In preparation for the 29th South East Asia (SEA) Games being held in Kuala Lumpur, Royal Malaysian Police held Exercise Rimau 2017, a public counter-terror exercise designed to prepare law enforcement for worst case scenarios that could take place during the SEA games. Some of the situations appear to have been a VIP armed escort out of a hostile environment, an NBC or bomb attack, and assaulting an enemy hardpoint. Three Malay LE units in particular were pointed out by a TFB reader that were training in the event, the General Operation Force, VAT 69 (69 Commando), and Unit Tindak Khas (UTK). A mixture of small arms were in use, mostly various AR variants and some handguns. We’ll try to outline of the tactics, techniques, and procedures in use throughout the exercise, in addition to the small arms. Earlier we reported on Sultan Muhammad V of Malaysia being into competition shooting. The question begs to be asked if his shooting hobby allows a larger budget to be set aside for Malay Military/LE forces to be better armed than their counterparts in neighboring Indonesia or Thailand.

From the New Straits Times–

Dubbed “Latihamal Ex-Rimau 2017”, the first exercise was held at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium this morning.

Police said similar drill will be held once again at the national stadium soon, followed by three more at KLCC mosque, National Sailing Centre in Langkawi and International Endurance Park in Terengganu.

City police chief Datuk Amar Singh said the exercises would cover five scenarios including VIPs evacuation, bomb threat, partial building collapse and armed militant attack.

Amar said he was satisfied with today’s exercise, adding that the force were prepared to face any eventualities.

He said among the goals for the security drill was to test the ability of the crisis response team, the effectiveness in the execution of plan and also the force’s reaction time to possible threats.

General Operation Force-

The General Operation Force appears to be a basic response team, responsible for perhaps holding a cordon or being the first law enforcement entity with more capabilities than policemen armed only with handguns. It appears that this force aided in the bomb/NBC threat scenario. Primary weapons appeared to be Bushmaster 10 inch Carbon 15s in either 5.56x45mm NATO, or 9x19mm NATO. Optics were not in use, however flip up iron sights were mounted on picatinny rails, with rail protectors mounted on the forward portions. These rifles appear to carried with single point slings very similar to Black Hawk!’s iconic attachment system. Magazines weren’t mounted on plate carriers, and instead were placed in thigh rigs. Side arms were not utilized.

VAT 69-

Commando 69 took part in attacking a simulated enemy-held strongpoint, rappelling from rooftops into floors, or climbing ladders from their patrol cars onto floors. Much better outfitted than the General Operations Force, VAT 69 appeared to be primarily armed with 14.5 inch ARs with EoTech 512s mounted on top. Most rifles had foregrips and picatinny mounted flashlights as well. Magpul multi-point slings appeared to be in use, along with slings of an unknown variety, in addition to handguns in nylon drop leg holsters (cannot ID handguns, possibly Walther P99s).

The tan cord on this officers plate carrier is a push to talk mic.

The force utilized this interesting method of covering a moving element while descending down a vertical wall.

Unit Tindak Khas-

UTK took on the VIP armed escort scenario, filling a critical armed protective security specialist capability. Notice the bodyguards actually shielding the VIPs with their own bodies while UTK officers provide security. Their equipment set up wasn’t as extensive as VAT 69, however the officers were using 12 inch ARs with Surefire X300 light/lasers, Aimpoint magnifiers coupled with what appears to be an Aimpoint T1 red dot optic. Side arms are Walther P99s mounted in thigh rigs.

Much thanks to TFB reader Azril for the photos and tip!