Ukrainian Oplot Tanks Arrive In Thailand

Thailand has received the first five Oplot Main Battle Tanks (MBT) by Ukraine, will undergo further testing before being formally accepted.

The Royal Thai Army is to receive 49 Oplot tanks in total under a contract signed in September 2011. The technical acceptance of the tanks was completed in November 2013. Thailand has a stated requirement for 200 tanks.

The Oplot is manufactured by the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau (KMDB) in Ukraine. It was originally developed to meet the requirements of the armed forces of Ukraine; the export version replaces the 125mm smoothbore gun with a NATO-standard 120mm smoothbore weapon fed by a bustle-mounted automatic loader.

Thailand is the first export customer for the MBT. The remaining vehicles are scheduled for delivery by the end of 2015.