Weststar Defence

Weststar Defence Industries
Industry Defence
Headquarters Malaysia
Area served
 South East Asia
Products Vehicles
Military/law enforcement equipment
Industry/technology consultation
Parent Weststar Group
Subsidiaries Global Komited
Website www.weststardefence.com.my

Weststar Defence Industries Sdn. Bhd. is a Malaysian defence contractor involved in the development, manufacture and distribution of military and law enforcement vehicles, as well as providing consultancy services.

Its subsidiary is Global Komited Sdn. Bhd., which supplies and fabricates vehicles, as well as supplying military equipment.[1] It was established in 2003 as a Ford vehicle dealership before it moved to the defense industry in 2007.[2]

History

On March 6, 2012, the Malaysian Defense Ministry announced that WDI would supply the Malaysian Armed Forces with the Weststar General Service (GS) cargo pickup trucks.[3] Eleven GS trucks were supplied in 2012.[4]

On April 16, 2014, a contract was signed with Thales in order to promote various air defense systems to the Malaysian military.

On June 10, 2014, WDI was awarded a contract to supply the F-FDTL with GS trucks. Forty vehicles were to be delivered before the end of the year.[5] The contract was priced at RM11 million (£2 million).[5]

During the Defence & Security Exhibition 2015 convention, Thales announced that it had signed a contract to supply the Malaysian military with ForceSHIELD to serve as its main anti-air defense system. This included Starstreak missiles, CONTROLMaster 200 radar and weapon coordination systems, and RAPIDRanger and RAPIDRover mobile weapon systems.[6] These would replace Starburst missiles.[6]

On April 20, 2016, WDI received a contract from the Malaysian Navy and Air Force to equip them with 44 GK-M1 Rapid Rover vehicles. An additional 44 were also expected to be ordered from both military branches. They would be outfitted with the Starstreak very short-range air defence (VSHORAD) missile on a Lightweight Multiple Launcher (LML) system.[7] Prototypes were tested after the contract was announced.[8]

At the DSA 2016 exhibition, WDI unveiled the Special Operations Vehicle (SOV) to visitors to showcase it to potential customers.[9] According to Managing Director Azman Syed Ibrahim, the SOV and other vehicles in the exhibit are unmatched "in reliability, ease of maintenance and low through life costs, Weststar Defence’s cross-functional military and security vehicles provide an innovative breakthrough in satisfying diverse operational requirements for various services."[10]

On April 21, 2016, a contract was signed with Finmeccanicas to supply AW159 helicopters to Kuala Lumpur.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Global Komited". Weststar Group. Archived from the original on 2016-10-31. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  2. ↑ "Malaysia's Global Komited and Thales sign partnership agreement for distribution of Ground Based Air Defence systems in Malaysia". Thales Group. 2016-06-14. Archived from the original on 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  3. ↑ "New 4x4 light tactical vehicle for the Malaysian armed forces the Weststar GSC 3/4 ton". Army Recognition. 2012-03-06. Archived from the original on 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  4. ↑ "Weststar 4x4 GS Cargo, the new 4x4 light tactical cargo troop carrier vehicle of Malaysian army". Army Recognition. 2012-04-20. Archived from the original on 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  5. 1 2 "East Timor selects Weststar cargo military vehicles". Shephard Media. 2014-06-10. Archived from the original on 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  6. 1 2 "Thales to provide Forceshield and Starstreak to Malaysia". Army Recognition. 2015-09-15. Archived from the original on 2015-09-19. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  7. ↑ "Weststar Defence Industries Signs Procurement Contract with MINDEF for the Supply and Commissioning of STARStreak VSHORAD Ground Based Air Defence System" (pdf) (Press release). Weststar Group. 2016-04-22. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  8. ↑ Tim Fish (2016-04-19). "DSA 2016: GK-M1 trials continue". Shephard Media. Archived from the original on 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  9. ↑ "New Weststar 4x4 Defence Special Operations Vehicle SOV at DSA 2016". Army Recognition. 2016-04-19. Archived from the original on 2016-07-26. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  10. ↑ "Weststar Defence Showcases Specialised Vehicles" (PDF). 2016-04-19. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  11. ↑ "Weststar unit signs accord with Italian helicopter firm". The Star. 2016-04-21. Archived from the original on 2016-04-22. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
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