KUALA LUMPUR: Widad Business Group Sdn Bhd (WBG) is expanding into the defence industry by teaming up with HAVELSAN Hava Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret A S, Turkey’s largest military systems developer.

       In a statement, WBG said the two parties have signed a memorandum of collaboration during the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2022 exhibition at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC).

       Following the collaboration, WBG will be purchasing six units of HAVELSAN’s parachute simulator currently used by the Turkish commando brigade and special forces, which has been proven to reduce the cost of training paratroopers significantly.

       WBG executive director Datuk Cham Nong Aliap said: “We are excited to be partnering with HAVELSAN for their products in training and simulation technologies and bringing the expertise of one of the world’s top firms in this field to Malaysia.”

       “There is a great service and cost-reduction opportunity here for the country, specifically on aircraft and logistic costs where training of paratroopers usually involves transporting a whole troop of jumpers to a site and back to their base.

       “According to our initial estimations, the usage of such systems will be able to achieve significant cost savings for training in the Malaysian defence sector,” he said, adding that the prospects of this new business segment look favourable.

       “This is only the first phase of our collaboration with them, and HAVELSAN has several other reasonably priced yet technologically superior systems that we foresee could bring extraordinary benefits here,” he added.