SHAH ALAM: Scramblers for Op Benteng. The Army has taken delivery of 180 Kawasaki 250cc scramblers purchased under the Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) of Op Benteng. The scramblers were officially handed over to Army chief General Zamros Mohd Zain at the 92 Central Vehicle Depot at Batu Kantonmen in Kuala Lumpur today.
The tender published last year specified the need for 378 scramblers so it is likely the rest will be delivered in the near future.
From the pictures, it appears that the motorcycles are stock Kawasaki KLX250 scramblers apart from the Army digital camouflage paint as with other vehicles delivered to the service for OP Benteng and other tenders.
TENTERA DARAT PERKASAKAN OP BENTENG DENGAN PEROLEHAN MOTOSIKAL SCRAMBLER
KUALA LUMPUR, 17 Februari 2021 – Panglima Tentera Darat (PTD), Jeneral Tan Sri Datuk Zamrose bin Mohd Zain, telah menyempurnakan Majlis Penyerahan Motosikal Scrambler 250cc bertempat di 92 Depot Kenderaan Pusat (92 DKP), Kem Batu Kentonmen, hari ini.
Tentera Darat Malaysia (TDM) menerima kira-kira 180 buah Motosikal Scrambler 250cc bagi kegunaan operasi khususnya bagi melaksanakan Op BENTENG.
Sejurus selesai taklimat pengoperasian kenderaan yang disampaikan oleh Dato’ Jefry Lim, Pengarah Syarikat Kawasaki Motors Sdn Bhd, Tan Sri PTD telah dipertontonkan dengan demonstrasi tunggangan Motosikal Scrambler tersebut yang dipersembahkan oleh The Army Red Warrior Motorcycle Team.
Seterusnya, majlis penyerahan kenderaan tersebut telah disempurnakan dengan penyerahan Replika Kunci Motosikal Kawasaki kepada Tan Sri PTD sebagai simbolik penyerahan Motosikal Scrambler tersebut kepada TDM.
Majlis ini telah dilaksanakan secara ringkas dengan mematuhi Prosedur Operasi Standard (SOP) Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan (PKP) yang telah ditetapkan kerajaan.
Justeru, dengan penerimaan aset terbaharu ini, ia amat bertepatan dengan salah satu penumpuan Tonggak Pertama Perintah Ulung PTD Ke-28 “Kelangsungan Misi Dan Kesiagaan” iaitu penumpuan kepada perolehan dan penyelenggaraan aset-aset bagi memastikan kesiagaan tempur TDM berada di tahap terbaik untuk sebarang aturgerak operasi.
Turut sama hadir adalah Panglima Logistik Tentera Darat, Mejar Jeneral Muhammad Ariff Soo bin Abdullah serta penglibatan minima Pegawai Kanan TDM.
What is interesting from the above release was the fact that the manufacturer, Kawasaki Motors Sdn Bhd managing director was the one who handed over the scramblers. The tender for scramblers was awarded to Global Mahawangsa Sdn Bhd for a Letter of Award of RM11.3 million.
I think the Finance Ministry should allow manufacturers operating in the country to take part in tenders and quotation competitions so end-users can get their products at cost price instead of allowing middlemen to profit on tax payers money.
— Malaysian Defence
View Comments (10)
Just a query if there's any user specific modifications being done on these dirt bikes. Having dealt with some defence related projects, there's always something unique to their needs.
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No idea as not purview to the detailed specifications. But from the pictures I don't see much changes from the civilian version apart from the camouflage paint.
RM11.3 million for 180 bikes .. that’s more RM60k per bike!!! That’s really expensive (~3x retail price)unless there is some major add on end user specific items ..what a way to waste taxpayer money!
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Its actually 378 lah
One reason I could think off when manufacturing companies here are not into these tender is because they aren't eligible. Mainly is cause their business licensing doesn't cover making & supplying defence equipment to ATM thus disqualifying them from the get go. I don't think there's anything hanky panky about it since they do participate in direct tenders now from the civil side of government (ie polis, rela, kastam, bomba, enforcement bodies, etc). Such licenses isn't easy to get AFAIK and for some, like Japanese they prefer not to get directly involved due to their official pacifist stance. Sometimes going thru via middlemen is how they get things done.
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The tender rules which governed MINDEF are the same as for the other government agencies.
Of course they cannot take part as they are not eligible, that's why I stated that the Finance Ministry must fixed the regulations for tender s and price quotations. As for whether local subsidiaries of Japanese firms might shy away from arms deals due to Japan law and regulations, well they've fixed that back in 2017. That's why Japanese firms liked Mitsui and Mitsubishi have proposed things to Malaysia like MRSS and radars.
@NAT
Please dont jump to conclusions.
There must be spare parts and mantenance package included.
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And a wrong one at that
Looking at the pics of our scramblers; reminded me of a pic I saw many years ago of Revolutionary Guards anti tank teams moving around in scramblers carrying RPGs during the Iran/Iraq war. The Thai Thahan Phran also used to patrol the Cambodian and Burma borders on scramblers: carrying Chinese supplies RPGs.
For our use in a wartime scenario scramblers would have utility as for recce and anti tank units but like the ATVs are very noisy.
Marhalim
Prior to this Ops Benteng order; who else had scrambles apart from the Military Police? Maybe the Divisional and Brigade HQs has a few for despatch riders?
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Most infantry units have scramblers for their recce and sniper units. I believed they started becoming the TOE since the late 90s as the snipers got 50 caliber guns and the recce units bigger radios and optics.
Back on the bike (so to speak), perunit price is RM 30k each. Now a civvie KLX250 is MSRP at RM 23k which in bikespeak you would probably get at shop for 24-25k. Add on roadtax & insurance (RM 1k), customised paintwork (RM 1k), and total service package (RM 2-3k) and the sum is near RM 30k.
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I think wholesale the bidder got it for RM22k tops for the whole 378 bikes. That's why I said the Finance Ministry should allow companies which produce these kind of equipment and stuff to enter this competition directly. For example, the RMN has a regular need for Shell lube oil but due to the tender rules, has to tender them out.
As for comparison, PDRM also had gotten the same bike approx 3 years ago:
https://paultan.org/2018/01/24/871-kawasaki-motorcycles-for-malaysia-police/
Perunit cost calc at RM 32k so isn't too far off the TDM order. That higher pricing might related to a bit police customising (siren & beacon light). Bear in mind that PDRM order was direct to Kawasaki MY.
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Most of the scramblers for the police are used detectives and PGW. They are usually stock civilian bikes though for city use they are fitted with dual usage tyres
My humble apologies.. failed to read that the whole contract covers 378...
"should allow companies which produce these kind of equipment and stuff to enter this competition directly"
I understand and that is why I provided the PDRM order as benchmark. That order is, as you asked for, direct from the manufacturer (Kawasaki MY) and already per unit cost is RM32k. Which is why I would be skeptical if directly ordering from Kawasaki MY would result in lower prices. I don't dispute what you said, it is probably truer for other tender buys but at least for this dirtbike orders, I don't think so.
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I don't think PDRM had ordered the motorcycles directly from Kawasaki. It is likely like the Army order, the bid was won by a Sdn Bhd company and Kawasaki people came to deliver them as with the Army story. PDRM like the Army are bound by the Finance Ministry rules
Am not so sure about it, in that PDRM article it seems a poster had some insider info about that order and apparently it is direct nego between the Government & Kawasaki MY. The comments have since been scrubbed but using Wayback Machine can still retrieve it. One difference between this order and one above is PDRM would be on the 'civvie' side of the Government thus manufacturers are qualified for direct tenders.
Case in point is their new fleet of Honda Civics direct from Honda MY
https://paultan.org/2020/06/05/pdrm-receives-425-honda-civic-1-8-s-patrol-vehicles/
Apparently TDM also made the same buys (also direct)
https://paultan.org/2020/09/10/honda-malaysia-delivers-40-units-of-civic-to-the-army/
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No, the Civics are leased to the government via Naza Berjaya JV. They replaced Spanco the company that had been leasing vehicles.