DSA 2024: Mildef outlines 4×4 armoured vehicle programmes

The Tarantula vehicle (pictured above from the DSA 2024 exhibition) is equipped with a remote-controlled weapon station with multiple machine guns – a 12.7 mm machine gun and a 7.62 mm co-axial machine gun – and 16 units of 76 mm grenade launchers. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)

Malaysian firm Mildef International Technologies (Mildef) has showcased three 4×4 armoured vehicles known as Tarantula, High Mobility Light Tactical Vehicle (HMLTV), and Weapon Carrier Vehicle (WCV) at the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2024 exhibition held in Kuala Lumpur from 6 to 9 May.

Ahmad Ziad Rehman Bin Ahmad Zaidi, senior assistant engineer at Mildef, told Janes that the Malaysian Army has already ordered 178 Tarantula vehicles in 2023, while the other two vehicles are yet to be tested by the service.

The delivery of Tarantula vehicles will be initiated by the end of 2024, and nearly 80 vehicles will be delivered in the first batch, with final delivery in 2027, Ahmad said.

According to Mildef specifications, Tarantula has a crew capacity of 10, and it has a length of 5,700 m, a width of 2,500 m, and a height of 2,500 m.

The vehicle, which has a weight of 12,000 kg, features a Caterpillar C7 engine, producing a top speed of 120 km/h. The range of the vehicle on the road is 700 km, while its cross-country range is 350 km.

Tarantula has a 300 litre fuel tank, and it produces a power of 340 hp at 2,100 rpm. The power-to-weight ratio is 28 hp/ton. The vehicle has front and side protection of STANAG 4569 level 3, with mine blast protection of STANAG 4569 level 2B.