BANGKOK: AS expected the AV4 will be painted in the Armed Forces digital camouflage when the 20 vehicles contracted are delivered into service.
The digital camoed AV4 is making its public debut at the Chaiseri stand at the Thai Defense and Security show which starts tomorrow here in the capital of Thailand.
The vehicle is featured with a one man turret armed with a 7.62mm mini-gun with what appears to be a 1000 round ammo box at the back.
Parked next to the AV4 is its smaller PDRM AV4 version, which is armed with a RCWS armed with a 50 calibre machinegun.
It is not yet known whether or not Deftech, Chaiseri’s Malaysian partner will be able to sell this version to the police as the force had signed up for eight IAG Jaws at the recent GPEC 2015 show in Kuala Lumpur recently.
When met today (Nov 2), Army chief Jen Tan Sri Raja Affandi Raja Mohammed Nor confirmed that the AV4 displayed at the show was the configuration of the 20 vehicles being procured for ESSCOM duties.
He said not all of the AV4s will be fitted with the mini-guns, with the majority being fitted with 12.7mm HMGs and GPMGs. The AV4s will be a welcome addition to Army units operating in ESSCOM, some of which had been using KIFvs for daily patrols.
–Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (28)
Is the minigun the new fetish in the ATM?
Reply
Yes..
Who ideas is it to fit all armed force vehicle with miniguns. Are they watched too much movies or what!! The rcws with all night vision and flir is much more useful in the combat
7.62mm minigun?never see this kind of setup before for a 4-wheeler APC. Single barrel GMPG or HMG is a norm. I believe a HMG is better for its greater range and penetrating power compared to GPMG but why this 7.62mm minigun is beyond me.
4-wheeled APC for PDRM, lately the 3 newbies (from South Korea,Polaris,Jaws) went to UTK. Maybe its high time to change the venerable V-100/200 of PGA Armoured department to AV4.
I was hoping to see AV4 with RWS mounted.
The miniguns is an added punch in terms of firepower. Whereas a gpmg n hmg can spew hundreds of rounds in a minute, the miniguns can empty the 1,000rounds in only half the time. There is nothing better for fire supressing n winning tge firefight than a mini gun. Miniguns have been fixed on rapid reacyion vehicles, 4 x 4 etc but most commonly on yop of mraps. Lets say.they just ewuip 5 vehicles with miniguns n on patrol a mixture of miniguns, gpmg n heave machine gun. The munigun can ein the firefight leaving tge gpmg n heavy machine gun to do the real damage. If i am the enemy eith the high volume of fire poured on me i will also leg it
Whether or not a mini gun on the
AV-4 is a better choice compared to a GPMG and a HMG is academic and depends on the type of targets the gunner is expected to fire upon. An advantage a mini gun would have over a GPMG and a HMG is that it is less likely to overheat when conducting sustained fire.
More importantly - rather than concerning ourselves over what the AV-4 will be armed with - will the vehicle commander and driver have thermals? Are spall liners standard fit or optional? On paper it would seem that the AV-4 is perfect for replacing the police's Saxons and V-100/150s.
I am curious. Is that MIFV Cupola on top of AV4? Is that little thing in front of Cupola is the OBRA-3 Laser warning system?
Reply
Yes it's very similar to the MIFV. Yes it's very similar but the final configuration is not yet final
High rate of fire sounds great and can be useful but comes with a penalty : the need for units to constantly be restocked with ammo to feed their high rate of fire weapons. In engagements, such as encountered in Lahad Dato or during the 2nd Emergency tended to be brief or sporadic - ammo resupply was less of a problem; assuming off course that ammo reserves are nearby and that there are the means to bring them forward.
In high intensity, protracted ops, where ammo usage is higher and when enemy actions or other factors can make ammo resupply difficult; having weapons with high rates of fire can be a liability. We have been lucky in that in all the engagements we fought (2nd Emergency, Confrontation, Somalia and Lahad Dato) were against non peer adversaries and that ammo resupply was never a major issue; due to various factors.
P.S. It would be interesting to know how much ammo was carried by the men in Barkara Market and by the Condors. All accounts speak of thousands of rounds fired from the moment the convoy was engaged to the moment it left Bakara Market with Americans on board and others following on foot.
How much ammo did the convoy have left by the time it regrouped at the stadium? Had the convoy been trapped and has been unable to leave; would ammo have run out? Another unanswered question is whether the convoy included any 20mm armed Condors. I have yet to see a pic of a 20mm armed Condor with MALBATT in Somalia.