Thailand awards contract to upgrade tanks and supply communication radios

The Elbit Systems E-Lynx SDR communication system. 

Israel’s Elbit Systems confirmed on 7 August 2019 that they won a US$80 million supply and upgrade contract from a Southeast Asian Army. 

Among those included in the contract is the supply of fire control systems and electric gun and turret drive to upgrade tanks, and supply of Elbit’s E-Lynx advanced communication systems in several configurations within a 32-month period.

While Elbit’s announcement did not announce the country, Asia Pacific Defense Journal received a response from an official of the Royal Thai Army (RTA) confirming that the contract with Elbit Systems is with Thailand’s Ministry of Defence (MOD).

The E-Lynx family of tactical communication solution uses Software-Defined Radio (SDR)  and Mobile Ad-Hoc Networking (MANET) technology that allows secured, continuous, and reliable voice and broadband data communications within the tactical network.

No confirmation was made on which tanks of the RTA will receive the fire control, and the gun and turret drive upgrade, although APDJ believes it may involve either the M60 Patton main battle tanks, or the Stingray light tanks.



[1] Reuters
[2] Monch Publishing Group