Malaysian Army procures new weapons for its infantry battalions

The Malaysian Army is set to take delivery of a range of new weapons for its infantry battalions, including 81 mm mortars, anti-materiel rifles, and portable rocket launchers, along with related munitions.

This was revealed in separate tenders issued by the Ministry of Defence (MinDef) in Kuala Lumpur from 17 June to multimodal transport operators (MTOs) to have the weapons shipped to Malaysia from their respective manufacturing countries.

For instance, requests for bids were issued on 17 June to deliver RBR7 rocket-propelled grenade launchers from Serbian company Namenska and PG-7V family rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) from Romanian state-owned company Romarm. An industry source told Janes that the Malaysian Army is acquiring 150 RBR7 launchers and 2,600 PG-7V-family RPGs.

Requests for bids issued on 22 June also revealed that anti-materiel rifles for the Malaysian Army are being delivered from Christiana, Tennessee, in the United States. This indicates that Barret Firearms is the manufacturer, since the firm is located in this area. This comes after MinDef issued a tender for the acquisition of 40 12.7 mm semi-automatic anti-materiel rifles in November 2019.

Meanwhile, the ministry also issued a request for bids on 23 June for the delivery of a total of 72 81 mm mortars and 12 Talos networked sensor-to-shooter and C2 systems from the Spanish port city of Bilbao. The Talos system is manufactured by Spanish firm GMV, and has been cleared for Spanish company Expal Systems' range of mortars. Given the selection of the Talos systems, it is likely that Malaysia is procuring Expal 81 mm mortars.

The MinDef issued a tender for 81 mm mortars that can be dismounted from vehicles, along with related equipment, including fire-control systems, in November 2019. The winner of that tender was not made public.