Thailand to purchase 5 new vehicle-mounted short-range Man-Portable Air Defense System

 

A Dzighit launching system with Igla-S MANPADS. Photo c/o Wikimedia Commons.

The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) has made an announcement on their website posted on June 2021, declaring the winning tenderer for their requirement for 5 vehicle-mounted Man-Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS).

The project was awarded to Thai company Datagate Co. Ltd., with a contact amount worth THB245.89 million (US$7.682 million), which is believed to supply either the Igla-S or the latest Verba MANPADS system, both from Russia.

Thai defense page AAG_Th believes that the MANPADS could be mounted on the Dzighit launching system. While no information is available yet on the vehicle platform to be used, it is believed that an indigenous armored vehicle would be used.

Datagate Co. Ltd. previously supplied the Thales Starstreak air defense system to the Royal Thai Army (RTA).

Based on the RTN's Project Terms of Reference, a budget of THB246 million was set for the acquisition of a MANPADS-type mobile short-range anti-aircraft missile system, consisting of a launch pad equipped with 2 ready-to-fire missiles on a specialized 4x4 armored vehicle.

The new air defense system would be assigned with the RTN's Naval Air and Coastal Defense Command, which handles all ground-based anti-ship and air-defense assets of the service.

Datagate competed with another tenderer, China Vanguard Industry Corp. (CVIC), which offered the QW-18 Vanguard MANPADS, which is already in service with the Royal Thai Marine Corps (RTMC).




[1] AAG_TH Thai Defense Page
[2] Army Recognition