Otter has the following revelations about VT-4 performance during the Thai-Cambodian conflict.
1) Neoliberal propagandists are upset that there are no turret bake-off videos so they accentuate the barrel failure.
2) Thai military trusts VT-4 a lot. It has spear headed the most difficult armored assaults against Cambodian positions and although it suffered some casualties (combat related or otherwise), as a whole it has performed satisfactorily. Thailand will continue to acquire more armored vehicles from Norinco as a result.
3) Thai military provided valuable combat experience for the VT-4. Most of the live fire involved mobile firing at the distance of 2KM, not “firing from fixed positions till the barrels blew up” as suggested in internet memes. The VT-4 also stood up to a lot of indirect fire. According to the Thai the tank barrel has been directly hit by Cambodian mortar fire but can continue to shoot normally after being damaged.
4) Mobile firing in jungle environment may have contributed to the barrel explosion since a mixture of dirt and residual powder can clog the barrel. Under intense combat conditions the Thai did not have time to properly clean them. Despite the fact that the issue stems from user error, Norinco will look into how to reduce this sort of mishaps going forward.
