Page 15 - DSA 2024 - DAY 1 | DAILY NEWS

Turkish Companies Keen to

Expand Footprint in Malaysia, Region

It is not a coincidence that the Turkish con- STM will join the growing list of Turkish com- The Anka-S, which has been in service with
tingent at the show is one of the largest. panies that have been successful in supply- the Turkish Air Force service since 2018,
ing arms to Malaysia or its neighbours. In has a cruise speed of 204 km/h, endurance
The Turkish defence industry, which has September last year, Turkish missile-maker of 30 hours with a 350 kg payload, and a
seen exponential growth over the last de- Roketsan won a contract to sell 108 Karaok service ceiling of 30,000 ft (9,144 m). It is
cade, senses a big opportunity to cement anti-tank guided weapons to Malaysia; the 8.6 m long, has a wingspan of 17.5 m, and
its position as one of the major suppliers of country is the first international customer a maximum take-off weight of 1,700 kg.
arms to Malaysia and other countries in the for the system. Significantly, the company The unarmed UAVs, which are expected
region. With weapons made by Turkish firms was picked over contenders from South to be delivered before 2026, will carry a
acquiring a reputation not just for quality but Korea and China. maritime intelligence, surveillance and re-
also for being significantly less expensive connaissance (ISR) payload that includes a
than those made by North American and Karaok, the Turkish equivalent of the FGM- synthetic aperture radar and an electro-op-
European companies, demand has soared. 148 Javelin guided anti-tank missile, can
engage and destroy armor and fortified tical/infra-red sensor.
The event is taking place at a time when bunkers at a distance of 2-4 kilometres
Malaysia is reportedly close to signing an (1.2-2.5 miles). The system, which weighs
agreement with Turkey for the second batch less than 16 kilograms (35 pounds), features Malaysia’s neighbours too have taken a
of Littoral Mission Ships (LMS) for the Royal imaging, infrared homing guidance. The liking to Turkish arms. In March this year,
Malaysian Navy (RMN). Earlier this year, system, which will be deployed on Cendana Indonesia inducted into service medi-
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin Auto light armoured vehicles, incorporates um-weight tanks, named Kaplan (Tiger) in
told the Dewan Rakyat (the lower house of an armour-piercing tandem warhead. The Turkish, and Harimau in Bahasa, developed
Malaysia’s parliament) that the government weapon, which will come with six missiles in collaboration with Turkey. The tanks have
had adopted a government-to-government for each launcher, is designed to offer both been jointly produced by Indonesian com-
approach with Turkey for the procurement direct and overhead strike modes with a pany PT Pindad and Turkish manufacturer

of the second batch of LMS (LMSB2). fire-and-forget mode. FNSS. According to defence analysts, one of
Discussions regarding specifications of the the major reasons for international custom-
ship and pricing commenced after Turkey’s In May last year, Malaysia signed The ers showing interest in their weapons is that
Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik (STM) Malaysian Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed Turkish defence companies are more willing
responded to the Letter of Intent issued by a contract with Turkish Aerospace Industries than their competitors in other countries to
the Defence Ministry in February. The ac- (TAI) for Anka medium-altitude, long-en- co-produce and co-develop weapons with
quisition of three LMS have been approved durance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles companies in customer countries. This has
by the government. (UAVs). The contract includes the delivery resulted in arms exports increasing substan-
of multiple UAVs, ground control stations, tially in recent years; revenue from export
When the deal comes through later this year, as well as a training and logistics package. of weapons touched US$5.5 billion in 2023.

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