Malaysian Armed Forces

The Malaysian Armed Forces (Abbr.: MAF; Malay: Angkatan Tentera Malaysia; Jawi: اڠكتن تنترا مليسيا‎), are the armed forces of Malaysia, consists of three branches; the Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The number of MAF active personnel is 113,000 along with reserve forces at 51,600.
The Supreme Commander of the Malaysian Armed Forces is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong; the King of Malaysia.
Malaysia's armed forces were created from the unification of military forces which arose during the first half of the 20th century when Malaya and Singapore were the subjects of British colonial rule, before Malaya achieved independence in 1957. The primary objective of the armed forces in Malaysia is to defend the country's sovereignty and protect it from any and all types of threats.
It is responsible for assisting civilian authorities to overcome all international threats, preserve public order, assist in natural disasters and participate in national development programs. It is also sustaining and upgrading its capabilities in the international sphere to uphold the national foreign policy of being involved under the guidance of the United Nations (UN).
The main theaters of operations were within Malaysian borders, primarily to fight an insurgency led by the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) in what was known as the Emergency. The only foreign incursion of Malaysian territory in modern times were in World War II by Japan (Malaya was then not a unified political entity and consisted of the British Crown Colony of the Straits Settlements, and the British protected Federated Malay States and Unfederated Malay States) and during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation by Indonesia under the leadership of President Sukarno. Operations on foreign soil have mainly been peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations.
Other limited participation under UNPKO are United Nations International Police Force (UNIPTF) since December 1995; United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since June 1999; United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) since October 1999; United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) since September 1999 and United Nations Organisation Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) since February 2000. 18 Malaysian Armed Forces personnel have been killed during UN peacekeeping operations.
Malaysian defence requirements are assigned to the Malaysian Armed Forces (Angkatan Tentera Malaysia – ATM). The armed forces has three branches, the Malaysian Army (Tentera Darat Malaysia – TDM), Royal Malaysian Navy (Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia – TLDM) and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia – TUDM). Malaysia does not have conscription, and the required minimum age for voluntary military service is 18.
In the early 1990s, Malaysia undertook a major program to expand and modernise its armed forces. However, budgetary constraints imposed by the 1997 Asian financial crisis held back many of its procurements. The recent economic recovery may lead to a relaxation of budgetary constraints and a resumption of major weapons purchases. In October 2000, the Defence Minister also announced a review of national defence and security policy to bring it up to date. The review addressed new security threats that have emerged in the form of low intensity conflicts, such as the kidnapping of Malaysians and foreigners from resort islands located off the east coast of the state of Sabah and the rising risk of territory disputes with several neighbouring countries. Currently, 1.4% of Malaysia's GDP is spent on the military, and employing 1.23% of Malaysia's manpower. Dr Kogila Balakrishnan is the head of the Defence Industry.
Since the recovery from the 1997 economic crisis, the army's modernisation program has gained momentum. The acquisition of Main Battle Tanks (MBT), Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC), Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV) and modern artillery make the Malaysian Army one of the most potent powers in the region.
Following the completion of the New Generation Patrol Vessel (NGPV) program, RMN has moved on to its next program called the Second Generation Patrol Vessel (SGPV). RMN is also looking to purchase more submarines as well as a batch of Littoral Mission Ships (LMS) namely Keris-class littoral mission ship and Ada-class corvette. RMN also planned to add Multi Role Support Ship (MRSS) for its support role. In addition to this, an upgrade program called Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) for the aging ships will keep the fleet modern with the latest technologies needed.
The RMAF has traditionally looked to the West for its purchases, primarily to the United States and Europe. However, limitations imposed by the United States on "new technology" to the region made the RMAF consider purchases from Russia and other non-traditional sources. Currently, the RMAF operates a unique mix of American, European and Russian-made aircraft.
Defence Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said in a statement on 10 October 2013, that Malaysia is planning on establishing a marine corps for amphibious operations. The marine corps will be drawn from all three services. The bulk of it being from one of the three parachute battalions of the 10th Parachute Brigade which will consequently be re-designated as a marine battalion. The 9th Royal Malay Regiment (Airborne) and 8th Royal Ranger Regiment (Airborne) have both conducted amphibious warfare training as a secondary mission such as the CARAT exercise with the US Marine Corps (USMC) and other amphibious exercises also conducted with foreign armed forces.
After independence, Malaysia moved forward by establishing and developing its own defence industry. Malaysia has improved its defence industry through its defence companies by locally manufacturing and producing weapons, such as ammunition, rifles, armoured cars, warships and light aircraft including unmanned aerial vehicles for the armed forces. DefTech, Mildef International Technologies, Weststar Defence Industries and Cendana Auto are among the local companies that emphasize on the maintenance and manufacturing of military land vehicles and the automotive sector. While the Sapura, Mindmatics and Ikramatic Systems focuses more on military electronics and systems integration such as; communication systems, tactical systems, command and control systems, training and simulation systems and surveillance systems. Following the Malaysia's National Defence Policy, Malaysian Armed Forces has adopted locally made weapons such as DefTech ACV-300 Adnan, DefTech AV-8 Gempita, DefTech AV-4 Lipanbara, Weststar GK-M1/M2 and Handalan. In January 2021, Mildef International Technologies has launched its new Mildef Tarantula HMAV intended for the local market and export. At the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2022, Mildef International Technologies has launched its second armoured vehicle called the Mildef Rentaka. Another local company, Cendana Auto also introduced its new Cendana Auto 4x4 which is ready to deliver to the Malaysian Army.
As a country with vast maritime area, Malaysia has long had a great shipbuilding industry since the Malacca Sultanate. During which, the country had been the main shipbuilders in the region. Nowadays, Malaysia houses many shipbuilding companies, giving its reputation as a country with great maritime expertise and facilities. Through local companies such as Lumut Naval Shipyard, Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation, Destini and Gading Marine, Malaysia was able to locally build their own major surface combatants and combat boats such as Maharaja Lela-class frigate, Kedah-class offshore patrol vessel, Jerung-class gunboat, Gagah Samudera-class training ship, Sri Tiga-class fast troop vessel, Gading Marine G2000-18m class combat boat and Sandakan Jaya Teknik-class boat. In addition to this, local companies such as Labuan Shipyard and Engineering, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering, Grade One Marine Shipyard, Shin Yang Group and others were also able to execute minor and major maintenance and overhaul to the naval grade vessels locally, without needing to send them abroad. Some of these great achievements were put on display when Malaysia succeeded in completing major overhaul of its Scorpene-class submarines. The upgrade program was done locally by BHIC Submarine Engineering Services and Boustead DCNS Naval Corporation at the RMN submarine base in Labuan, Sabah. Malaysia also already exports their naval vessels to foreign navies such as the Shin Yang Group-made Al-Quwaisat-class LST to the United Arab Emirates navy and Northern Shipyard / KN Aluminium & Engineering-made P38 Sea Eagles patrol craft and Manta MkII-class fast interdiction combat boat to the Nigerian navy. This particular patrol craft and combat boat was marketed under the Singapore-based company, Suncraft Private Limited.
In aerospace sector, Malaysia is one of the aerospace hubs in the region. Since 1990, Malaysia has witness a growing in aerospace industry when received a lot of foreign direct investment from major foreign aerospace players. In 1998, Boeing enters Malaysia aerospace industry by acquired 50% stake in Aerospace Composites Malaysia and set up the plant in Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah. In 2024, Boeing relaunches this manufacturing facility as Boeing Composites Malaysia. Another two major foreign aerospace company namely Spirit AeroSystems and Honeywell Aerospace Technologies also set up their plant in Subang and Penang respectively. Airbus and BAE Systems invested in Malaysian aerospace industry by outsourcing theirs aerostructures components from Malaysian companies. Since 1990s, Malaysia, through SME Aerospace and CTRM has been manufacturing aircraft components such as wing parts, nacelles, composites structures and helicopter parts for the Airbus. These include parts for the A320, A330, A350, A380, A400 and Airbus helicopters. Other than that, SME Aerospace also manufactures pylons for the BAE Systems Hawk AJT for worldwide customers. Although Malaysia does not build major aircraft locally or through any partnerships, Malaysia already has experience in building light aircraft such as the SME Aero Tiga and CTRM Eagle Aircraft Eagle 150. In addition to this, CTRM also built their indigenous unmanned aerial vehicle called the CTRM Aludra. In 2005, UPECA Aerotech joined the club by manufacturing and supplying aircraft components for both Boeing and Airbus. In 2021, Turkish Aerospace Industries open its engineering and design centre in Malaysia to train local engineer and share its technologies in local defence industry and aviation fields. Besides aerostructures manufacturing, Malaysia also expand its MRO market share. AIROD is one of the only companies to have received a certificate from the United States (US) based defence company, Lockheed Martin as a C-130 MRO centre outside the US. In 2015, the United States Marine Corps awarded AIROD for MRO operations on its 13 units of C-130 aircraft that were based in Japan. Besides the C-130, AIROD also had an expertise in servicing other types of commercial and military aircraft and had served other customers across the region. Like AIROD, another local aerospace company named ATSC has also played an important role in the aerospace industry in Malaysia. This company focuses more on MRO services for Russian-built aircraft such as the Sukhoi Su-30, MiG-29 and Mil Mi-17. In 2017, ATSC was awarded a contract to do a major overhaul and upgrade on the RMAF Sukhoi Su-30 MKM fleet. For other local aerospace players, BHIC AeroServices, UMW Aerospace, UMW Aero Assets, Destini Prima, Destini Avia Technique and Galaxy Aerospace is some of the local company that contributed to the MRO segments.
In 1969, Malaysia set up a firearms manufacturing company, SME Ordnance to supply the local armed forces. Starting out by manufacturing ammunition locally, SME Ordnance moved on to also manufacture advanced high-tech firearms. By 1991, SME Ordnance had acquired a licence to manufacture the Austrian-made Steyr AUG rifles locally. In 2001, SME Ordnance moved on to acquire a licence to locally manufacture the US-made M4 Carbine assault rifle. Both locally manufactured Steyr AUG and M4 assault rifles are currently used by the Malaysian Armed Forces and other government agencies. Additionally, SME Ordnance also provides a wide range of NATO standard munitions, including 5.56 mm to 155 mm calibre ammunition, mines, explosions and rockets. Another local firearms company; Aegis Malinnov also developed indigenous pistols called the Malinnov M1P intended to be used by Malaysian government agencies. In conjunction of LIMA 2023, the Edge Group in United Arab Emirates had signed an agreement with Malaysian-company Ketech Asia for the production of CARACAL firearms locally through the transfer of technology.
Malaysia also has its own defence technology research statutory board. The Science Technology Research Institute for Defence (STRIDE) is the statutory board under the Ministry of Defence (Malaysia) and is responsible for performing research and development related to defence technologies for the Malaysian Ministry of Defence and Malaysian Armed Forces.
The Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) between Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom is a regional security initiative which has been in place for more than 45 years. It involves joint military exercises held between the five countries.
Malaysia also actively takes part in international exercises such as CARAT, RIMPAC and COPE. Joint exercises and war games also have been held with Brunei, Indonesia, France and the United States. Besides that, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam have agreed to host joint security force exercises to secure their maritime borders and tackle issues such as illegal immigration, piracy and smuggling.
Previously, there were fears that extremist militants activities in the Muslim areas of the southern Philippines and southern Thailand could spill over into Malaysia. In response, Malaysia began to strengthen its border security.