SHAH ALAM: The government has finally greenlighted the Service Life Extension Programme for its fleet of ACV Adnan 300 vehicles. The Army had proposed the SLEP for both the Adnan and MIFV fleet during this RMK but it appears only the former has been funded.
The confirmation of the Adnan SLEP was revealed by Defence Minister DSU Mohamad Hasan when he spoke in Dewan Negara on December 7. He said 60 Adnan will be involved in the programme though he did not reveal the cost. The Parliament was told in 2019 that the maintenance cost of the Adnan fleet was RM122.2 million.
For the record, a total of 211 Adnans were bought between 2002 and 2004 with another 56 purchased in 2010 including eight equipped with 120mm TDA mortar. The total cost of the procurement is RM1.324 billion.
As only 60 Adnan will undergo the SLEP, it is likely they will be the ones operated by 12th (Mechanised) Royal Malay Regiment, attached to the 4th (Mechanised) Brigade. (I stand be corrected of course.) These are the ones purchased in 2002 and 2004 – the IFV version equipped with 25mm gun turret and the pintle-mounted 12.7mm guns. A few will be the command and radio variants.
It is likely that other 151 Adnan – fitters, recovery, radio, mortar, command, anti-tank and ambulances – purchased during the same period, will undergo the SLEP in the next RMK and the next. If the government decides to that, it will take 15 years for the whole Adnan fleet to undergo the SLEP. And we have yet to talk about the MIFV fleet.
It is unknown how the SLEP will be conducted and its scope. It is likely an open tender will be held to get bids for the job. FNSS – the OEM and Deftech – which local assembled them previously – are of course the favourites to be given the job. The Army could also decide to do it on its own, buying the SLEP kits and installing them on the vehicles.
Edited copy of the Hansard on December 7:
Kementerian Pertahanan dan ATM akan memulakan proses perolehan asetaset tersebut seperti berikut. Tentera Darat Malaysia (TDM) bakal memperoleh 60
buah kereta perisai infantry mechanize life extension program untuk APC Adnan. Ini,
Tuan Yang di-Pertua, kereta perisai Adnan ini masih lagi baik keadaannya tetapi
memerlukan program life extension program iaitu untuk menambah usia kereta
perisai ini kerana dia dah lama, Tuan Yang di-Pertua. 50 buah High Mobility Light
Tactical Vehicle, enam buah Hover Craft Integrated Fast Interceptor serta 733 buah
kenderaan sokongan pelbagai jenis termasuk 45 buah bot pelbagai jenis untuk
operasi bencana.
TLDM pula akan meneruskan perolehan tiga buah littoral mission ship
ataupun LMS yang kita akan putuskan tak lama lagi untuk mendapat perolehan
melalui government to government (G2G), Tuan Yang di-Pertua untuk kita
mempercepat dan memudahkan perolehan ini dan kerja-kerja memasang baik pulih
refit dua aset kapal selam kita. TUDM pula bakal menerima perolehan 12 helikopter
yang baru.Kedua, keselamatan persempadanan negara. Keselamatan persempadanan
negara akan terus dipertahankan dengan pembinaan tujuh buah pos imbangan
antaranya di Melikin dan Pa’ Dalih, di Sarawak. Kita akan membina banyak pos sama
ada pos GADMA iaitu gabungan bersama Tuan Yang di-Pertua, dengan Indonesia
ataupun pos imbangan kita bersendirian untuk kita pastikan supaya persempadanan
kita ini dapat kita kawal dengan terbaik yang mungkin daripada masalah-masalah
cross border exercise, penyeludupan dan yang lain-lain.
Apart from 12 RMR, the other user of the Adnan is the 7th (Mechanised) Royal Ranger Regiment. The other user is 11th Kor Armor Di Raja 11 (KAD) which combined the Adnan with the Pendekar MBT to form a combined battle-group. It is also likely the 4th (Mechanised) Brigade also operate a number of Adnan in its headquarters.
How to differentiate the Adnan and the MIFV.
— Malaysian Defence
View Comments (48)
The TLDM FACs can ne repowered and rehulled by small dockyards at very competitive cost. If we are serious about having a defence industry, opportunities must he given also to our better workshops to service these IFVs and APCs. Its not rocket science. Just diesel engines and tracked power trains. There are many workshops doing that in all the states.
Good and acceptable action given our tight budget but well behind our southern neighbours..they have like what 800 units of bionix I and II ifv in various configurations and 100+ hunter ifv + hundreds of leopards..easily the most well equipped armoured corps/regiment in this region
Marhalim, what’s this 50 buah High Mobility Light Tactical Vehicle he’s talking about? Is it the Mildef Tarantula or the Cendana Auto one?
Thats the one going to Lebanon for Malbatt. It will be smaller than Tarantula. In the earlier story, the CDF said it will be tender out next year.
'Good and acceptable action given our tight budget but well behind our southern neighbours..they have like what 800 units of bionix I and II ifv in various configurations and 100+ hunter ifv + hundreds of leopards..easily the most well equipped armoured corps/regiment in this region' ..we are not competing with them , they can have 1000 + MBT & IFV running around the tiny island .. why do we care ?
267 Adnan and 111 MIFV is not enough to have mechanized units on both east and west malaysia.
I would like if TD would look into getting more used KIFV/MIFV from south korea to equip units in east malaysia.
As for the upgrades, engine-wise MIFV has a more powerful 350hp doosan engine compared to the 300hp engine on the Adnan. But even that is much more powerful than Turkish army own ACV-15 which has a 250hp engine.
Upgrades (that FNSS has offered) that should be done for the Adnan :
- upgraded situational awareness system
- driver 360 degree camera
- gunshot locator system
- improved air-conditioning
- auxiliary power unit (APU)
If there is money for 25mm unmanned turret, most of FNSS offering is heavy and will delete the amphibious capability. Maybe can look at other lighter alternatives?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GA-rzVHasAA1-Ap.jpg
With NEFER 25mm RCWS
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GA-rwZ7bgAEV25h.jpg
At RM1.3 billion for 257 vehicles, it really is a worthwhile investment imho that the Army had done, sometimes i wonder why has not more of it being ordered especially the 25mm cannon version and the 120mm mortar carrier...but i guess focus was then more on the Gempita though wheeled type vehicles, the gempita is about 6 times more expensive than the Adnans
Gempita is much more expensive due to its larger size and better armor protection.
Adnan weighs around 14 tons, while the Gempita is nearly 30 tons.
I am for :
1x mechanized brigade fully wheeled (for rapid self-deployment) - with 3x Mechanized Infantry Battalions with Gempita and 1x Armored cavalry regiment with Gempita + new 4x4 armored vehicle.
1x armored brigade fully tracked - with 3x Mechanized Infantry Battalions with Adnan/MIFV and 1 Armored tank regiment with PT-91M
with 1 each Mechanized Infantry Battalions with MIFV (additional used buy from South Korea) in Sabah and Sarawak.
This will need additional :
- 120-150 Gempita mostly of the IFV25 version
- 200+ KIFV used secondhand
How about getting a new, more modern IFVs like KF21 and send the existing KIFVs to S&S
With KF-21 (and other suitable tracked platform) the army could fill in both Adnan(more like KIFV) replacement as well as light tank requirement
Total of 211 Adnans plus 111 older MIFVs that ought to get the SLEP 1st. Based on the time frame & priority it looks like MIFV will not be getting major updates anytime soon.
Hanwha redback maybe suitable but at USD36 mil a piec3 (Australian version) per unit cost (inclusive of support and training), its too expensive for a country with limited budget like us to afford i think. Maybe more updated brand new ACV300 from Turkiye would be better to the budget, should there is a requirement for it