KUALA LUMPUR: Deftech Sdn Bhd is supplying nine Mercedes Benz EOD and 50 Isuzu D-MAX GSO vehicles for the police as part of the service recapitalisation program.These vehicles are being displayed at Deftech’s showcase at the DSA 2018 which incorporated the NATSEC exhibition.

The EOD vehicle is derived from Mercedes Benz commercial van line and replaced an older variant from the same make. The vehicle can carry four EOD personnel including the driver as well as their bomb disposal equipment. This include the bomb suit as well as the EOD robot.

Deftech EOD and GSO vehicles.

The GSO (Guna Sama Operasi – All Operations) vehicle is a lightly modified variant of the commercial Isuzu D-MAX 4X4. It can carry eight personnel including the driver, for all duties conducted by police including carrying dead bodies. Previously, Land Rovers were used as “body wagon” but their short rear cabin meant that sometimes the corpse’ legs could be seen from the open tail gate. Deftech officials confirmed their GSO would solve the problem as its rear cabin was long enough to carry a single body with the tail gate closed.

The police has a requirement for some 1,500 pickups to replace its fleet of Land Rovers which had been accumulated for the last two decades. It is likely the replacements will be purchased in small batches – from different companies – for the next five to 10 years.

— Malaysian Defence