Defence & Security 2025: Thailand expands mortar capability

Thailand's M132 A1 self-propelled mortar is seen displayed at the Defense & Security 2025 show in Bangkok. (Janes/Jon Grevatt)

The Royal Thai Army (RTA) has integrated its M132 A1 drop-fired mortar onto a 4×4 Tata truck to enhance its ongoing border protection effort.

The integrated system – dubbed the M132 A1 self-propelled mortar – was displayed for the first at the Defense & Security 2025 show in Bangkok.

A representative of the Thai Ministry of Defence (MoD) told Janes that initial development of the self-propelled mortar system started in 2023 but was accelerated as a result of Thailand's five-day conflict with neighbouring Cambodia in July 2025.

Development of the first prototype is led by the RTA's Weapon Production Centre (WPC) in Lopburi, central Thailand, and the MoD's Defence Industry and Energy Centre.

French group Thales is also involved in the development project, supplying its TopAxyz inertial navigation system (INS). The core of the INS is its inertial measurement unit (IMU), which consists of a PIXYS ring laser gyroscope (RLG) and an accelerometer.

The INS is intended to provide operators with assured position, navigation, and timing (PNT) capability in global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-denied or -challenged environments.

The MoD official said the initial M132 A1 self-propelled mortar prototype has passed RTA acceptance trials and will be produced in larger numbers once an official procurement programme has been established by the RTA.

The official indicated that the procurement requirement could be expansive, given the RTA's expanding requirements for short-range mobile mortar capability.