The deadly clashes that have broken out between Cambodia and Thailand represent the latest instance of a long-running dispute between the two old rivals centered on a shared 800km-long border, with hostilities in recent months culminating in this new outbreak.
By Richard Thomas for Airforce Technology
Flaring up on 24 July, the fighting has seen leading players in the international community calling for calm, with the US stating it was “gravely concerned” by reports of escalating attacks along the Cambodia-Thailand border.
“We strongly urge the immediate cessation of attacks, protection of civilians, and peaceful settlement of disputes,” said a US State Department spokesperson on 24 July.
ASEAN countries, China, and Australia have also all called for calm.
As Thailand’s acting prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai says on 25 July that the latest exchange of fire, which has resulted in more than a dozen fatalities, could push the countries into a state of war, Army Technology takes a look at their respective military capabilities.
Cambodia vs Thailand: defence budgets
The most recent data available from analytics firm GlobalData states that in 2024, the Thai government allocated $4.4bn to its total defence budget, representing a negative compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -1.4% from 2020-2024.
However, Thailand’s military spending was forecast to register a CAGR of 5.8% during 2025-2029, reaching $5.9bn. The 2024 acquisition budget of $1.2bn was expected to grow to $1.7bn in 2029.
By contrast, Cambodia operates an annual defence budget of around $1.3bn, according to data from the UK-based International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS).
Despite the apparent disparity in defence spending, the mainly mountainous and forested border shared between the two countries offers a natural barrier, where air power and long-range strike will be favoured.
The border does include areas of lowland and urban areas, where more traditional land domain capabilities would be viable, as well as a maritime border, which sees a contested patchwork of claims between Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand.
Cambodia vs Thailand: land domain
Thailand’s land forces comprise a mix of older equipment from the US and Europe, with newer platforms obtained from China and Ukraine, the latter prior to the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia war. In particular, Thailand acquired 74 Chinese origin VT-4 main battle tanks (MBT) between 2017-2023 and 49 T-84 Oplot MBTs in the mid-2010s.
The country’s mixed mobility armour is a mix of 8×8 platforms, including around 130 Stryker M1126 infantry fighting vehicles, with some 100 older tracked FV101 Scorpion light tanks. It also maintains more than 200 BTR armoured personnel carriers (APC) across numerous variants.
Thailand’s artillery and indirect fire force is considerable, containing platforms obtained in the 1990s through to the 2010s, including GHN-45 155mm howitzers (~54 units), the ATMOS 2000 155mm (~15 units), around 40 of the old M109 155mm systems, and a small number (less then ten) of the French CAESAR 155mm platform.
Cambodia primarily obtains its equipment from China and Russia, operating several hundred Cold War-era T54 and T55 MBTs, as well as a small number of China-origin Type 59 tanks. Its IFV and APC fleets turn to older BTR variants, while more recent acquisitions include new Tigr and Dongfeng 4x4s from Russia and China respectively.
In addition, in May 2025, the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces officially unveiled the integration of two new Chinese-made air defence systems: the QW-3 Vanguard man-portable surface-to-air missile and the TH-S311 ‘Smart Com-Smart Hunter’ command and control system.
The country’s ground-based long-range fires primarily consists of multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) according to the IISS, numbering over 300 units, including a small number of the advanced PHL-03 MLRS from China, which is armed with 300mm munitions that can fire to range of over 120km.
Cambodia vs Thailand: naval domain
The two countries operate relatively small navies, although Thailand’s is the larger of the pair, with up to 16 frigates and corvettes, including Chinese-origin Type 053/H2 (six) from the 1990s and a single Bhumibol Adulyadej-class frigate, based on a South Korean design, capable of full spectrum operations.
In addition, the Royal Thai Navy also operates the world’s smallest aircraft carrier, the HTMS Chakri Naruebet, displacing just over 11,000 tonnes and built as a scaled version of Spain’s larger Principe de Asturias class by Navantia.
The vessel now operates as a helicopter carrier, embarking MH-60S and S-70B rotary platforms, having seen the disbanding of its AV-8B STOVL fighters in 2006. The HTMS Chakri Naruebet has also had extremely poor availability in recent years.
In comparison, Cambodia has again sourced its assets from China and Russia, mainly fast patrol boats and maritime patrol cutters, with between 10-20 units thought to be operational.
China is expected to hand over two of its Type 056 corvettes to Cambodia, as ties between the two countries continue to develop. China is also purported to maintain de-facto control over Ream naval base, a strategic port from which to project Beijing’s aims in the region.
Cambodia vs Thailand: air domain
The relative disparity in the two countries’ air forces continuous from where the naval domain left off, with Thailand operating fixed-wing combat fighters, airborne early warning platforms, and light attack aircraft, both fixed and rotary.
Specifically, Thailand can count on 11 JAS-39 Gripen fighters of the C and D variants in its fleet, as well as a theoretical fleet of around 50 F-16 multirole through to the Block 15 B variants, which have reportedly been used in the recent hostilities. Around 19 US-origin F5 fighters are also in service, acquired in the late-1970s, now heavily modernised.
Thailand recently ordered 12 further JAS-39 aircraft of the modern E/F variants, in replacement of some of its older F-16 fighters. The close relationship with Sweden continues with the Royal Thai Air Force operating Saab 340 airborne early warning aircraft, key enablers in the modern battlespace.
Meanwhile, Cambodia operates a range of Chinese and Russian-origin rotary platforms for transport and combat operations. Phnom Penh also operates a small number of fixed-wing L-39C jet trainers, configured in a patrol and ground attack variant, which will be replaced by the newer NG version.
Cambodia vs Thailand: military conclusion
In purely military terms, Thailand holds a distinct advantage, able to leverage its superiority in the air through its F-16 and JAS-39 fighters for long-range strike operations. This trend continues in the naval domain with the clear advantage to the Royal Thai Navy, although any shift from the current state of hostilities into the maritime domain would be a significant escalation.
In the land domain, with the majority of the border difficult effectively inaccessible for heavy armour, the concentration of forces through low-land and urban choke points in the would be vulnerable to indirect and long-range fires.
A great leveller in modern combat operations, the use of massed strike drones and one way attack munitions, is also a factor that needs to be considered. However, it is not known to what extent either side has sought to modernise its concepts of operations to those being seen in the Ukraine-Russia war.
Find the original article in its entirety at Airforce Technology.
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