Thailand’s Defence Technology Institute (DTI) has sent a DTI Black Widow Spider 8×8 (BWS 8×8) Wheeled Armoured Combat Vehicle to the Royal Thai Army for 1 year testing at Thanarach Camp, Infantry Centre. The vehicle is fully developed and designed in Thailand by DTI researchers , the Thailand National Metal and Materials Technology Centre and private international companies which have expertise in the manufacturing of combat vehicles. DTI was set up to develop Thailand’s defence technology capability and to help build the local defence industry; the Black Widow Spider represents its first major military vehicle programme.
The vehicle uses a 8×8 chassis with the driver and powerpack a the front and the troops compartment at the rear. It can carry a total of 12 soldiers including commander, driver and gunner. The Black Widow Spider is fitted with a ADDER RWS turret by ST Engineering, Singapore and one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun mounted to the left of the main armament. The Black Widow Spider can run at a maximum speed of 100 km/h with a maximum cruise range of 600 km. The vehicle is fully amphibious being propelled in the water by two propellers mounted at the rear of the hull at a maximum speed of 8 km/h. The Black Widow Spider also offers high level of protection up to Level 4 STANAG 4569.
The Defence Technology Institute (DTI) is a research and development agency operating as a public organization under the oversight of the Thai Ministry of Defence. The DTI was founded n the 1st of January 2009 as part of a programme to increase domestic arms manufacturing capabilities. The DTI produces the Black Widow Spider 8×8 armoured vehicle for the Thai army in collaboration with Ricardo. DTI and Ricardo had already completed the initial phase of technology development for the Black Widow Spider 8×8, and displayed the vehicle configuration at the recent Defence & Security 2013 exhibition hosted in Bangkok.
