Thai navy evaluates upgraded V-150 armoured
vehicle
Shaun Connors, London - IHS Jane's
International Defence Review
06 July 2017
The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) has completed initial testing
of a re-engineered and upgraded Cadillac Gage V-150 Commando 4x4 light armoured
vehicle. Designated HMV-150, the donor platform for the project was a damaged
vehicle salvaged from southern Thailand in October 2016 by local company Panus
Assembly Co Ltd.
The RTN had considered the donor vehicle to be beyond
economic repair following an earlier land mine strike, agreeing to donate it to
Panus for a potential rebuild at the company's expense.
The vehicle was re-engineered and rebuilt over a period
of eight months, and was handed back to the RTN for testing and evaluation
following a series of trials in early June 2017. Should this effort find favour
with the RTN, the aim for Panus would be to similarly upgrade the remainder of
the service's 24 V-150 vehicles - some of which are presently unserviceable.
Given the prevalent mine and IED threat in Thailand's
southern provinces, a key aim of the project was to improve both ballistic and
blast protection levels of a vehicle originating from a time when 7.62 mm ball
rounds and anti-personnel mine protection was considered adequate for a vehicle
of this type. The desire was to deliver a product with protection levels
comparable to the RTN's in-service Panus Phantom 380-X1 MRAPs.
To help achieve this target, Panus engineers redesigned
and reinforced the entire hull, with about 80% of the HMV-150's 6.5 m long and
2.5 m wide hull newly fabricated. Formal ballistic and blast testing has yet to
be undertaken, but the vehicle's updated protection is understood to be based
around a double layer hull with 12 mm thick steel used for the sides and roof,
and 16 mm thick steel used for the underside.
Source: janes.com
Related post:
Royal Thai Navy (RTN) modernize HMV-150: Details
Phantom 380-X1: Details
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