Thailand to purchase refurbished M1126 Stryker armored vehicles from the US

The General Dynamics Land Systems M1126 Stryker ICV. Photo c/o Army Recognition.

The Royal Thai Army (RTA) announced that it will be getting a total of 60 refurbished former US Army M1126 Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV) under a THB2.96 billion (US$93.85 million) deal.

The first batch are expected to be delivered to the RTA by late 2019.

37 units will be paid for by the RTA under a US Foreign Military Sales (FMS), while the US government will donate 23 units as part of US Military Assistance to Thailand. 

The deal also includes an undisclosed weapons and communications systems, logistics support, spare parts, training to support localized maintenance and repair, and the basing facilities.

Once delivered, Thailand will become the first country outside the US to operate the M1126 Stryker. 

It was believed that the RTA was trying to secure additional armored vehicles from China, but was able to struck a favourable deal with the US government and decided to pursue it instead.

Despite its success with the US Army, it has not found success in the export market, although derivatives of the Stryker like the MOWAG (now GDELS-Mowag) Piranha and GDLS-Canada LAV-III have met better export success.



[1] Bangkok Post
[2] Jane’s Defence Industry