Thai marines receive amphibious APCs

Thailand's DTI unveiled a prototype of the 8×8 amphibious armoured personnel carrier at the Defense & Security 2017 trade show in Bangkok. The primary armament of the AAPC is Northrop Grumman Corporation's MK44 30 mm Bushmaster chain gun. (Janes/Jon Grevatt)

Thailand's Defence Technology Institute (DTI) has delivered an unknown number of locally developed 8×8 amphibious armoured personnel carriers (AAPCs) to the Royal Thai Marine Corps (RTMC).

The DTI, a research and development (R&D) agency under the Thai Ministry of Defence (MoD), said in a social media post on 19 May that the vehicles were delivered during the RTMC's Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise (CALFEX) at a Royal Thai Navy (RTN) base in Ban Chanthaklem in Chanthaburi's Khao Kitchakut district. The DTI has named the amphibious vehicle ‘Sea Tiger'.

Janes reported at the vehicle's unveiling in 2017 that the Thai government had agreed to purchase five initial units of the then-named AAPC. However, the full requirement could reach more than 20, with the RTMC seeking to replace its depleted fleets of US-made AAV7A1s.

The Sea Tiger was developed by DTI and produced by Thai automotive firm Cho Thavee. Production of the vehicle started in 2020 following several years of RTMC trials. The vehicle is based on the 8×8 Black Widow Spider armoured vehicle, which was developed by DTI in the early 2010s for the Royal Thai Army (RTA) in collaboration with Singapore Technologies Kinetics (ST Kinetics) and local industry.

According to DTI, the Sea Tiger has a length of 7.3 m, a width of 2.8 m, and a height of 2.3 m. The weight of the vehicle is 23.2 tonnes and the ground clearance is 632 mm. The vehicle can carry 14 troops.