Inkas Sentry 4×4 Armoured Personnel Carrier Promoted to Malaysia

22 Juli 2019

Inkas Sentry 4x4 APC (photos : Inkas)

The Malaysian Army is believed to be conducting trials on Canadian-made Inkas Sentry 4×4 Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) as part of its global search for High Mobility Protected Vehicle (HMPV).

To date the Malaysian Army is operating two types of HMPV, the Thai-Malaysian DEFTECH/Chaiseri AV-4 Lipanbara and IAG Guardian. Most of the 20 Lipanbara HMPVs are currently deployed to Sabah under the East Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) while nine Guardians are now operational in southern Lebanon as part of MALBAT 850 peacekeeping mission there.

Under the new Government policy, there will be no more direct negotiation and procurement being made for any projects involving various Government agencies. All new procurement will be made through open tender exercise to ensure transparency in the process. Having said that, being the cheapest does not guaranteed a clear way of success as other elements beside price will also being scrutinised and evaluated.

Beside the Sentry, other HMPVs which have been evaluated in country was the Turkish-made Nurol Makina Ejder Yalcin which have been reportedly evaluated last year by the Malaysian Army following the conclusion of Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2018 exhibition held in Kuala Lumpur.

The Army’s HMPV program is not part of the Radpanzer Condor 4×4 APC replacement program but rather a new program which stems from the lessons learned during Ops Daulat in 2013. The HMPVs are meant to assume the role similar to four wheel drive  (4WD) vehicles currently in service including DEFTECH G-Wagon, VAMTAC Uro and Global Komited GK-M1 in areas where there is medium level of threats.

They have better armor protection and better survivability against Improvised Explosive Device (IED) than the 4WD weapon platform but would have lower procurement cost than the APC. At the same time, they are more suitable for operations in build up area (OBUA) which has been increasingly become major features of today’s modern Malaysia.

(MFH)