SHAH ALAM: The 20 Nurol Makina Panthera 4X4 armoured tactical vehicle is expected to be delivered to the Malaysian UNIFIL unit in Lebanon, next year, the Armed Forces chief Gen Mohammad Ab Rahman said today.
He was quoted as saying by Air Times News Network that 20 vehicles will be delivered in January to the current Malaysian unit there – Malbatt 850-11.
From Air Times:
Menurut beliau, aset berkenaan merupakan sebahagian perancangan untuk menggantikan aset-aset lama digunakan kontinjen MALBATT yang sedang melaksanakan misi Pasukan Interim Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) di Lubnan (UNIFIL).
“Yang akan datang ini, kita akan menerima 20 buah kenderaan 4×4 yang dikenali sebagai Panthera bagi menggantikan kenderaan jenis A yang usang dan berumur,
“20 buah ini dijangka akan diterima pada awal tahun depan, iaitu awal Januari 2023,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas Majlis Perbarisan Penganugerahan Pingat Perkhidmatan Negara Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PNBB) dan Pembubaran Malaysian Battalion (MALBATT) 850-10 di Pusat Latihan Asas Tentera Darat (PUSASDA), hari ini.
Malaysian Defence had reported previously that an MTO tender to deliver the vehicles was published in Eperolehan previously. However, the delivery was delayed due to supply issues with the manufacturer.
Checks on the Eperolehan website showed that MTO tender to deliver the Panthera to Lebanon from Turkiye was awarded to Multimodal Freight Sdn Bhd with an LOA of RM2.35 million.
Air Times also reported that the Malbatt will also receive 60 High Mobility Light Tactical Vehicle (HMLTV) once they are procured. Mohammad also said the government has allocated RM400 million for the HMLTV. Note Malaysian Defence prefers the term New Malaysian Light Tactical Vehicle or NMLTV as the one seemed to indicate a preferred vehicle.
He said the procurement will take time as there were various process to be adhered to from the tender process and user requirements.
“Buying military vehicles is not a simple process. There are no off the shelf vehicles ready to be purchased. We need to look at what the user requirements are, do they need a pintle mounted gun, or a remote-control weapon station, the type of radios. So the process will take some time,” he added.
— Malaysian Defence
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Heres to hoping our decisionmakers have more sense and standardise the 4×4 APC buy in line with these Panthera and the HMLTV meant for UNFIL will be the same ones for our own HMLTV requirements.
“Panthera to Lebanon from Turkiye was awarded to Multimodal Freight”
This is one of those hanger ons that contribute zero to Malaysia as none of the vehicles will touch Msian soil. I cant understand why MTO cannot be given to vendor either from Turkey or Lebanon since its going between these 2 countries. A Msian company will just be a middleman only.
Question. Is HMLTV are not the same category as the Panthera? If yes why not just buy another batch of panthera
It is smaller, with around 4 personnel. Panthera around eight personnel.
@Haiqal
Panthera is a 4×4 APC while HMLTV is more like a Humvee replacement.