Ma Deuce, Mortars, Anti-Materiel Rifles and StarStreak Carriers

Starstreak LML on the Weststar GK-M1 Weapon Platform

SHAH ALAM: The Procurement Division has issued a slew of tenders for the supply and delivery of 81mm mortars, heavy machine guns, reloadable LAW, anti-materiel rifles, Starstreak carriers and nine-millimeter ball ammo for the Army.

The number of Starstreak Light-multiple launchers being sought is four, and these are part of the support vehicles being funded by the 2024 budget.

The public specifications:

There is a requirement of mobile platform for Lightweight Multiple Launcher Next Generation (LML-NG) of Starstreak Missile from Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) unit. The Mobile platform shall be used for VSHORAD GBAR units to operate LML-NG

A close up view of the NG LML, it has two Starstreak missiles in its sealed canister compared to three on the old launcher.

I am not sure, but it is likely that the LML-NG procured back in 2015 are already spoken for. Perhaps, there will be four or more LML-NGs being bought soon? Or they are buying four new vehicles to replace the Global Komited GK-M1 Weapon Platform which is the current service vehicle. This tender -without an indicative price – was published on August 8 and closes on August 25.
The Cendana Auto mortar carrier, the current mortar transporter of the Army. TD picture.

In a previous post, I wrote that the Army will soon float for a tender for the supply of 18 81mm mortars as it was seeking to buy the same number of vehicles to carry them. And it appears – by the grace of God – I have been proven correct as the tender for 18 81mm mortars, complete system, was published today and closes on September 12.

The public specifications:

There is a requirement to equip infantry 81 mm Mortar Platoon with 81 mm
Mortar System. It shall be employed to neutralize or destroy area or point
targets, screen large areas with smoke, and provide illumination for night
operations. The Infantry 81 mm Mortar Platoon’s mission is to provide
close and immediate indirect fire support for manoeuvre companies or
battalion, in any phase of battle and type of terrain. The 81 mm Mortar
System shall automate the entire 81 mm Mortar Platoon fire mission
process which consists of Mobile Fire Controller (MFC), Mortar Command
Post (MCP), Mortar Section and coordinating fire with the Artillery through
Mortar Fire Control System (MFCS). To increase its mobility in operations,
the 81 mm Mortar Platoon shall be equipped with Mortar Transporter

Army chief General TS Mohammad Ab Rahman (centre) looking at one of the Technesis 81mm mortars delivered at the ceremony on June 8, 2023. BTDM

The indicative price for the mortars is RM30 million.
Cendana Auto ARTAC HMG.

As for the Ma Deuce – the colloquial name for the Browning 12.7mm/.50 caliber heavy machine gun – 86 is being sought for all types of applications. That said, 83 HMG carriers is being sought previously leaving just another three for other applications. The indicative price is RM15.5 million.

The specifications:

There is a requirement to equip the Infantry unit with heavy support
weapon 12.7 mm calibre. The Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) 12.7
mm calibre shall be used to provide infantry units with direct fire
support and limited low-level air defence in all types of operation.
The weapon can be used either mounted or dismounted role
depending on situation in the operation and mission

A sniper with 10th Para Brigade Pandura company aiming his Barret M82A1 12.7mm semi-automatic anti materiel rifle during an exercise in 2021. BTDM

As for the anti-materiel rifle, 19 is being sought with an indicative price of RM7.2 million. The public specifications:

There is a requirement to equip the Infantry Sniper with a long-range
precision semi-automatic Sniper Rifle that is designed for use against
strategic military equipment (materiel) such as radar, missiles
platform, logistics dumps, parked air craft and Command and Control
vehicle in the range not less than 1800 m with aimed fires. The rifle
shall also be used in the long-range anti personal role from stand-off
range or when targets are behind the cover. It shall be able to engage
multiple and opportunity targets in quick succession.

Nine-millimetre calibre ball ammunition. Malaysian Defence picture.

The tender for the 9mm ammunition is for five million rounds and there is no indicative price for them.

There is a requirement to equip the Malaysian Army with
rounds 9 x 19 mm Ball Parabellum for the use on personnel and
unarmoured target in any types of operations. The rounds 9 mm Ball
Parabellum shall be used with the following weapons such as follows:
Semi-Automatic and Automatic Pistol. Submachine Gun. Any other
weapon with the NATO calibre of 9 x 19 mm.

Instalaza C-90. Instalanza

As reloadable LAW, it is likely that it will be the reloadable Instalanza C90 LAW as Malaysian Defence had mentioned following DSA 2024. As for the tender to buy 780 disposable C90 which came out early this year, the ministry has yet to confirm which company they are buying it from. The number of reloadable light-weight LAW, complete set, being sought is 178.

There is requirement to equip the Infantry Battalion with a
Light Anti-Tank Weapon Reloadable System to be used by infantry
personnel during operations and training. The main usages of the
weapon shall be as follows: 1.1. To destroy light armoured vehicle, gun
emplacements, pillboxes, concrete bunkers and equivalent hard targets.
1.2. Easily carried by personnel without degrading their mobility during
deployment by sea, air and land. 1.3. The nature of military operations
to conduct offensive and defensive operation requires the characteristic
of weapon which shall lightweight, self-contained with effective fire
power and reusable

Two Malaysian soldiers at an Australian shooting competition in 2018, The two are using Glocks and Steyr AUGs as their weapons. Commonwealth Australia.

And the last tender for the Army published today is for 40 high performance 5.56mm rifle for its shooting team. The indicative price for the 40 rifles is RM1.4 million.

There is a requirement to equip MAST (Malaysian Army Shooting Team) with High
Performance Match Grade 5.56 mm x 45 mm Rifle.
The High Performance Match Grade 5.56 mm x 45
mm Rifle shall be used by MAST for training and
competition.

Pindad guns. The nearest one is the Pindad SS2-V4, next to its the PM2-V2 sub-machine gun and the one at the back is SS1 assault rifle. The one at the bottom is the SPR 12.7mm sniper rifle.

Perhaps the Pindad SS-2/3 assault rifle should be chosen as the Indonesian Army shooting team regularly wins competition using these firearms. AFAIK, the Army shooting team uses the M4A1 carbine for the assault rifle category in the annual Asean Armies Shooting Meet.

— Malaysian Defence

If you like this post, buy me an espresso. Paypal Payment

Share
About Marhalim Abas 2327 Articles
Shah Alam

34 Comments

  1. For the starstreak transporter, this is probably for the new GAPU regiment that took over the TLDM starstreak unit in Sepanggar.
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GPS-u7kaQAA5lIH.jpg

    From the specification, the 18 new 81mm mortar tender must also include a mortar transporter (in the last sentence). So these new mortars is probably not to be fitted to the previous order for 18 mortar transporter.

    As for the anti-materiel rifle, most curent 0.50cal rifles are long and cumbersome. I would like to see some of the GM6 Lynx (as used by UK SAS and SBS) to be added in our inventory.
    https://t.co/2bEJvqz8Mv

  2. RMN stood down the Starstreak unit at Sepanggar when it handed them to the Army. So it is likely they have to stand up the unit for a new VSHORAD unit so it is rather unlikely.

    If the new vehicles are indeed for a new batch LML NG, it is likely to be a new Army unit based at 1 Division in Kuching which currently has no GAPU unit there.

  3. When they say mortar carriers, does it mean like a sort of trolley which the mortars are mounted and fired from (and rapidly reposition?) or something like a flatbed to load in/out and then manhandle the weapons on ground as in the Technesis 81mm picture?

    5mil 9mm rounds might seem a lot, but Im guessing it must have been a few years from the last big buy so this kind of buying cycle is not economically sustainable for local production, in case anyone is asking about it.

    As for competitive rifle, I always thought it was akin to sports rifle, the kind you see in Olympics. The Pindads are basically reengineered FNC, so nothing to shout about. If want accuracy I would say go Teutonic either HK416/417 or SIG 550/553 (acknowledged to be one of the most far out accurate 5.56mm rifles). Since we are not buying a lot only 40, we can afford this much.

  4. Sorry marhalim, i don’t understand this at all
    ” So it is likely they have to stand up the unit for a new VSHORAD unit so it is rather unlikely ”

    As the former TLDM unit is mainly set up as a static defence unit, maybe they have LML NG launchers without vehicles assigned to them. We can see 2 LML NG launchers not on a vehicle in this picture of the new 35 RAD GAPU
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GPS-u7kaQAA5lIH.jpg

  5. we’re already getting those brand new rifles from UAE anyway why tf do we need indon rifle in the first place
    >muh match grade
    People gonna convince me that pindad could make better rifle than Colt or CZ or even whoever that made that UAE rifle

  6. The Goose is meant for the support company while the reloadable LAW is a replacement for the RPG which is issued down to the section level.

  7. The UAE rifle is for general infantry, the new rifle is specifically meant for the Malaysian Army Shooting Team as mentioned in the story. I mentioned the Pindad gun as the Indonesian army shooting team has been winning the AR category in the Asean shooting competition for some time now.

  8. In this sense, the mortar carriers is the truck that the carry the mortar, its fire control system, the crew and the rounds. The mortar is manually carry to the firing position and fire from there. That is the reason they chose the 81mm mortar as it is still light enough to be manually dismounted/mounted from the truck.

    It may not maybe economically sustainable but from military perspective, it is imperative for local production to exist.

  9. “reloadable LAW is a replacement for the RPG”. Nice…more firepower than the RPG

    “Indonesian army shooting team has been winning the AR category”. I read somewhere that those pindad rifle used in the competition are specially build for the match

  10. Marhalim,
    Is the EVA 6×6 SPH air portable? I don’t think so but it that even a requirement? If not, will they go for the 8×8?

  11. I was told it is not as the TD evaluating team had gone to Slovenia to test it. Air portable is a requirement which is why the Caesar got a higher mark for it as it was already tested on RMAF airlifters, both the C130 and A400M. The EVA was not tested locally, that is why it got lower marks. It also has an automatic loader which was not a TD requirement. The feature does not get any points in the scoring as it is not a requirement.

  12. Of course lah, the Pindad rifle which were used by the Indonesian shooting team are built specifically for shooting competitions.

  13. I thought the EVA was cancelled after the poison pen leak and that the decision is back to Ceasar being the outright favourite?

  14. @Haiqal
    Match grade rifles is normal in competitive shooting. Even if rules states in service rifles, nobody can verify under the hood is a match grade firing mechanism

  15. Hulubalang,
    Yes, I agree the 8×8 does indeed looks awesome compared to the 6×6. This armchair general is voting for the 8×8 purely on looks alone.

  16. The MKE Yavuz selection was dropped due to the leak.

    The Yavuz was ranked last in the evaluation.

  17. Not surprised that it hasnt moved, there is no merit to politicians as it wont bring much economic gains (no ToT), beancounters would prefer not to spend that money, and TDM, as one have said, would rather ‘wait a bit longer’ for favourable winds to blow their preferred Caesar so they wont be pushing for EVA as well. Basically its a dead duck, then I wonder in whos interest that EVA been pushed.

  18. … – ”the former TLDM unit is mainly set up as a static defence unit,”

    It was intended to be deployed anywhere needed; on a reef; at a base or possibly even on a ship [the Aussie army use to deploy RBS-70s on HMAS Tobruk]. Hardly ”static” at all.

  19. … – ”most curent 0.50cal rifles are long and cumbersome.”

    True but then they are not intended to be carried on foot for long or over long distancers.

    … – ”The 6×6 version (which is very ugly compared to the 8×8 version TBH) ”

    Less pleasing to the eye and inferior mobility. This thing with air mobility dates back to the 1970/80’s when we had a need to be able to rapidly reinforce Sabah but things have changed. There is a heavier footprint there now. Another issue is that being air mobile looks and sounds great on paper but in reality will be entirely dependent on the needed airlift being available. No to mention the fact that just to move a battery, crew, ammo and other gear will take multiple sorties.

    Marhalim,

    On the V-SHORADs issue vis a vis the RMN; I have been told the RMN has no requirement. Personally I think it’s silly as GAPU can’t always be counted on to defend RMN assets if there’s need. To think that at one point a medium range system for Sepanggar was looked at. On the issue of automatic arty systems there’s a excellent article on it at the Wavell Room. Pros and cons. With Caesar and other equivalent systems the crew is in the open exposed to the elements and to splinters in the event of return fire. Also, the actual gun itself will last ‘X’ years but how long will the lorry last?

  20. dundun – ”People gonna convince me that pindad could make better rifle than Colt or CZ or even whoever that made that UAE rifle”

    Perhaps explain why Pindad is unable to ”make better rifle than Colt or CZ or even whoever that made that UAE rifle”. Due to actual skill; the precision of the machinery; etc?

  21. h – ”Any idea why there is a need for a reloadable LAW when we already have the Carl Gustaf?”

    Intended for slightly different things. The M4 – like the M2 – will also be used to lay smoke and illum and is more accurate than a single shot weapon. The M2 is operated by the Support Company and stuff like the RPG and C90 are issued down tosection level.

  22. The current three tonners in service with the Army is supposed to serve for at least seven years. I am guessing that the gun could be transferred to another truck if need be.

  23. ” it was intended to be deployed anywhere needed; on a reef; at a base or possibly even on a ship [the Aussie army use to deploy RBS-70s on HMAS Tobruk]. Hardly ”static” at all ”

    That is the definition of static. Deployed, and staying put in one place for many days open for business (either a reef, a base or a ship).

    GAPU on the other hand might need the stastreak to be covering a combined-arms brigade advance for multiple of kilometers every day.

  24. @TomTom
    “8×8 purely on looks alone.”
    The truck base is not as meaningful. If we do get EVA I would prefer to mount them on Tatra trucks, which are more commonly used as the workhorse hauler in the military industry.

    “sounds great on paper but in reality will be entirely dependent”
    That is TDMs requirement, accept it or not, its what the enduser wants, as you said before.

    “but how long will the lorry last?”
    Trucks are pretty durable actually but evenso a replacement truck (even from another make) is not difficult to get.

  25. … – “ That is the definition of static”

    The definition of static in this regard is something which does not or is solely intended to defend a particular area/position. The SAF’s Bloodhounds were static.

    … – “GAPU”

    You are referring to a system which is mobile but still operates from static position; does not fire on the move or is fixes to a payriblsr area/position.

    “as you said before”

    Yes indeed; thanks so much for pointing that out. I’m also keenly aware it’s an army requirement; thank you again. Was merely pointing that that the dynamics have changes and the distinction between actual distinction between paper plans and operational realities.

  26. ”Trucks are pretty durable actually but evenso a replacement truck (even from another make) is not difficult to get.”

    No replacement lorries aren’t difficult to get and that was not my point or even concern. My point was that given that a gun is supposed to have a service life of 30 years on average; a lorry would not last that long so it would have to be replaced. This is in contrast with a tracked platform which on average has a much longer service life than lorries; the exception of course being our LA911s or Russian Urals.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*