987 and decommissioned in 2004.
The army purchased them from China in 1987 when Chavalit Yongchaiyudh served as the army chief, an army source said.
Gen Chavalit was then known to have friendly relations with senior Chinese army officers.
When he was in the top position, his policy was to modernise the army using the model of the US army.
But he looked to China for help to realise his ambition. "The Chinese tanks were not so good compared with those from Europe," the source said.
"But for Thailand, which did not have much money at the time, it was better to get them than nothing. They were bought at a 50% discount."
The problem came when the Chinese army stopped manufacturing the tanks and parts became scarce.
The Thai army could not afford to repair the tanks, the source said.
Maintenance works for the tanks stopped six years ago because there were no more parts available, the source said.
* thanks koxinga for the news.Workers pushed an old tank from a ship into the sea off Narathiwat province, Thailand, Monday. Junk tanks will form artificial reefs and provide home for fish. (Sumeth Parnpeth/Associated Press)
