SME Ordnance
Encyclopedia
The SME Ordnance Sdn Bhd company (SMEO), formerly known as Syarikat Malaysia Explosive Sdn Bhd, is a Malaysian defense company that specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of ordnance. The company is located in Selangor.
SMEO is a subsidiary company of National Aerospace and Defence Industries Sdn Bhd.
rifles. Joint production with Steyr later started in 2003 and 2004. SMEO later withdrew from joint production, leading to lawsuits from Steyr. This led to arguments between SME Ordnance and Steyr over allegation of contract violations.
On September 28, 1993, SMEO was approved by Royal Ordnance Division, British Aerospace (BAe) as the preferred suppliers of weapons and ammunition. The Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) bestowed & registered SMEO’s quality system as compliant with MS ISO 9002:1991 systems on December 7, 1993. On February 21, 2001, SMEO had integrated Syarikat Malaysia Explosive Technologies Sdn Bhd due to problems after the company had fulfilled their contracts to the Defense Ministry
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SME Ordnance had acquired the license to manufacture M4 carbines in 2006-2007 with Colt Defense, as announced by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak after he gave SMEO a letter of intent to procure 14,000 rifles to replace the Steyr AUG. In 2009, SMEO announced that they would invest RM36.4 million for further research and development into the M4. The amount consists of RM26.4 million, which will be for the purchase of machinery and RM10 million for the buildings. 14,000 M4s will be supplied to the Malaysian army. Under the ASEAN Defense Industry Collaboration programme, Malaysia plans to produce the M4 carbine together with Indonesia and Thailand.
SMEO is a subsidiary company of National Aerospace and Defence Industries Sdn Bhd.
History
SME Ordance was created in 1969 as a joint venture company with equity participation between the Government of Malaysia, Dynamit Nobel of Germany, Oerlikon Machine Tools of Switzerland and two local partners namely Syarikat Permodalan Kebangsaan and Syarikat Jaya Raya Sdn Bhd. The Malaysian government later acquired all shares in 1974, making SMEO a government-owned company. In 1991, SMEO acquired a license to manufacture Steyr AUGSteyr AUG
The AUG is an Austrian bullpup 5.56mm assault rifle, designed in the early 1970s by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG . The AUG was adopted by the Austrian Army as the StG 77 in 1977, where it replaced the 7.62mm StG 58 automatic rifle...
rifles. Joint production with Steyr later started in 2003 and 2004. SMEO later withdrew from joint production, leading to lawsuits from Steyr. This led to arguments between SME Ordnance and Steyr over allegation of contract violations.
On September 28, 1993, SMEO was approved by Royal Ordnance Division, British Aerospace (BAe) as the preferred suppliers of weapons and ammunition. The Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) bestowed & registered SMEO’s quality system as compliant with MS ISO 9002:1991 systems on December 7, 1993. On February 21, 2001, SMEO had integrated Syarikat Malaysia Explosive Technologies Sdn Bhd due to problems after the company had fulfilled their contracts to the Defense Ministry
Ministry of Defence (Malaysia)
The Ministry of Defence Malaysia is the Malaysian government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the Malaysian Armed Forces .The KEMENTAH states that its principal objectives are to defend Malaysia and its interests and to strengthen...
.
SME Ordnance had acquired the license to manufacture M4 carbines in 2006-2007 with Colt Defense, as announced by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak after he gave SMEO a letter of intent to procure 14,000 rifles to replace the Steyr AUG. In 2009, SMEO announced that they would invest RM36.4 million for further research and development into the M4. The amount consists of RM26.4 million, which will be for the purchase of machinery and RM10 million for the buildings. 14,000 M4s will be supplied to the Malaysian army. Under the ASEAN Defense Industry Collaboration programme, Malaysia plans to produce the M4 carbine together with Indonesia and Thailand.