In Southeast Asia, in addition to the Leopard II tanks in service with Indonesia and Singapore, another notable name is the PT-91M Pendekar
According to Malaysia Military Power
PT-91M Pendekar is the most modern main battle tank of the Malaysian Army today
and was once the king of tanks in Southeast Asia until the arrival of the Leopard 2 of Singapore and Indonesia
However, in terms of overall strength, PT-91M is still a formidable opponent on the battlefield
The PT-91M main battle tank is a modernized and exported variant exclusively for Malaysia, based on the Polish PT-91 Twardy tank family
The PT-91 on the other hand is an improved version of the former Soviet T-72M1 model
However, the PT-91 still has its own characteristics compared to the T-72 variants in some other Eastern European countries
The first public presentation of PT-91M took place on August 31, 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, during the big parade on Malaysia Independence Day
Similar to the original version, PT-91M has a weight of about 48.5 tons, length is 6.86 m, width is 3.70 m, and height is 2.60 m
The PT-91M is slightly different from tanks which are being used by the Polish Army
The tank is powered by new, developed in PZL Wola together with German Renk power pack
consists of engine S1000R with 1000 HP and SESM Renk ESM350M driving system
Tank is equipped with Slovakian Company Konstrukta Defence 2A46MS cannon
with electronic stabilisation system from EADS, and with new mechanisms of rising cannon and turret rotation
Also front and turret armour-plate configuration has been changed
PT-91M is equipped also with Sagem Savan 12 fire control systems with panoramic commander surveillance device VIGY-15
Also armour has been changed, by strengthening it
The tank has been equipped also in universal self-defence system SSP-1 Obra 3 from Industrial Optical Center
which cooperates with 2 suite of 81mm smoke grenades launcher 902A
Tank's cannon are compound with 7.62mm machine gun from Belgian FN Herstal
This company delivers also 12.7 mm large-bore machine gun M2HB-QCB operated by commander and installed on the turret
In the Tank also many construction changes were implemented
For the first time in the T-72 family tanks steering-wheel instead drag-link was installed
Tank is also equipped with air-condition system, modern WMD protection and pollution detection system were instaled
Also battlefield control system and LNS navigation and GPS systems were installed
The crew of the PT-91M consists of three soldiers, including the driver, gunner and commander
thanks to the automatic loader system, this also allows the PT-91M to have a faster rate of fire than some other tanks
It can fire with a rate of fire of 8-10 rounds/minute, with 40 shells available on the vehicle
The number of PT-91M in the Malaysian Army's payroll is quite modest, only 48 units
All of these tanks were handed over by Poland in the period 2007-2009
In general, the opportunity for PT-91M
to demonstrate its capabilities on the battlefield is not high in the context of the current security situation in the region
and conflicts of interest between countries mainly taking place at sea
Therefore, an all-out war with the participation of tanks in Southeast Asia would be unlikely, and if it did, it would not be in Malaysia
With its features, PT-91M Pendekar is still considered a dangerous tank, meets the requirements of modern warfare
and is one of the most modern tanks in Southeast Asia today