The inspectorate of the Royal Thai Army is carrying out the technical acceptance of the first batch of five Oplot main battle tanks produced at Ukraine's state-owned Malyshev Plant (Kharkiv) as part of a contract with the Thai customer, the press service of the Ukroboronprom State Concern told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.

"The Oplot tanks are undergoing driving and firing trials at a firing range near the town of Chuhuiv. The tanks are being tested in real conditions, in particular, during night firing. An act of technical acceptance will be signed after the tests, and the Oplot tanks will be sent to the foreign customer," the press service said.

The contract between the state enterprise Ukrspecexport and Thailand worth over $200 million on supplies of 49 Ukrainian Oplot main battle tanks to Thailand was signed in September 2011.

In recent years Ukraine has been actively developing military and technical cooperation with Thailand. The contracts for supplies of Ukrainian military hardware, particularly BTR-3E1 armored personnel carriers and Oplot tanks, concluded with Thailand in 2006-2011 and being implemented today, are estimated to be worth $500 million.

The Oplot main battle tank, created by Morozov Design and Engineering Bureau at the request of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, was added to the arsenal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in May 2009, and the first two tanks were supplied to the Ukrainian army. The tank is equipped with the 6TD-2 1,200-hp diesel engine and can effectively operate in desert conditions at temperatures reaching +55 degrees Celsius.