The Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM, Malaysian Armed Forces) has weathered the ups and downs of many economic cycles/crisis which have affected its defence budget.
Despite occasional bouts of belt-tightening, the ATM has scored noteworthy achievements in its transformation from a COIN-oriented to a full-spectrum conventional warfare force.
Shrewd defence planning by committed ATM staff officers willing to challenge conventional thinking has resulted in the following features that make the Malaysian war machine a force to be reckoned with:
* Tentara Darat (Malaysian Army) is the region's biggest user of M134 7.62mm miniguns (Indonesia's TNI is number 2). With a rate of fire of 50 rounds per second, the minigun is an ideal weapon for the ATM's anti-invasion block force.
* Malaysia will operate the smallest attack helicopter in Southeast Asia, the MD-530G Little Bird. Pound for pound, the yet-to-be-delivered Little Bird will be the region's most heavily-armed attack helo. Its diminutive size makes it ideal for out-of-base operations in jungle/plantation landing pads.
* TUDM is armed with the region's fastest anti-radiation missile, the Russian-made supersonic Kh-31P missile, tailored made to hunt and neutralise integrated air defence networks.
* An innovative naval staff worked closely with Malaysian industry partners to convert a former Petroliam Nasional mobile offshore production unit and an Malaysian International Shipping Corporation cargo ship as Sea Bases. This is HANRUH - Pertahanan Menyeluruh (Total Defence) - in action.
* TLDM (Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia, Royal Malaysian Navy) has been operating naval helicopters for years
* Malaysia has as many air bases in West Malaysia as Singapore but has numerous (60+) alternate bases in the form of civilian airports, plantation and austere airstrips to disperse its air assets.
* TUDM was the first air force in Southeast Asia to train with United States Air Force F-22 Raptors. This took place during Eksesais Cope Taufan in June 2014.
* Speaking of HANRUH, multiple Malaysian agencies such as the National Security Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Lembaga Tabung Haji (haji pilgrims fund board) and Markas TUDM (Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia, HQ Royal Malaysian Air Force) planned and executed the farthest and largest non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) flown by a Southeast Asian air force. This was done at short notice with no opportunity for rehearsal. Codenamed Operasi Piramid, the February 2011 NEO airlifted Malaysian nationals from riot-torn Egypt using aircraft from TUDM, Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia. TUDM sent three C-130H-30s to the Middle East within 24 hours of activation, with airliners augmenting TUDM thereafter. A total of 3,482 Malaysians were airlifted via 18 sorties flown by TUDM and Niner-Mike assets.
* The ATM has far lower rates of myopia among its warfighters
* Malaysia has more hard copy and digital defence periodicals
* ATM's psywar network has amassed hard-won experience from the two emergencies.
* Malaysian forces are among the few in the world to have fought and defeated a communist insurgency.
* Jungle warfare expertise of ATM is world-renowed.
I cant find the earlier post on the Formidable. This is already generally known.But RSN does not talk much about it given its potency and sensitivity. Thales shared that Aster 30 tests conducted on the Formidable frigates and French ships went very well: "Aster 30 firing tests (with French and foreign navies) showed that Herakles was very effective in its current configurations."
ReplyDeleteAlso, there exists a block 2 version of the Herakles with range in excess of >300km. This is not a new radar but an evolution of the current radar and available as an upgrade to the current Herakles users i.e. France and Singapore. France will be installing block 2 version of the Herakles radar on its Freda anti air frigates. It is not known if the Herakles radar in RSN inventory is the block 1 or block 2 version. However, a mid life upgrade of the Formidables is incoming.
Please refer to: http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/focus-analysis/naval-technology/2879-details-on-the-freda-the-future-air-defense-fremm-frigates-of-the-french-navy.html
Some other excellent weapon systems recently acquired by Malaysia include :-
ReplyDelete- NLAW antitank weapon - able to defeat all MBTs as it is a top attack missile
- NSM anti ship missile - the NSM from all accounts is a very deadly missile
notably for its highly stealthy design and optronic
guidance system which emits no RF signal. With >200 km
range, terrain masking using waypoints via GPS, variable
thrust for high speed end game random weaving / maneuvre,
end game counter countermeasures algorithms etc
Adopted by several navies including the US Navy for its
littoral vessels.
Singapore navy is apparently lagging in anti shipping
missiles as it continues to operate past generation
Harpoons.
Hmm..the nsm is 185km range missile. As for the harpoon replacement, i guess it is only a matter of time that they will reveal what is actually in the launch capsules. Interestingly, Finland assesed several missiles, including the NSM and purchased Gabriel 5. Not to surprising that they cannot reveal the details of the Gabriel 5 for now.
ReplyDeleteAdmin,
ReplyDeleteSeen PASKAL yet?
Would like to hear your review on the movie.
Regards