SHAH ALAM: Turkish delights Part 3. It appears that a number of companies had taken part in the briefing for the tender of APC for the Malaysian UNIFIL contingent held today. As in the MPA and UAS tenders, only companies which attended the briefing will be allowed to enter the competition which is open to locals only as it is not an international tender.
As reported previously, the Defence Ministry issued a tender for the purchase of 20 4X4 armoured vehicles for the Malaysian armed forces contingent deployed to the Lebanon for peacekeeping duties.
IAG Guardians of the Malaysian contingent in Lebanon.
The current unit in Lebanon is Malbatt 850-7 which is completing its year long stint and is in the midst of being replaced by the eighth one. Malaysia has sent a contingent to Lebanon since 2007 following the war between Israel and Hezbollah a year earlier.
The rear cabin of the Guardian.
Despite the briefing today, I have yet to get a detailed specifications for the 4X4 being sought. I will opined that the specifications will be very similar to the IAG Guardians -developed from the Ford F550 Super Heavy chassis – already procured for Malbatt.
A Guardian with Malbatt peacekeepers at a riot control training. The Guardian manual turret did not appear to be fitted with a gun.
Among the likely specifications are an armour capable of defeating up to 7.62mm rounds and a vehicle which can carry not less than eight personnel. As the Guardians is also fitted with slat armour to defeat RPG rounds it is likely that the new vehicles could also be equipped with them and of course, a Remote Weapon Station.
A Lipan Bara likely from the Armour School in Port Dickson at the Merdeka 2019 rehersal day.
As for the Turkish delights, I was told that a number of Turkish made vehicles are being lined up for this tender including ones from from BMC, Otokar and Nurol Makina. Nurol Makina is likely to offer the Ejder Yalcin 4X4 armoured combat vehicle which had been demonstrated locally several years back. Ejder (even with its five doors) looks very much like the in-service Lipan Bara though I am not sure from which chassis it was developed.
Ejder Yalcin, Nurol Makina
Another Turkish manufacturer, BMC is likely to offer its Kirpi MRAP 4X4. A Google search revealed that the Kirpi was developed from an Israeli MRAP of a similar specifications.
Kirpi with a RWS.
As for the third possible entry, I was told that it will be another MRAP-type from Otokar. A check on the company website showed this will likely be the Kaya II.
Kaya II with a manual turret.
Acoording to Otokar, the Kaya II was developed from the Unimog chassis from Mercedes, which is very interesting as the Condor currently operated by Malbatt was also developed from the same, albeit more older, chassis. Will they be able to use the same spare parts and tools purchased for the Condor fleet or even canibalised parts from the retired fleet?Its a possibility though I have no idea, really.
Condor ZA 9487 armed with a 20mm cannon which took part in the 2017 Merdeka Day parade rehersal.
As for the others, thats for another day.
— Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (7)
As i said previously.
If you need additional Guardians, just order follow on Guardians and be done with it.
Seriously it is silly and wasteful ( time, manpower and money) to go through all the tender process when you need additional number of a specific item that you already have.
Starting an open tender will cause a different vehicle to be bought, a situation that can be critical to malaysian soldiers in Lebanon (different performance, different layout, different operating procedures etc. and using them for the same exact missions)
Oh c'mon now, don't keep us in suspense!
I am putting my neck out and saying no to turkish (or anything else really) for UNIFIL APC requirements. Please get more Guardians to have a homogenous fleet of APCs in Lebanon.
But that does not mean we should not get more items from Turkey. Other stuff that we can get are
– SOM-J standoff missile for MKM/hornets
– Aselsan QFAB LGB bombs for MKM
– ASELPOD targetting pod for LCA
– MEHPOD jammer pod for LCA
– RWR/MAWS sensor and chaff flare dispensers for LCA, EC725, C-130, A-400M
– HAVASOJ airborne standoff jammer system.
– FIC boats for MMEA
– Aselsan SMASH 30mm RCWS
– More AV8 8×8 gempita
– Upgrade packages for adnan/mifv
– Replenishment Tanker design (PNS Moawin) to replace Bunga Mas auxillary ships
– Aselsan Jammers for Frigates AREAS-2N
– Aselsan ground jammer system REDET II
– Manpack soldier ESM systems ARES-2LC/T
– Aselsan Zargana Torpedo Countermeasure System for Scorpenes
http://www.ssb.gov.tr/urunkatalog/en/
@...
If there is no tender, then where is the transparency we keep shouting for them to have?
If the Guardian has what it takes to rise above the others, then its a matter of simply specifying the tender to what a Guardian can achieve the most.
@ joe
transparency ≠ open tender
" its a matter of simply specifying the tender to what a Guardian can achieve the most "
And since when open tender would be decided purely on technical specs? Someone putting a less capable but cheaper vehicle could by all means win the tender.
Will the Guardians then be transported back for use in ESSCOM?
Reply
They will not be replaced just augmented
@...
In any company, the basics of transparency for procurement is open tender for large purchases. Even for those few million RM buys would still require closed tenders and only those below that threshold can justify with RFP/RFB. I have never dealt with an auditor that questions the need for tender, otoh any competent & impartial auditor will surely grille if large purchases didn't go thru tenders. Even if you consider this as a follow on order, if there were no tender done on the initial first order, that doesn't mean there's no discrepancies or wrongdoing.