South Korea Eyes Collaborative Military Venture With Malaysia For K200 IFV Upgrades
By Nabilah Saleh
KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 (Bernama) -- South Korea has expressed keen interest in collaborating with Malaysia to upgrade its fleet of K200 Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs).
Minister of South Korea’s Defence Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA), Major General (Rtd) Seok Jong Gun said as Malaysia sets its sights on modernising its military arsenal, the potential partnership between the two nations' defence industries holds promise for ensuring the longevity and reliability of the K200 IFVs.
The Malaysian Army's decision to upgrade its K200 IFVs comes at a critical juncture, with the fleet requiring comprehensive enhancements to meet the evolving demands of modern warfare, he added.
“South Korea provides a thorough follow-on logistics support for the weapons supplied to its partners.
“As the Malaysian Army is moving towards upgrading its K200 IFVs which have been in service for more than 30 years, I hope that the upgrade can be performed in partnership between Malaysian and Korean defence industries so that the vehicles can be operated stably for a longer period.”
Seok told Bernama in anticipation of the Defence Services Asia (DSA) and National Security (Natsec) Asia 2024 exhibitions from May 6 to 9.
111 K-200 KIFV infantry fighting vehicles were imported from South Korea since the 1990s. Malaysia was also the sole export customer of this armoured vehicle.
Between 1993 and 1995, Malaysia received 111 K200A1s - the upgraded variant of the base K200 with more powerful engines and transmission.
Featuring additional armour and received a more powerful turbocharged engine delivering 350 hp to k, the upgrade also added NBC protection and automatic fire extinguishing system.
On the same development, Seok pointed out that South Korea aims to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence industry and logistics cooperation with Malaysia, as part of efforts to formalise and institutionalise their defence collaboration.
“Based on the MoU, the two countries can regularly discuss the direction of defence industry cooperation and find solutions for any issues that may arise in different stages of cooperative programmes which would help further strengthen the partnership.
“I hope that the defence industry collaboration which has started to grow after signing of contract for FA-50 can lead to more comprehensive and long-lasting partnership through collaboration in other weapon systems.
“The cooperation will not only help Malaysia to stably build its military capability and supply chain but also contribute to stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region,” said Seok, who is here in Kuala Lumpur for the world gathering at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC).
The DSA and NATSEC exhibition which will end on Thursday (May 9), showcases the world's most advanced electronic warfare technologies and assets in the land, air and sea defence sectors with 34 countries having their pavilions, including Turkiye, China, the United Arab Emirates, Italy and the United States.
-- BERNAMA
