The Defence Technology Institute (DTI) of Thailand's Ministry of Defence and Thai shipbuilder Bangkok Dock have entered into an agreement to jointly develop a new class of 90-metre offshore patrol vessel (OPV) with the aim of initiating full-scale production of the type for the Philippines.
The partners' proposal will be a modified variant of the Royal Thai Navy's HTMS Krabi (pictured), an OPV built locally by Mahidol Adulyadej Naval Dockyard in Chonburi in cooperation with BAE Systems.
If selected as the winner in the procurement programme, the Bangkok Dock-DTI partnership will supply six OPVs to the Philippine Navy under a US$577 million contract.