Arms Markets

The Russian-Malaysian Military Cooperation Promises Bright Future

The history of the bilateral relations between Russia and Malaysia starts in 1966 when the first direct contacts between representatives of the Soviet Union and Malaysia took place in Moscow in September. Later on, in the wake of the contacts in Moscow Kuala Lumpur hosted a meeting in March 1967. As far as first agreements are concerned, an intergovernmental agreement on air communications was signed in 1969, after that Aeroflot, then Soviet Union Airlines, established a direct link between Moscow and Kuala Lumpur. The same year saw the first Soviet trade and industrial exhibition held in Malaysia. An important event in bilateral relations happened in 1972, when Prime Minister Abdul Razak of Malaysia paid his first official visit to the USSR to sign economic-and-technical and cultural-and-scientific cooperation agreements.
The nowadays history is marked by the visits of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to Russia in 1987 and 2002, as well as his working visits to Khabarovsk and Ulan Ude in 1999. In 2007 Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi hold negotiations with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin concerning space and defense cooperation, energy partnership and bilateral trade.
Regarding the visits of some Russian high ranking officials, the visit of the Russian President Vladimir Putin in July 2003 became a landmark event in bilateral relations where their effectiveness was concerned. Noteworthy that the visit was postponed one time. Due to the terrorist attack in Tushino (a Moscow district) in June of 2003, the visit was canceled. The Malaysian authorities fully understood the decision of then President V. Putin. It once again proves the importance of the development of cooperation between two countries.
The most dynamic component of Russian-Malaysian economic relations is cooperation in the aerospace sphere. It is no wonder that the first breakthrough took place in 1994 when the first 18 MiG-29 fighters were delivered. That deal marked the breakthrough of Russia to the South-Asian market and showed that not all countries would follow the United States after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Currently the two countries have been developing the $900 million worth project on acquiring 18 Russian serial Su-30MKM Flanker-C fighters (six of them were delivered in October 2008). The Su-30MKM fighter is very similar to a Su-30MKI version which is delivered to India. However the differences are that the Su-30MKM fighter is not equipped with Israeli avionics, has thrust vectoring nozzle, canard surfaces and a phased array antenna radar.
The chose of Su-30MKM Flanker-C fighters does not mean that Malaysia has not considered MiG-29 as a up-to-date fighter. The decision to purchase 18 Sukhoi jets shows the intention to increase the sector of its defense as the Fulcrums well provide closer sector. The task of the Flankers to enhance Malaysia's strategic capabilities to defend.
The Russia-Malaysia project is also a unique one, as all Russian governmental bodies, such as the Government Ministry of Defense, Defense Export State Corporation Rosoboronexport, Joint-Stock Company Sukhoi Design Bureau etc. A very important role of this project belongs to the Russian President. So huge participation of the state bodies proceeded from the competitors, who also took part in the tender. First of all it was an American fighter, F/A–18E/D.
The success of the Russian companies on the Malaysian market is also stipulated by the verity of military hardware, some Russian enterprises are able to offer, and creation of some service centers, in particular for Su-30MKM Flanker-C.
The bilateral cooperation can be assessed as good and the tendency of the future development offers great opportunities. In 2001 Malaysia bought the “Metis”anti-tank system and in 2002 the “Igla” air-defense system.
As far as future-oriented projects are concern, it is necessary to mention the interest of purchasing the Be-200 and multipurpose amphibious aircraft and Be-103, a seaplane. Both designed by the Beriev Aircraft Company and manufactured by Irkut. The high performances of these planes were tested by Indonesia in 2006, when the authorities decided to rent the Be-200 aircraft for one year, by Azerbaijan EMERCOM, that purchased one Be-200 and by Greece. The latter ordered five planes of this type.
Besides, Malaysia is interested in the Russian combat ships and purchasing of some modern tanks T-90. Rosoboronexport actively participates in tenders for the supply of BTR-90 APC, the “Vodnik” and “Vystrel” 4-wheel drive armored vehicles and the “Avtobaza-M” radio-electronic surveillance system. Malaysia expresses interest in the Russian transport helicopters, Mi-26MT, Mi-171 and Mi-17, as well as in some anti-aircraft systems, such as BUK-M2E and Igla.
In conclusion I'd like to mention that apart of pure military cooperation, Russia and Malaysia actively seek collaboration in commercial space reclamation, development of scientific and technical cooperation in the sphere of advanced technologies, aircraft and shipping development as well as realization of investment projects in Malaysia oriented to local markets and Third Word countries, first of all the ASEAN countries, realization of investment projects in Russia and cooperated promotion in markets of Third World countries.