SHAH ALAM: In several posts on the Army, there were a plenty of robust discussions on how to boost the firepower of our infantry units. It came mostly from postings on how the Army was looking to boost its firepower as a result of lessons learnt from the Lahad Datu incursion.
And although the Army has deployed mini-guns to some units, we have yet to see that kind of “whoop-ass” for infantry units apart from the issuance of 7.62mm Colt CM901 rifles to some.
On Feb.1 courtesy of Berita Tentera Darat Malaysia online (the Army online news) we have some inkling of the extra firepower. At an inspection at the Mentakab camp, attended by Army chief Jen Zulkiple Kassim, soldiers of the 7th Ranger Regiment (Mechanized) were photographed carrying RPG-7s apparently as their secondary weapons.
From the picture (below) we could assumed that only the riflemen are issued with the RPG-7s while those carrying machine-guns (GPMGs and LMGs) are not as it should be as they also carry the M4 Carbine as their secondary weapons.
As the media was not invited to the inspection, Malaysian Defence could not confirmed at present whether the RPG-7s are a permanent feature of the army’s infantry units. We have seen other infantry units on parades with soldiers carrying the RPG-7 (or other weapons like the Carl Gustav) as their secondary weapons but their numbers are usually small.
According to the BTDM online posting, the Army chief visited the 7th Rangers – the Ready to Deploy Battalion of the Army – to check whether the unit was ready for an inspection from the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operation on Feb 13 to Feb 17.
Panglima Tentera Darat, Jen Dato’ Sri Zulkiple Hj Kassim melawat Batalion Siap Sedia Tentera Darat (BSS TD) hari ini di Batalion Ketujuh Rejimen Renjer Diraja Mekanize bagi tujuan memastikan segala persediaan dan persiapan BSS TD berjalan lancar sebelum wakil dari United Nation Department Of Peacekeeping Operation (UN DPKO) datang melakukan pemeriksaan pada 13 hingga 17 Feb 2017.
Checks with RMN chief Admiral Kamarulzaman Badaruddin (he was the acting Armed Forces chief as the PAT is away) in Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday, revealed that Malaysia was not deploying to any UN peace-keeping operations. He said the Armed Forces had always have ready to deploy units for internal and external emergencies.
For the record, the government had previously pledged a battalion strength task force for UN peace-keeping operations apart from the unit already deployed to Lebanon under UNIFIL – Malbat 850-4. And as any peace-keeping deployment (even emergency ones) will take several months to be approved, it’s likely that the requirement for the pledged UN task force is also part of the tasking for the Army’s own RTD battalion.
By assigning other units to the RTD battalion – Special Forces, medical, logistics and others, the unit becomes a full-fledged task force ready to be tasked with any peace-keeping deployment.
It likely that some 850 soldiers are assigned for the UN tasking, the same number of personnel deployed for Malbat 850-4. It could be higher of course.
* All the pictures posted here are from BTDM Online.
— Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (42)
Those Ruag rounds for the RPG-7s still remain elusive don't they Marhalim? We still haven't seen them. The initial order - according to POF - was about 25,000 rounds. I'm not surprised if we ordered the same quantity or more from the Romanian company. On average RPG rounds have a shelf life of about 10 years but have been known to last longer, depending on how they're stored.
The picture with panglima angkatan tentera is a kifv. All other pictures are adnan though.
As 7rrd is a mechanized battalion, not a normal infantry one, probably the individual section armament is different as well.
The problem isn't how to increase the firepower, but how to make it organic to existing BMS structure
The army, however, could get better armament to replace/complement existing heavier weapon, like NLAW
My guess and I could be wrong, is that the troops in the photo were part of the Support Company; hence the RPGs in large numbers. No doubt the army learnt several vital lessons from Lahad Dato - whether or not a lack of ''firepower'' was an issue is something I can't say for certain but on the surface the main issue appeared to be that of finding and fixing them [in a very large area with thick vegetation]; not a lack of ''firepower''. Then again the army could be using Lahad Dato as an excuse or pretext to get funding for certain types of gear.
One way of having extra ''firepower'' is to have a GPMG at section level but the problem here, apart from the weight of the GMPG, is that every man in the section will have to carry belts of 7.62mm [as was the case with late war German sections in WW2; some even had 2 MG-42s resulting in everyone having to carry ammo for it]. A more practical way could be to increase the number of GPMGs in the Support Company in order for guns to be parceled out when the need arises. It goes without being said that ''firepower'' by itself accomplishes nothing if there is no maneuver [not always possible] and the ability to re-supply troops with large quantities of ammo on time.
The Weststar GK-M1 seems a bit different from previous pictures of it. Is it up-armoured? The front part seems different or is it just me.
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Yes the front end looks more rounded than the first vehicles we saw. I doubt its uparmoured though as got a lot of feedback that the vehicles are under powered even the ones without the full cabin
The new weststar vehicle is made in thailand....thairung transformer II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeh_YZV7rt0
The older GK-M1 is actually the previous version of thairung transfomer.
Yes something like NLAW would be perfect to replace Metis and also Eryx [assuming it hasn't already been retired]. Unless we've bought new rounds or have had them reworked on; the Bakhtar Shikans would be approaching the end of their shelf lifes. Our medium range needs will be met by the 54 Ingwe AV-8 variants. What's needed next is shorter range, lighter system for infantry use. The problem is how much will NLAW cost? A few years ago the British army paid 20,000 pounds for each Javelin.
"My guess and I could be wrong, is that the troops in the photo were part of the Support Company; hence the RPGs in large numbers."
That would surprise me, I have always thought the support company's job is to field crew served weapons that the other companies do not have such as the Carl Gustav, M2 HMG, mortars and ATGM, not more of the RPGs. My guess is the pic shows an inspection of all the weapons the battalion has, including spares ie that is not a representative combat configuration.
Pic GK-M1 camo pattern and tone is different from what I had seen. Underpowered? Maybe they need to see whether to replace that Hilux engine with a bigger cc like the Land Cruiser engine. Bigger cc, more power and bigger POL allocation.
@ azlan
"What’s needed next is shorter range, lighter system for infantry use"
That is exactly what the rpg-7 is for. And a lot cheaper too. Although i won't put "accurate" as a part of rpg-7's description. But as is the ubiquitous "m-16" platform that is still being used, why change the wheel when the the rpg-7 (and m-16/m4 too) is great for the task?
@ am
my opinion of the troops in the photo, those in the front row is probably the one's that is carrying the gmpg or rpg-7. For the normal BIS, every 8 person section would have 1 gmpg and 2 rpg-7; with another 2 person carrying extra rpg-7 reloads. for the 3 other person, 1 carries a granade launcher, 1 radioman, 1 section leader. Probably the granade launcher is replaced by rpg-7's too in 7 rangers?
i would like to correct myself. that pic is a comand post version of the adnan, but weirdly with kifv front shield installed. those bags on the side is to carry the poles for a tent behind the vehicle when in stationary command post mode. There is a front picture in marhalim's previous posts on this exact vehicle in a merdeka parade..
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Personally I prefer the latest variant of the LAW from Nammo. But I guess the RPG-7 is much cheaper so no need to reinvent the wheel