pic by TMR FILE

MALAYSIA is considering ways to develop its own combat weapons including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to reduce the reliance on foreign weapons supply, said Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu.

The country’s capacity in the weapons industry remains limited to the installation and manufacturing of some rifle parts supplied by global weapon makers, said Mohamad.

“As such, the Defence Ministry is implementing a strategic R&D (research and development) programme with the Science and Technology Research Institute for Defence (Stride), National Defence University of Malaysia and the Malaysian Armed Forces to develop weapons for military use.

“Currently, we are working on a project to develop 120mm mortars. A prototype of this R&D project will be tested by the armed forces and selected defence agencies to assess its quality, performance and meet consumer standards before it is offered to defence companies for production and marketing purposes,” Mohamad told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

He was responding to a question by Datuk Dr Hasan Bahrom (Pakatan Harapan-Tampin) on efforts by the government to reduce the country’s dependency on foreign-made weapons.

In response to a supplementary question by Hasan on partnerships in the weapons industry with other nations, Mohamad said Stride will increase engagement with select countries on the development of UAVs or drones.

“The government is mindful of the latest development which is in line with the Industrial Revolution 4.0.

“Stride is looking at strategic partners to develop UAVs or drones, which are essential in modern-day defence. Drones also have a wide-range of usage whereby every ministry requires one today,” he said.

Malaysia has already worked with Turkey on the creation of an 8×8 heavy vehicle and is considering further collaborations with it in the aerospace field.

Mohamad is scheduled to table a Defence White Paper before the end of the current Parliament sitting in December.

The document is expected to take stock of the country’s military assets and offer clarity on Malaysia’s defence stance among others.

He said interruptions to defence allocations made it challenging for the ministry to conduct necessary maintenance of its military assets like the Royal Military Air Force’s Russian fighter jets. The upkeep of the Sukhoi jet fighters required a budget of RM1.8 billion, but only RM1.1 billion was approved.

The Finance Ministry has recently announced an allocation of RM15.6 billion to Mindef, making it the fifth- largest recipient in Budget 2020.