M163 TVADS Super Vulcan - Machbet's Brother, Revived in Thailand

[UnknownVariable]

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Introducing

M163 Thailand Vulcan Air Defense System (TVADS)
“Super Vulcan” SPAAG
Royal Thai Army’s Upgraded M163A1 VADS

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Thai Designation: ปตอ. 20 มม. วัลแคน อัตตาจร แบบ M163 A1
[20mm Self Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun Vulcan Type M163 A1]

M163 Thailand Vulcan Air Defense System (TVADS) Super Vulcan During the Royal Thai Army’s Rapid Combat Readiness Training, 2020

OVERVIEW

With the USA’s retreat from Vietnam in 1972, the previous commitment by the USA to help protect its airspace was in jeopardy - requiring the Royal Thai Army to invest more into its Air Defense Capabilities and in 1980, it first ordered 40mm Bofors from Sweden and 20mm VADS from the USA. From these assets, Special Army Order No. 25/24 was enacted to establish the 5th Anti Aircraft Battalion upon the arrival of these assets a year later in 1981.

Meanwhile in 1997, the IDF chose IAI’s Machbet upgrade for its Hovet fleet. IAI’s competitor in these program was IMI with its Super Vulcan upgrade offering - the main difference between these two is that IMI’s Super Vulcan does not come with Stingers naturally integrated with the system and a much smaller turret but overall is the same as with the Machbet, replacing the AN/VPS-2 tracking radar with a new FLIR autotracker.

In October 2015, it was reported that IMI performed the Super Vulcan upgrade into the RTA’s M163 VADS fleet, at first in a batch of 12. This was then later finished in 2020 with all the remaining M163 VADS fleet upgraded to this type as well as the M167 towed 20mm VADS. This was all done in the backdrop of a larger modernization program within the RTAF and as such information on this particular upgrade is very sparse and afaik, it did not even receive a change in designation (hence why I named it with the manufacturer’s own designation).

SPECIFICATIONS

Characteristic	Details
Type	Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun System
Mass	27,140 lb (12,310 kg)
Length	191.5 in (4.86 m)
Width	112.4 in (2.85 m)
Height	115 in (2.9 m)
Crew	4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver)
Max speed	40 mph (64 km/h)
Propulsion	General Motors 6V53, 6-cylinder two-stroke diesel212 hp (158 kW)
Armament	M168 General Dynamics 20 mm Rotary cannon
Fire Control System	Most likely Dragon Eye System derivative (will be talked more below)

Closer look at the Thai M163 VADS EO-IR Suite, Children’s Day, 2017

IDF Machbet’s EO-IR Suite

I dont have definitive proof but it seems that the EO-IR system in use with the Super Vulcan is the same one found in the Machbet which is the Eagle Eye Optronics Mk. 2 so we should be able to expect the same performance as with the Machbet, at least in its tracking capability.

ADDENDUM:

New information has been found and it would seem that the FCS used in this upgrade is an Elbit Dragon Eye Optronics or most likely a derivative of it. There are slight differences based on the IMI’s training slideshow and Elbit’s brochure (IMI was acquired by Elbit back in 2018 so it could be the same system). Will update info as soon as more become available.

Credits to @DrJorus and his research on the Machbet’s EO-IR Suite which led me to finding more info on this

Taken from: The 5th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion attend the Upgraded Thai Vulcan air-defense system Field-level Operator and Maintenance Manual Training Course, 2015 (left) and Elbit’s Brochure on the Dragon Eye Optronics

Additional Pictures on the Training Course

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From the same 2015 Training Course, IMI’s designation (left) and info on the OCU (right)

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IMI Representatives train the 5th Anti-Aircraft Battalion on the what is presumably the Dragon Eye FCS, 2015

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Similar OCU to the one used by IMI's WAVE RCWS family

Screengrab from Elbit System’s Youtube video on the WAVE RCWS family:
Link: youtube.com /watch?v=Z123xc8Gck0
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IMI Super Vulcan OCU Display Unit

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M163 TVADS live fire exercise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgeBscaf8zE

IN-GAME

In the Japanese Tech Tree, there is a big gap between the SUB-I-II and the Type 87, so Japan badly needs an AA vehicle that has some tracking capability before they get access to the Type 87. The M163 Super Vulcan should be able to fit quite nicely in this niche and despite it being a Machbet without the Stingers, it should still be able to do well in its role in exchange for a lower BR.

Personally I think it can be placed around BR 7.3 - 8.0 to be a viable alternative to the Type 87 and with its shorter range and lack of a search mode should be able to justify its much lower BR compared to its Machbet cousin which sports Stingers and the Type 87 which has a much longer range and bigger 35mm caliber compare to the M163 Super Vulcan’s 20mm.

MORE PHOTOS

Spoiler

Upgraded and Base M163 VADS sit together during inspection, 2016

Children’s Day 2017

Joint training with Special Taskforce Regiment, Region 3, 2016

Dont click!

Pretty Girl ✨

SOURCES

Spoiler

https://web.archive.org/web/20190207125505/http://www.imisystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/SUPER-VULCAN-1.pdf

Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd (IAI) Systems Missiles MBT Missiles Air Defense VSHORAD Super Vulcan

https://www.iai.co.il/p/super-vulcan

Royal Thai Army M-163 VADS Get an Upgrade | Thai Military and Asian Region

IMI Systems will upgrade the Royal Thai Army M-163 VADS - IMI Systems

AAG_th บันทึกประจำวัน: ความคืบหน้าโครงการจัดหาอาวุธยุทโธปกรณ์ของกองทัพไทยในปี ๒๕๕๙-๕

ยุทโธปกรณ์ในกองทัพบกไทย – thaiarmedforce

DEFENSE STUDIES: Thai M-163 VADS Get an Upgrade

https://www.blockdit.com/posts/5ee6599b0372620c9c103bc2

PHOTOS:

5th Anti Aircraft Battalion, 1st Anti Aircraft Artillery Regiment - FB Page

Updated Info:

https://www.elbitsystems-uk.com/what-we-do/land/combat-vehicle-systems/optronics/dragon-eye.pdf

Dragoneye electro-optic targeting system - Instro

Machbet - Eagle-Eye Optronic FCS and its implementation in War Thunder

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EDITS:

• By January 2, 2025:
  ** Formatting & Grammar
  ** Additional Information
  ** Replacement to Better Quality Images

[Bonrath]

+1. It would be nice if it and the Machbet received a belt with mixed in APDS, wouldn’t be broken but very welcome.

[Nacho5944]

+1, It would be so nice.

[Константинович7]

The digital camouflage looks sick! I support a future addition of this vehicle.

[JamesPond1200]

When Thailand is added as a sub-tree for Japan, this will be a great boost to the SPAA line! +1

[DrJorus]

Congratulations on such a well detailed suggestion +1

I have been wanting to make one on the IMI Super Vulcan for a while, yours has a lot of additional info I was never able to find.

Regarding the Machbet similarities, my research is still ongoing and unfortunately there are still no specs on the sight.
I was able to find out that the EO unit should in theory be the same as the one mounted on the Israeli Chaparral (the on in game is incorrect, a bug report is open on the matter Community Bug Reporting System ).
Unfortunately information on Israeli vehicles are hard to find, with most of them still being classified, so I am trying to find some other source.

The EO unit on the IMI SV is probably different from the Machbet, it is smaller and more modern. But in terms of how it should perform in game it should work just like the Machbet: TV tracking with range provided by the laser rangefinder.

Also, I find it interesting that the second slide on the presentation has the 947th IDF AA battalion (the Vulcan with wings), which was the unit that operated Vulcans and later Machbets.

[UnknownVariable]

You have no idea how much your suggestion saved this one lol, at first I didnt even know what the specifics of the upgrade was until you mentioned IMI’s Super Vulcan in your suggestion which led me to the correct rabbit hole.

I have to admit that this is still very scuffed but I just thought the basic idea was pretty simple so I just said fuck it and submitted it. Thank you for your very detailed bug report on the Machbet as well!

[DrJorus]

No worries!

If I find out more about the Machbet I will update my post and report!

[PercussionCap]

+1, would make for a fantastic 7.3 SPAA just like the american one.

[_N4MELESS]

+1 for Japan. 7.3 could work especially it is a BR where we have a few 7.3 vehicles to build a lineup around it.
Would fit nicely for my Type 99 lineup ;)

[UnknownVariable]

I might just have stumbled upon something amazing. The sight for this one is probably called Dragon Eye Multisensor Electro-Optic Targetting System:

Dragon Eye System as marketed by Instro Precisions

Dragon Eye System in Elbit’s own brochure

Brochure: https://elbitsystems.com/media/Dragon-Eye.pdf

If somebody can fact check my assumption because this looks very much like it. Im just surprised its now being marketed for a 12.7mm RCWS instead lol

[Pangolin_Fan]

No. Japan does not need this.

[UnknownVariable]

There is a huge gap from 5.3 to 8.3 on Japan’s AA line. This serves to fill that gap.

[Pangolin_Fan]

I don’t think an 8.3 vehicle is the solution.

[UnknownVariable]

This isnt supposed to be an 8.3 vehicle though. The base M163 is 7.3, the Machbet is 9.3 because it has Stingers. What I suggested is 7.7 to reflect it being an upgraded M163 but would be fine in 7.3.

[Pangolin_Fan]

8.3 minimum for the upgrade.

Also it’d be pretty insane to consider adding it b4 the M163 PIVADS

[UnknownVariable]

You have to be joking to insist it being 8.3, also the PIVADS is just an M163 that has access to AP belts. It would be a pure copy and paste and does not fill any voids in any nation. The entirety of Rank 5 however does not feature a single SPAA, when early jets and helicopters start appearing. God forbid you are in an uptier.

[SinisterIsRandom]

Yes

[SinisterIsRandom]

Gaijin would put it at either 7.7 or 8.0.

[Pangolin_Fan]

Bro can’t seriously be clownmaxxing this hard. Did you even research TVADS or PIVADS?