Sunday, April 8, 2012

Exercise Kocha Singa 2012 CALFEX


This Royal Thai Army video is best enjoyed on max volume. : )

Sa Kaeo Province, Thailand: Royal Thai Army BTR-3 armoured fighting vehicles join forces with Singapore Army Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles during a combined live-fire exercise (CALFEX) on 5 April 2012.


The wheeled 8x8s from Thailand and Singapore were taking part in the annual bilateral army war games, codenamed Exercise Kocha Singa. This year's exercise, the 14th in the series, was held in Thailand from 20 March to 5 April 2012.


Motorised infantry from the Singapore Army's 5th Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment and the Royal Thai Army's 1st Infantry Battalion from the 2nd Infantry Regiment operated alongside one another to approach and demolish enemy targets. Notice how the extended reach of the 30mm cannon on Thai BTR-3s allowed them to play a more active part in taking down distant targets compared to the Terrex ICVs. Wheeled armour from both armies advanced with all hatches closed, which is a noteworthy departure from the usual practice for Singapore Army tracked AFVs where the tank commander fights the battle from an open hatch to maximise situational awareness.


Terrex ICVs from 5 SIR make their entrance from 1:33 min in the second clip. 

Footage of Exercise Kocha Singa 2012 was filmed by the Royal Thai Army. Any idea what the commentator is saying?
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11 comments:

  1. AnthonyApril 8, 2012 at 9:01 PM

    This is probably one of the best overseas exercise videos in terms of firepower display

    Even Chief Army MG Ravinder Singh looked pretty excited by it all

    The Thai PM was also a nice distraction.

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  2. AnonymousApril 11, 2012 at 8:32 AM

    I'm assuming ST Engg can easily change the Terrex's RWS with 30mm Bushmaster cannon found on the Bionix2.

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  3. AnonymousApril 11, 2012 at 5:45 PM

    Typical Singaporeans!! They "siam" the trenches while the thai counterpart performed the garang act of bashing.... 1.35min in the second clip

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  4. tragickingdomApril 11, 2012 at 8:11 PM

    Cool! M113 Ultra OWS scouts. Related videos:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM-2ej3J3Tw Ex Kocha-Singa 2010. Wonder which of our boys was evacuated by pack horse?
    http://www.thaifighterclub.org/webboard.php?action=detailQuestion&questionid=16181&topic=%C2%D8%B7%E2%B8%BB%A1%C3%B3%EC%E3%B9%20%A4%AA%CA%D5%CB%EC%20%F2%F0%F1%F2

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  5. AnonymousApril 12, 2012 at 8:02 AM

    David, you might wanna see this link. I wonder what the judging criteria was to be honest.

    http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/125712/#ixzz1repTiPSl

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  6. voranothApril 12, 2012 at 5:56 PM

    curiously, Myanmar operates the BTR-3U, similar to the thai BTR-3E1. (from wikipedia).

    @ Anon, the site is ukrainian. wonders if it is biased. In addition, what protection does the terrex / BTR-3E1 have against RPGs (ie RPG 2 in use by myanmar)?

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  7. AnonymousApril 13, 2012 at 4:18 AM

    Hi Voranoth, that's what i meant when i said "I wonder what the judging criteria is" - that is to say, the report is probably biased.

    To answer your question, the BTR-3E1 probably isn't is survivable if it were to take an RPG hit. Its hull has firing ports & troops dismount from side doors. This does not allow the mounting of additional protective armour. However, if u look closely at the side of the Terrex's hull, there are bolts all along it which probably allow mounting of more layers of armour during ops (this is just my deduction).

    Firepower-wise, the BTR-3E1 wins hands-down when compared to the current HMG+coaxial machine gun configuration of the Terrex.

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  8. AnonymousApril 14, 2012 at 3:57 PM

    Fighting "unbuttoned" seems to be a practice which the SAF adopted from the Israelis, back in the days of the AMX-13/SM1.

    Since the Terrex uses a RWS, there's probably a 360 deg CCTV view available to the V-comd. Also, a 25mm or 30mm OWS is definitely needed if the Terrex has to have more bite.

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  9. AnonymousApril 16, 2012 at 2:57 PM

    Above commenters: the BTR is designed as a simple and cheap troop carrier in the APC role behind a vanguard of Russian tracked IFVs. BTR-3s have an increase in firepower over the original heavy MG but no increase over the simple steel armor. They are not survivable.

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  10. AnonymousApril 16, 2012 at 3:20 PM

    There is a reason the Thais are in front and Singaporeans behind. This is a live fire exercise. If Singaporean MG rounds hit BTR-3, they won't penetrate. If Thai HE or AP 30mm rounds hit Terrex, it's all over.

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  11. AnonymousJuly 9, 2012 at 6:46 PM

    We didn't seem to be firing much from our Terrex. The Thai's 30mm seems impressive!

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