SHAH ALAM: After the confirmation of the delivery of the Saab NLAW at DSA 2024 earlier this year, we finally get official pictures of the anti-tank weapons – in the wild, not just on show, mind you – but being fired during an exercise, early this month. It is interesting to note that the Army has not officially announced that it has acquired the weapon system.
The first images of the live firing of the NLAW were published by the 10th Para Brigade Facebook page:
The release from 10th Para Brigade:
𝐄𝐊𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐑𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃 𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐈 𝟏𝟎/𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐊𝐀𝐓𝐊𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐀𝐇𝐀𝐏 𝐊𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐈 𝐃𝐀𝐍 𝐊𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐔𝐊𝐀𝐍 𝐊𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐈 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐍 (𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀) 𝐁𝐀𝐆𝐈 𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐊𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 𝐃𝐈 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐔𝐑
GEMAS, 16 Dis 24 – Kompeni Bantuan (Para) telah berjaya melaksanakan Eksesais IRON SHIELD Siri 10/2024 yang berlangsung mulai 3 hingga 16 Dis 2024 di Kawasan Am Kem Asahan, Gemas melibatkan 4 Peg dan 82 anggota LLP.
Objektif eksesais adalah untuk menguji tahap kompetensi dan kepakaran khusus (Key Task List) pasukan dalam membantu operasi Battle Group 10 Bgd (Para) sebagai Rapid Deployment Force (RDF).
Eksesais ini dilaksanakan melalui tiga peringkat iaitu Peringkat Pertama (Tembak Tempur Individu (LTTI)), peringkat kedua (Latihan Tembak Tempur Tim (LTTT)) dan peringkat ketiga (Latihan Tempur Serangan Platun).
Timbalan Panglima 10 Bgd (Para) Kol Mohd Azral bin Manan hadir bagi menyaksikan demonstrasi tembakan senjata Anti Kereta Kebal yang baharu iaitu Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon (NLAW) yang dilaksanakan di Lapang Sasar OP 3 dan serangan akhir Eks IRON SHIELD Siri 10/24 yang dilaksanakan di Lapang Sasar Tapak Bravo sebagai acara penutup eksesais ini.
Turut hadir Pegawai Staf 1 Latih MK 10 Bgd (Para) Lt Kol Zain Azrai bin Hj Karia.
According to the post, the NLAW are issued to the Support Company of the Brigade which are equipped with Uro Vamtac 4X4 vehicles. These vehicles are mostly armed with .50 caliber machine guns and automatic grenade launchers. The company is attached to the battle groups or quick reaction force of the brigade which are the four parachute infantry battalions. The unit, I believed, is also equipped with 81mm mortars.
It is unclear whether the NLAW are also issued to the support companies organic to the four infantry battalions. It is unlikely, though they are equipped with the Carl Gustav M2 recoilless rifles, and the M4 version, soon as well as the 60mm mortars. It is also unclear how many NLAWs were fired during the exercise. From the pictures, it may well be four of them.
The other ATGW – the Army preferred designation for these weapons – is the Turkish-made Karaok or Black Arrow. The Karaok is expected to be delivered in 2026.
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For a Next-Generation Light Anti-armour Weapon the punch isnt commensurate with the weight of the weapon itself imho. Coming at 18KG but carrying only a 1.8KG warhead compared to like Javelin which albeit weighs slight more at 22KG but packs a 8.4KG warhead punch. Meaning that as a weapon its launcher is overweight and more burdensome to the user and whilst it is a throwaway compared to Javelin, I wonder if it was overdesigned & overspecced (ie more expensive compared to its performance).
Yes, Im sure some will come and say both arent the same use function and type of weapon, etc but Im saying its more about how much effective punch an operator can throw at the target for the weight he is lugging.
Just my 2sen.
NLAW’s weight is 12.5kg.
Hah, don’t forget it’s another 6.4 kg for the CLU unit for the Javelin.