MAF Looking For New TUAV

For nearly a decade, the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) has successfully operated a mix of locally developed CTRM/UST Aludra Mk I/II and Boeing/I situ ScanEagle Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) out of unspecified location in Kudat, Sabah.

Both UAVs were launched, retrieved and maintained by CTRM under Contractor Owned, Government Operate arrangement but was flown on station by UAV operators from UAV Troop under the triservice Joint Task Force 2 Command (Markas Angkatan Tugas Bersama 2 – Mk ATB 2) operating at Kukusan Camp.

Recently, the two contracts now under the charged of DEFTECH, which acquires both CTRM and UST have lapsed resulting a new search for TUAV. (here)

As interim measure, two Schiebel S-100 Camcopter Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) UAV formerly operated by Petronas but now under the control of Defence Intelligence Staff Division (Bahagian Staf Perisikan Pertahanan – BSPP) were deployed to Kukusan Camp.

Unlike the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Medium Altitude, Long Endurance (MALE) UAV which gained much attention ever since such plan was first mooted by the Air Force following 2017’s edition of the Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace (LIMA) show, the TUAV program seems to be out of the limelight.

Having said that unbeknownst to many, there are currently two types of locally developed TUAV which could vie for the contract.

DEFTECH has recently unveils its collaborative effort with Malaysia Technology Universiti (UTM) to further improved the performance of blended wing body, UST/UTM Camar TUAV during Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2018 exhibition in Kuala Lumpur.

Despite its sophisticated design, there is still a lot of developmental works that need to be done before it could be fully ready for offering to the MAF for the latter’s TUAV program.

While LIMA 2019 was dominated by MALE UAV from Turkey, China and the United States, system Consultancy Services, dubbed as the true pioneer of TUAV in this country has unveiled the second generation of Nyamok TUAV.

Nyamok TUAV has a long history that dates back from Malaysia Science University (USM) Taming Sari research program that led to USM/UTM/SCS Blackbird program in 2006. The first generation of Nyamok TUAV was unveiled during LIMA 2007.

It was then decided that three companies  SCS, Ikramatic and CTRM would cooperate together under the Unmanned System Technologies (UST) to come up with the Aludra TUAV.

When DEFTECH acquired full control of UST and incorporated it into DEFTECH Aviation, SCS decided to focus on fully developing the Nyamok 2.0 TUAV.

What is interesting about the Nyamok 2.0 that the UAV was actually involved in providing vital aerial overwatch for the Malaysian Army and Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) which were rushed to rescue trapped policemen in a deadly ambushed by Sulu terrorists at Simunul water village in Lahad Datu, Sabah.

Nyamok 2.0 conducted demonstration flight at LIMA 2019 to highlight its flight characteristics as well as its superior Electro Optic (EO) camera.

With DEFTECH now embroiled in corruption scandal involving the spare part supply of FNSS/DEFTECH ACV-300 Adnan and FNSS/DEFTECH AV-8 Gempita armoured vehicles as well as the supply of Chaiseri/DEFTECH AV-4 Lipanbara mine resistance armoured protection (MRAP) vehicle, it is unlikely that the company will be in the competition for the TUAV program.

Having said that, established defence journalist, Marhalim Abbas suggested that a system of ScanEagle 2 TUAV slated for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) under US sponsored Maritime Security Initiative (MSI) might be handed to Mk ATB 2 possibly under direct control of the Navy instead of the UAV Troop.

Since Mk ATB 2 has operated THE UST contracted ScanEagle 1 for more than 5 years, it has no problem to seamlessly integrate the new ScanEagle 2 with its Joint Regional Control Centre (JRCC), which interestingly enough was developed by SCS.

Perhaps, if such arrangement did materialise as Encik Marhalim suggested, perhaps the MAF would again adopted local-export combination of TUAV for Mk ATB2  by considering the Nyamok 2.0.

Previously, this blog has suggested that all 12 ScanEagle 2 TUAV are to be operated from the flight decks of Kedah class New Generation Patrol Vessel (NGPV).