The Royal Thai Marine Corps (RTMC) is interested in procuring the latest version of the BTR-4MV1 8×8 amphibious armoured personnel carrier (APC) from Ukraine, a state agency in the Eastern European country has announced. The negotiations with Royal Thai Marine Corps Vice Admiral Sangkorn Pongsiri covered the issues of expanding bilateral military-technical cooperation. The Thai military officers expressed their interest in the new Ukrainian BTR-4MV1, which, according to them, “could become the main fighting vehicles of the Royal Marine Corps”. The military equipment and weapons acquired from Ukraine, in particular tanks and armored personnel carriers, “successfully passed all tests and were taken on armament”.
Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov, within the framework of the Arms and Security exhibition, discussed the issues of defense and security cooperation with the heads of delegations from Poland, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, the Czech Republic, Turkey, and Thailand. The NSDC said in a statement on 10 October that defence officials from Ukraine have had talks with the RTMC about a potential programme featuring the BTR-4MV1, which was unveiled by the BTR-4’s manufacturer, the Kharkov Morozov Design Bureau, in late 2017.
The BTR-4MV1 was developed using BTR-4 operation experience in combat zone. The vehicle is build using NATO standards and technological solutions in accordance with the latest generation of armored vehicles technology. This allowed to achieve fundamentally new combat capabilities of the new vehicle. When creating BTR-4MV1, developers used a modular approach to building armor protection, using the spaced armor. Such a modular approach allows to quickly replace the elements of the outer layer of the armor in field conditions. In addition, the BTR-4MV1 retained the possibility of forcing water obstacles by swimming, at speeds up to 10 km / h.
The BTR-4MV1 was equipped with the BM-3 “Shturm” remote-controlled weapon station, but the vehicle can also be fitted with other weapons station as the BAU-23×2, “Grom” turret or BM-7 “Parus” turret. The BM-3 “Shturm” turret is armed with a ZTM-1 30 mm automatic gun which can be remotely operated to provide increased soldier protection in hostile environments. There is also two launchers on the right side of the turret for the Barrier anti-tank laser-guided missiles. The BTR-4MV1 has a crew of three including driver, commander and gunner and can carry seven troops at the rear of the hull.
