The Army signed an agreement with China to procure the VT-4 tanks, which were produced by China North Industries Corporation last year, after a deal with a Ukraine manufacturer fell through. The VT-4s are also known as MBT-3000s.

This is the second batch of VT-4 tanks to be bought from China. Under the previous commander-in-chief General Teerachai Nakwanich, the Army purchased 28 VT-4 tanks while the current Army chief General Chalermchai Sitthisart bought additional tanks to form a cavalry battalion.

Another 11 vehicles will be delivered at a later date, said Prawit, the deputy prime minister in charge of security affairs.

The Army has been looking to buy 49 tanks to replace the M-41s it bought from the US in 1957. The plan did not prove feasible over the past few years due to problems with the delivery of T-84 Oplot tanks from Ukraine.

The military government last year decided to terminate the US$241-million (Bt8.3-billion) contract it signed with Ukraine’s state-owned Malyshev Factory for 49 T-84 ‘Oplot’ (Stronghold) MBTs in 2011, as the manufacturer failed to deliver on time.

Prawit said earlier that in the five years since the tank deal was signed, the Kharkiv-based Malyshev Factory provided the Army with about 20 T-84s, although the deadline was originally set for 2014.

The decision to purchase from China was due to price. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday said that price was one-third of that of military hardware from Western countries.

“If we buy from a Western country, we need to pay three times the price offered by a country in the East. So, from whom should we buy?” he said.

Prayut, himself a former Army chief, said that the quality of the |purchased weapons would have to meet the standards set by a military committee.

The Navy plan to buy submarines from China was not on the Cabinet agenda yesterday.

In January, the Cabinet approved Bt13.5 billion to buy a Chinese-made submarine and was considering the purchase of three more.