Thai army signs deal to procure additional VN1 vehicles from China

A Norinco VN1 armoured vehicle seen displayed at the IDEX 2009 exhibition in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Janes/Patrick Allen)

The Royal Thai Army (RTA) has signed an agreement with China North Industries Corporation (Norinco) to procure additional VN1 8×8 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs).

The deal was signed on 12 January in Beijing and announced on social media one day later by the Thai embassy's Office of the Defence and Army Attaché. According to the attaché, the agreement was signed by senior officials from the RTA and Norinco and constituted a “signing ceremony for the RTA's VN1 armoured vehicle project”.

The attaché said the agreement is a government-level accord, with the state-owned Norinco representing the Chinese state. Images released by the attaché also showed senior RTA officials visiting Norinco facilities in Beijing.

No additional details about the deal were provided by the attaché. A spokesperson for the Royal Thai Armed Forces had not responded to Janes request for comment at the time of publication.

Funding for the new VN1 procurement was sourced from Thailand's 2025 defence budget, which allocated about THB1 billion (USD32 million) to meet a requirement to procure additional IFVs for front-line RTA operations.

The requirement for additional wheeled armoured vehicles was also outlined in the RTA's most recent white paper, which was released in July 2024.

The RTA has previously taken delivery of several VN1 batches from Norinco, with purchases featuring variants including IFVs, mortar vehicles, command vehicles, and rescue vehicles and ambulances. The value of previous purchases suggests the new acquisition likely features less than 20 new vehicles.