A new artillery regiment will be stood up in Sabah as part of the Malaysian Army’s plan to restructure and balance the artillery units across its two commands, the Western Field Command in charge of Peninsular Malaysia and the Eastern Field Command that is in charge of the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.
As of date, the latest addition to the Royal Artillery Regiment (Rejimen Artileri Diraja – RAD) was the 8th Royal Artillery Regiment stood up at Penrissen Camp in Sarawak. The regiment is inheriting the Oto Melara 105mm Packed Howitzer from the 1st (Parachute) Royal Artillery Regiment which had recently received all of 18 Nexus LG-1 Mk III 105mm field howitzers (most of which were assembled locally in Malaysia).
Sabah currently has the 6th Royal Artillery Regiment also equipped with the Oto Melara field guns. In order for a new artillery regiment to be formed in Sabah, new procurement of LG-1 guns need to be made so that either the new regiment will received the new guns or inherited the Oto Melara guns from other regiments.
(MFH)