Assault Rifles of the Malaysian Armed Forces and Paramilitary Groups

The Malaysian armed forces has been steadily acquiring armaments of various types over the years. In terms of assault rifles, it has procured a variety of types. Here are the known types:

M16 (Model 613) - 200 000
M16 (Model 653) - 5000

Beretta AR-70 - Likely to be in low numbers. 5000?

Steyr AUG A1 - This replacement for the M16 was first adopted 15 years ago. The numbers bought then were unlikely to be a one is to one replacement, however there is a possibility that over 200 000 were indeed licence-manufactured. The assault rifles adopted were licence-manufactured by SME Ordnance Sdn Bhd and SME Aerospace Sdn Bhd which are subsidiaries of Nadi. The rifles were manufactured in a 113ha plant in Batu Arang. Recently, Steyr has indicated that it will manufacture all their AUG A1, A2 and A3 rifles in Malaysia.

It is not unlikely that some other assault rifle types were bought in small numbers for trials and for use by various specialists groups or paramilitary types.

The Steyr AUG has definitely seen action in Malaysian hands However, it is with bank robbers who are sometimes ex-military or have access to the arsenals.

According to a 17th March 2006 New Straits Times report, the Malaysian Armed Forces is currently searching for a replacement:

"New assault rifles may be in the offing for the army. It is now looking into the possibility of replacing its Steyr AUG rifles, introduced 15 years ago. Army chief Jen Datuk Seri Abdul Aziz Zainal said soldiers would be equipped with a more modern rifle."The Steyr has served us for 15 years now. Whatever has been in use for a long time perhaps needs to be changed." Abdul Aziz was speaking at a Press conference at the Sungai Besi army camp after a shooting competition for the media, organised in conjunction with the 73rd Army Day on March 1."

It is not unlikely that it will adopt the AUG A3 for both economic and strategic reasons. Time will tell...

The Malaysian army chief also made an additional statement that is of interest:

"On whether the Steyr was being replaced because of weaknesses, he said: "There are no weaknesses (in the weapon)."If there are weaknesses, it is because of the person handling the weapon," he said."

Why was the question been floated? It was likely to be floated due to negative reports arising from the grapevine. If not, why would he have made this additional statement? Unless...

On a related but different note, the Malaysia government website has an interesting statistic. Can it possibly be true? It is supposedly an adapted article from the Star:

"The Steyr AUG (Armee Universal Gewehr, or Army Universal Rifle) was first produced in 1978, and is now said to be the most widely sold modern assault rifle, next to the AK-47 series. "

Note that statement and claim. One wonders about the accuracy of this article. Is the article suggesting that 10 million Steyr AUG or more has been sold?