More Strykers For Thailand
THAILAND will receive 17 additional Stryker wheeled armoured vehicles from the US Army under the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) programme, with a formal handover planned after the upcoming Hanuman Guardian bilateral exercise.
The Royal Thai Army (RTA) said this was confirmed following talks between RTA chief General Pana Klaewplodtook and US Army I Corps commander Lieutenant General Matthew McFarlane on Feb 23 to discuss broader defence cooperation, including joint and combined exercises such as the ongoing Exercise Cobra Gold.
The Stryker armoured fighting vehicles (AFV) are being transferred as part of the US security assistance rather than a direct commercial purchase. Under the EDA framework, equipment is typically provided at no or reduced cost, while the recipient country covers transportation, refurbishment, upgrades, training and maintenance expenses.
Thailand had previously received dozens of Strykers through the same programme to equip a Stryker battalion, with additional funding allocated domestically for modernisation, communications systems and logistics support. The latest batch is intended to further develop the army’s wheeled armoured units and expand operational capability.
The US is also expected to deploy a Stryker Brigade Combat Team (BCT) to provide ongoing technical, maintenance and tactical training. During the meeting, Gen Pana also addressed tensions along the Thailand–Cambodia border, reaffirming the army’s commitment to safeguarding sovereignty in line with international self-defence principles.
This week, the largest and longest-running multilateral exercise–Cobra Gold 2026 kicked off and marked its 45th iteration in Thailand’s Rayong province with 8,000 personnel from 30 participant nations. Co-hosted by the Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTARF) and US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), this year’s Cobra Gold focuses on Combined Joint All-Domain Operations (CJADO) which integrates traditional land, sea, and air manoeuvres with a heightened emphasis on the space and cyber domains.
Cobra Gold consists of 7 core participants which are Thailand, the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea while Australia, China and India are additional participants. In the meantime, members of the Multinational Planning Augmentation Team (MPAT) include Bangladesh, Canada, Fiji, France, the UK, Italy, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, and the Philippines while representatives from 10 nations comprising Brunei, Germany, Jordan, Laos, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste make up the Combined Observer Liaison Team (COLT).-shp/adj/dl (Pix:JJS, RTA, DVIDS)