DEFENCE SERVICES ASIA 2008 – Small Arms Review https://smallarmsreview.com Explore the World of Small Arms Tue, 06 Sep 2022 21:43:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://smallarmsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cropped-online-sar-logo-red-32x32.png DEFENCE SERVICES ASIA 2008 – Small Arms Review https://smallarmsreview.com 32 32 DEFENCE SERVICES ASIA 2008 https://smallarmsreview.com/defence-services-asia-2008/ Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:16:00 +0000 https://smallarmsreview.com/?p=30212 By Dan Shea

140 foot tall statue of Lord Murugan, Hindu God of War, guarding the entrance to the Batu Caves and their 272 steps. The caves are North of KL, and well worth the side trip.

The 11th edition of the Defence Services Asia occurred on 21-24 April, 2008 at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (people experienced in Southeast Asia generally say “KL” instead of the whole city name). SAR tries to never miss this show, as it is every two years and the direction of the Asian marketplace is evident in all the requirements and new small arms presentations for the region. Business dress is customary at this show; the military will be in Dress Greens or their respective countries’ variants of this. Many vendors choose to wear lighter clothing due to the humidity and weather, but this is not putting on the best appearances in the eyes of the customers. Malaysia is a Muslim country but is not generally requiring dress codes other than some modesty.

On the second day of the show, there was quite a furor and the rumors were flying – the Iranian exhibitions were walled off completely and speculation was that they had not settled their invoices for the exhibit space. This was quickly proven false. Since Iran was under UN sanctions against arms dealing due to the international view of its nuclear program, the United States, the United Kingdom, and others had protested their presence and threatened to pull out of the exhibition entirely. Management succumbed to this protest and completely walled off the Iranian exhibits. This writer, among others, has always counted on the DSA show to be a place to observe and interface with the Iranian small arms developers to see what their newest offerings are: this is where the short “RPG-7K” was first observed.

There were 27 country group pavilions including 6 new ones; Romania, Portugal, Brazil, Bulgaria, Australia and The Netherlands.

The others include Austria, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, UK and USA.

The top 5 country groups were: Turkey (largest), Germany, Italy, UK and Pakistan.

Defence Services Asia Statistics:

  • Number of Participating Companies: 718 companies from 49 countries – a 22% increase from DSA 2006.
  • Size of Exhibition: 42,000 square meters (gross) – 25% larger than DSA 2006.
  • Number of Trade Visitors: 26,990 trade visitors from 63 countries/nations – a 15% increase from DSA 2006.
  • Number of VIP Delegations: 225 delegations from 32 countries/nations – a 46% increase from DSA 2006
By all means, take a few extra days in KL and tour the city and the countryside. The Batu Caves are impressive and a half-day trip from KL is worth the time. One of the most beautiful train rides in the world is from KL to Bangkok, and if you have time to tack on some extra travel, we highly recommend it. Stop at the Penang snake temples, the beaches at Phuket, and relax a bit on the way. Our interviews with L. James Sullivan and Dolf Goldsmith both referred to this train ride in the 1950s through 1970s, and it is still a stunning trip today.
The Brugger & Thomet booth was very busy as B&T has had a long presence in the Malaysian marketplace. Top to bottom: B&T MP9 machine pistol with suppressor; M4 5.56x45mm carbine with B&T rail forend and Rotex suppressor; HK G36 with B&T rail forend and Rotex suppressor.
BAE Systems showcased their remote weapon station with M2HB .50 caliber (12.7x99mm) machine gun. Since taking orders from the UK for over 325 of these stations, the system is maturing into the market.
French company MBDA had the ground mounted version of the Eryx missile on display. With a range of 600 meters, the wire-guided missile is generally considered a low impact launch, high-damage missile for the infantry to use in a mobile environment.
The Indian version of the AK series of rifles is referred to as the INSAS; and these are seldom seen outside of India. SAR was fortunate enough to be allowed to photograph and examine the following four variants. Indian Ordnance/Rifle Factory www.ofbindia.com
Rifle 5.56 mm Excalibur
While no specifications were available for the AMOGH variant of the INSAS rifle, it was evident that the IOB was experimenting with a new caliber; 5.56x30mm. No technical data has been forthcoming on this, but it is an indigenous design, that has reached a development phase showing the maturity of the receiver design as well as the proprietary magazine.
Pakistan Ordnance Factories presented a large booth with variety of innovative small arms – many derived from the HK series of weapons. The standard MP5/MP5K, G3 series are there, as well as the PK7 in 7.62×39 and the PK8 in 5.56×45. A nice selection of RPG-7 grenades were shown, as were the PG-9 rounds used in the SPG-9 recoilless rifle.
One of the six shot 40mm launcher manufacturers from South Africa is Ripple Effect, and they had an innovative display including a twin mounting on the M122 tripod; a vehicle ball mount for firing out through a port; a unique loading system where six rounds are held in a rubber strap and as the rounds are inserted into the empty cylinder, then pulled, they wind the cylinder; and a unit armorerís chest. Website: www.rippleeffect.com
he famous Neostead Pump shotgun is in production and being marketed with Truvelo Armoury. The unique twin magazine tubes and pump-forward/back action make this shotgun stand out in the market. Truvelo Armoury www.truvelo.co.za
Raptor infantry Rifle.
Rosonboro Export had a large booth of Russian weapons and vehicles, with only one smaller area devoted to the small arms. Column 1 (top to bottom): SVD (Dragunov) with plastic furniture; SVDS with side-folding stock, and the famous Nikonov AN-94 dual rate of fire- first two rounds at 1,800 rpm, after that the system cycles at 600 rpm. Column 2: AK-101 with GP34 40mm front-loading underbarrel grenade launcher, AK-102, Bizon 2-01 9x19mm submachine gun with helical drum magazine. Column 3: AKM 7.62x39mm, AK-103 7.62x39mm, AK-47 7.62x39mm with sheet metal receiver. RosOboroneExport – www.rusarm.ru. Izhmash – www.izhmash.ru email: itc@izhmash.ru
An overview of the U.S. Pavilion (DSA has over 25 country pavilions) shows Benchmade Knives, Crimson Trace, and U.S. Ordnance, which has a large presence in the Southeast Asian market with the M60E4 among other systems.
YugoImport had a nice presentation of small arms, including the 81/82mm mortar as well as cargo munitions in 120mm up to 155mm, and in the front, the Zastava Black Arrow .50 caliber sniper rifle.
Slobodaís M80 64mm shoulder fired one-time launcher on the left, is dwarfed by their reloadable 120mm launcher. Zastavaís M84 7.62x54R caliber PKM variant on the bipod is in front. Next in line is Krusikís Maljutka (AT-3 Sagger wire guided variant) with Thermobaric warhead, and the venerable M79 90mm reloadable anti-tank launcher. Yugoimport www.yugoimport.com email: fdsp@eunet.yu
Zastavaís M21 ìSoldier of the Futureî AK variant in 5.56x45mm, with side-folding stock.
Zastava premiered their new M77 variant- a 7.62x51mm (308) AK that has been modernized and had a side-folding stock added.
This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V13N6 (March 2010)
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