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• What are your thoughts on Ukraine war? I think MAF should look into MANPADS and ATGM as I dont think we will even have air or land superiority with any neighbours should invasion happened! This weapons could really put into use...

  • Well it depends really on how the invasion is done. If it's done in a way that pacify our forces even Manpads and ATGM will be useless

• Ukraine war is caused by the russian leader hellbent on absorbing Ukraine into Russia.

  The last time Malaysia were faced with anything like this is when Sukarno was hellbent on having Sarawak and Sabah incorporated into Indonesia. At that time, Indonesian armed forces strength, quantity and quality is not as much as what russia is fielding right now against Ukraine.

  Will we see another Sukarno in the future? hopefully not, but something we really need to be prepared. With the new Indonesian capital in Borneo, and the making of the strongest indonesian military force in its whole history, the risk of someone in the future to repeat and finally achieve what Sukarno wanted all along will be higher.

  And this is before we even mention about the still existing claim of Sabah from the Philippines.

• gonggok - 'still existing claim of Sabah from the Philippines''

  Something fundamentally different compared to the other things you were on about.

  - The claim is there because it's politically expedient. No politician can drop it, although Ramos tried.

  - Sabah only resonates with Filipinos of Tausug descent. The others, whether a Ilocano in North Luzon, a Tagalog speaker a Manila, a Cebuano speaker in northern Mindanao or a Bajau in Tawi Tawi, couldn't give a toss. It's not in the national psyche or invokes sentiments the way the Malvinas does with the average Argentine.

  Long term things things we should really be worried about are longstanding and unresolved maritime boundaries we have with neighboring countries which at times came close to being ''hot''.

  gonggok - 'Sukarno wanted all along will be higher''

  He wanted a North Borneo and Sarawak which was closely aligned to Indonesia and was worried that Malaysia was an imperialist attempt to maintain a hold on the region. All this was in a Cold War context.

• Since we have no hope of winning a conventional war maybe we should beef up GGK to brigade size and our Para to division size....prepare to fight an asymmetric war like the vietcongs and talibans.

  The regional bully for sure will sponsor terrorist and separatist groups to keep us busy while they take away our EEZ.

  • Do you know that almost every year around 100 soldiers try out for GGK trials and usually around 20 or 30 of them passed? Getting a brigade size GGK we will need to try out 10,000 soldiers every year.

• @Hasnan
  There are no terrorist or separatist groups in our soil for him to sponsor. More likely he will sponsor certain political entities, media & social movers to destabilise the Govt and draw attention away, stymieing our defensive capabilities and create disenchantment among the people. As some Powers have learnt, it is easier to break us & destroy us from inside out rather than an antagonistic approach.

• Kamal - 'MANPADS and ATGM as I dont think we will even have air or land superiority''

  I think before we make any presumptuous, simplistic and rushed assumptions we should first look at things in the proper context and ask ourselves if indeed we were faced with a conflict, who would it be fought against and in what circumstances... No doubt the war in the Ukraine, just like the Nargano Karabakh one will lead to generalised statements and claims but we have to put things in perspective and look at the context.

  Also, ATGMs and MANPADs are not a panacea,and don't operate in a vacuum. Their successful employment is dependent on a whole list of factors...

  Before things even go kinetic a opponent might jam our radars, SATCOM, radios and internet and power grid. Or lay smart mines to prevent ships from entering or leaving Port Klang. Or we might resist but after 2 days run out of consumables in the form of missiles, certain types of ammo and spares. Depends on the overall context ...

• gonggok -'Ukraine war is caused by the russian leader hellbent on absorbing Ukraine into Russia'

  It's actually an accumulation of
  various/factors/policies which have occurred since the end of the Cold War, namely NATO's gradual expansion into Russia's backyard [verbal promises were made that it vwould never occur], the failure of Russia to be integrated with the West at one point Russian membership of NATO was discussed], Russian frustration at what it perceives is a NATO dominated by the
  U.S. to shape the world in its image and to isolate Russia,the desire for Russia to have a non aligned Ukraine as a buffer on its Western flank, etc.

• Hasnan - prepare to fight an asymmetric war like the vietcongs and talibans.

  - Both had outside powers supporting them and a bordering friendly country. Another issue is that potential opponents also understand and can conduct asymmetric warfare, not only us. It's become a cliche to mention asymmetric warfare but look at the context.

  -The plural for Taliban is Talibs.

  - 10 Para. If we can't afford to fully equip a single brigade in way the army wants, how on earth do we do so with a whole division?

  Before you go into us not being able to win a conventional war, first ask yourself what are the chances we actually might be faced with one, with who and under what operational circumstances?

• Azlan,

  Sukarno expansionist interest after successfully gotten Dutch Papua without any pushback from the West was to next incorporate North Borneo and Sarawak into Indonesia. The imperialist notion is just an excuse for him to get North Borneo and Sarawak, just like when he got Dutch Papua. He was hoping there was no resistance from the british, like it was from the dutch, but he was mistaken.

  Marhalim,

  I am surprised that you don't realize that 21 Grup Gerak Khas is already a Brigade-sized formation.

  • Yes why are you so surprised?

• goggok,

  Actually the main intent [at least publicly] was for a Sabah and Sarawawk.more aligned to.Indonesia rather than to British ''controlled' Malaya. Together with Macapagal he wanted a loose union called ''Maphlindo''. I'll gladly provide published references/sources if you like... The roots of what became ''Dwikora'' also go back to the Brunei Rebellion.

  gogggok,

  It's a brigade size HQ and grouping but not an actual brigade size unit in terms of numbers or actual organisation - a pair of commnado/light infantry units and a single battalion sized [on paper] SF unit. Let's get the narrative correct before saying how ''suprised''
  We are at what others may or may not know.

  In a conversation I had with .. some time back he was also gung ho about expanding the unit. He was ''surprised'' when I pointed out that we simply don't have the manpower because only a bare fraction of men entering the army attempt selection and only a handful make it. The only way would be to significantly increase the number of recruits or to reduce entry standards.