SHAH ALAM: UNITED States has offered Malaysia up to 30 M109A5 Self Propelled Howitzer (SPH) under the Excess Defence Articles (EDA) programme. The M109s would be upgraded to the latest A5 standard before entering service with the Army, if the offer is taken up.
The upgrading could be done in the US or locally, industry sources told Malaysian Defence. It is likely around 20 SPH will be upgraded while the rest could be used as spares.
Malaysia has not been a keen EDA buyer previously as shown by the programme database, for reasons unknown. Therefore the likelihood that this offer being accepted remain low however even though bigger nations like Australia, Canada and even Singapore had used this route to get cheap spare parts for their assets.
Checks showed that the M109A5-standard uses the 39-caliber 155 mm M284 cannon in an M182 mount, which gave the variant a maximum range of 23,500 meters with unassisted projectiles and 30,000 meters with Rocket Assisted Projectiles (RAP Rounds).
The A5 variant can carry 36 complete rounds of ammunition and has a 440 hp engine instead of the standard 405 hp engine. The latest variant of the M109 in service with the US Army is the Paladin, referred to previously as the A6 or A7 variant.
It is also expected that SPH delivered will have upgraded fire control and other components under the deal, according to the industry sources. The deal is inclusive of in-service support which was the main reason the offer for the Mark V SOC was not taken up.
The EDA offer marked a big boost for the Army which had been wanting an SPH unit so it could stand up its first armoured brigade. On October 2, the 11th Kor Armor DiRaja – which operates the Pendekar MBTs and support tanks – were transferred to the Army’s Third Division. The unit was previously under the purview of the Army’s Field Command although it was stationed in the Third Division’s AOR. The transfer is seen as the first step towards the setting-up of the armoured brigade.
However, as reported previously by Malaysian Defence, the long-standing requirement for the SPH -either tracked or wheeled – will not be funded in the RMK11. As funds for SPH is not approved under RMK11, the EDA offer could be taken up under the Operating Expenditure (OE) budget in 2017 and 2018.
Industry sources told Malaysian Defence that despite this, the M109s faced a stiff competition, from another excess SPH, the PzH2000s, most likely from ex-German Army stocks. The PzH2000 is a more modern design than the M109s offered by the US. It is fitted with a L52 artillery gun, with a maximum range of 30 km with the standard L15A2 round,about 35 km with base bleed rounds, and at least 40 km with assisted projectiles.
However even used PzH2000s is more expensive than the M109s. It was reported that Croatia paid 41 million Euros (RM184 million) for twelve PZh2000 – modernised and overhauled with three used for spare parts together with a simulator and training and support trucks.
In 2011, Chile procured 12 M109A5s for some US$15.8 million (RM66.7 million) under the EDA programme, which covered the procurement, overhaul and upgrading as well as training and shipping costs. The Chilean already operated another 12 M109s procured separately from this deal.
— Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (60)
The only problem is this M109A5 don't have autoloading system. Because Malaysian Armed Forces easily fatigue, it's hard to accept offer. But...... if Malaysian Goverment accept the offer and purchase it then they need to start to find some foreign nation to put autoloading system in M109A5. Despite budget woe, we better wait next year or another year.
Note: Buy new autoloading system from Russian that use on their new SPH the 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV could be in near future.
The usual question.... Who's the intended enemy here?
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The lack of capability...
We operate 155mm gun howitzers without autoloaders. The A5/6 series all support power ramming. If our gunners cannot handle 155mm projectiles, then they should stick to lighter ordnance. Any gun needs to be operable while degraded.
We can wait till 2020 and there will still be no money.
How are we going to buy anything Russian with MH17 unresolved?
I think the German SPH might be too heavy for Malaysian conditions.
Nice offer...but would rather they offer us excess blackhawks or perry frigates...
30 M109A5 SPH,Good Offer but What About We Take 50 Ex-US Army M1A2SEP Abrams.We can Use to Advantage our targets.And I don't Mind We Buy SPH From Any country.
What about Denel? Does South African company offer us their SPH?
As i remembered, other than G6-52 SPH, they have other SPH system that can be offered. The T5-52 is like a G5 towed artillery system mounted on the modified 8x8 Tatra truck chassis. The T6 turret is a G5 155mm 52 caliber turret systems that can be mounted on any suitable chassis such as T-72, Arjun etc. Both systems are based on the combat-proven 155mm 45 caliber G5 towed artillery system, and the same system are in MAF inventory. Get the idea, anyone???
Until now, only Caesar wheeled SPH from France and K9 Thunder Tracked SPH from South Korea have undergone trial in Malaysia. The Caesar already in service with Thai and Indonesian while The K9 Thunder recently won tender to supply SPH for India.
But US offer is also good and I not an expert here, but then again no harm to give opinion here. As long as this is a win-win situation and local company can support it, then proceed. This offer maybe just a stop gap until MAF gets what they truly want. For JUST my personal taste, South African Denel SPH system is the best for RAD…
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AFAIK SA Army don't have excess SPH that they could offer to us like the Yanks and the Germans. They want of course to sell the truck mounted SPH but since these are new items simply there is no money for it.
RMN top brass has made it quite clear that it dont want anymore gas type engine 4 its fleet so we can safely write off the perry's. M1A2 Sep? Damn.. again with the gas guzzlers. Better go 4 2ndhand leclerc. Lighter, newer and got diesel too engine la bro. Imo we should take the sph offer. Its a good opportunity 4 the army to get a decent sph system. Dont use the "we got no money" excuse. Yes. We dont have enough money but bang, suddenly theres a 500 mil cntract 4 starstreak missiles? What da fish? But i bet u bro. If the chilean could get 12 m109 4 dirt cheap it will be a diff story 4 us. Must have extra cost punyala bro. Its just the malaysian way i think. If theres no profit to be made then they are not going to buy it la.. who cares about what the army need.
It would be a quick and cheap route to get the m109s for the artillery support for the proposed armoured brigade.
As for additional towed g5's south africa has around 40+ stored g5, and Qatar is retiring its 12 g5.
Its just the malaysian way i think. If theres no profit to be made then they are not going to buy it la.. who cares about what the army need.
I personally couldn't have agree with you more!