The Royal Thai Marine Corps (RTMC) has received seven new 8×8 Armored Wheeled Amphibious Vehicles (AWAVs) from Thai defense manufacturer Chaiseri.
The vehicles passed a series of tests conducted by the Royal Thai Navy and were deployed to the RTMC’s Assault Amphibian Vehicle Battalion in Sattahip, about 116 miles (186.7 kilometers) away from Bangkok.
This delivery is part of the 448 million Thai baht ($13.5 million) contract signed in August 2023 for the vehicle’s development, construction, testing, and delivery scheduled within one year.
Chaiseri AWAVs
Powered by a 711 hp engine, the amphibious vehicle has a maximum speed of 105 kilometers (65.2 miles) per hour on land and 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) per hour on water, with a combat range of 600 km (372.8 miles).
Each AWAV is equipped with the Spanish company Escribano Mechanical & Engineering’s Guardian 1.5 Remote Weapon Station, which operates a 12.7 mm machine gun.
Additionally, it has 76 mm smoke grenade launchers as secondary armaments.
It has a ballistic protection level of STANAG 4569 Level 3 and Level 3a/3b for mine protection to withstand threats in hostile environments.
Each AWAV is 9.2 meters long (30.2 feet), 3 meters tall (9.8 feet), 3.1 meters wide (10.2 feet), and around 25.7 tons.
It can carry 11 troops, plus a crew of three comprising a gunner, commander, and driver.
The vehicles were developed based on the prototype model unveiled at the Defense & Security 2023 exhibition in Bangkok and will serve in the RTMC’s current fleet together with its other amphibious platforms.