Malaysia’s Army has taken delivery of a prototype K200 Infantry Fighting Vehicle upgrade, jointly developed by local firm Cendana Auto and South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace, for live trials during this year’s Latihan Kuasa Tembak exercise.
The project follows a memorandum of agreement signed in August last year between Hanwha Aerospace and Cendana Auto to modernize Malaysia’s fleet of K200 armored vehicles, which were originally delivered in the early 1990s. More than 30 years of operational use has left the 111 vehicles in need of a comprehensive refurbishment.
Photos released by the Malaysian Armed Forces during Latihan Kuasa Tembak showed the prototype undergoing live firing drills. According to information shared by Cendana Auto, the upgraded vehicle—codenamed MIFV-CH25—received a series of enhancements that align it with South Korea’s own KIFV modernization.
The upgrade includes a new MAN-Doosan D2848T V-8 powerplant producing 350 horsepower paired with an Allison X200-5K automatic transmission. The vehicle has been fitted with a remote-controlled weapon station, reportedly configured for a 12.7mm heavy machine gun, as well as modern optics and acoustic detection systems.
Cendana Auto explained that the refurbishment package also covers a cabin cooling system and redesigned seating to improve crew safety and comfort. A hydraulic assist ramp door has been added for faster dismount operations. The new situation awareness suite includes LED vehicle lighting, thermal and infrared cameras, a Pilar V acoustic gunshot detection system, and six smoke grenade launchers.
The Hanwha Aerospace remote weapon station features image stabilization, tracking lock, and a remote auto-reload mechanism. Its optical sensors also function as part of the vehicle’s surveillance and observation network, giving crews improved situational awareness on the battlefield.
The vehicle was built at Cendana Auto’s facility in Semenyih, with Hanwha Aerospace providing technical expertise and systems integration support.
Funding decisions for a fleet-wide upgrade, however, remain pending. Malaysian media noted that the Army and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will ultimately decide whether to allocate resources for the refurbishment of more than 100 units of the K200. With defense budgets constrained, analysts argue that upgrading the current fleet may be more viable than pursuing entirely new platforms.