Just Like at Home: Thailand Equips Oplot-T Tanks with Anti-Drone Mesh

The Royal Thai Army is enhancing the anti-drone protection of its Ukrainian-made Oplot-T main battle tanks, drawing on lessons learned from the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Defense analyst Hem reported on this.

Last year, Oplot-T tanks serving with the Royal Thai Army’s 2nd Cavalry Battalion were spotted during military exercises equipped with cope cages – overhead protective frames mounted above the turret. These structures are intended to shield the front of the turret from attacks by first-person-view (FPV) drones and other unmanned aerial threats.

Thai crews have begun using folding anti-drone screens not only on tanks but also on M42 Duster self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. The screens can be folded down when required, allowing the vehicle to employ its weapons or transport infantry riding on the hull.

Ukrainian-made T-84 Oplot-T main battle tanks have also seen combat in Cambodia. On December 9, tanks from the Burapha Task Force opened fire on a customs office which, according to Thai officials, Cambodian forces had been using as a firing position for indirect-fire weapons, machine-gun emplacements, and a storage site for weapons intended for attacks on Thai forces.

This marks the first known instance of the Ukrainian-designed Oplot main battle tank being employed in direct combat operations by a foreign operator.

Thailand is the sole foreign operator of the BM Oplot-T main battle tank, an export version of the Ukrainian BM Oplot MBT developed by the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau.

Thailand currently operates 49 BM Oplot-T main battle tanks, delivered under a contract signed with Ukraine in 2011, with all deliveries completed in 2018.