NADI advances Malaysia's defence ambitions

New Straits Times

18-05-2025

KUALA LUMPUR: National Aerospace and Defence Industries Sdn Bhd (NADI) is positioning itself as a national champion and regional leader in defence technology to strengthen Malaysia's sovereign capabilities through innovation, partnerships, and talent development.
Its group president Datuk Edron Hayata Ahmad said NADI, originally established in 1983 as Aerospace Industries Malaysia (AIM), has evolved into a strategic partner for the government.
The company's activities now span aerospace manufacturing, systems integration, and indigenous technology development.
"This mirrors Malaysia's broader defence transformation, shifting from reliance on imports to building sovereign capabilities," he said.
NADI's current mission is to act as a catalyst for national defence readiness, aligned with the Defence White Paper and the push for self-reliance.
"We aim to reduce external dependency by investing in indigenous research and development, workforce development, and critical technologies, ensuring Malaysia can defend its interests with locally sustained capabilities," he said.
Edron said the company is actively investing in advanced manufacturing, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), robotics, mission-critical systems, and obsolescence management.
"NADI has partnered with local universities and global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to co-develop intellectual property within Malaysia.
"Our subsidiaries are producing solutions for fighter jets and transport aircraft. We are driving programmes to transition Malaysia from a service-based defence industry to one that assembles, manufactures, designs, and engineers its own capabilities," he said.
Among NADI's key initiatives includes its subsidiary Airod, which leads aircraft upgrade and life-extension programmes for the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and international clients.
"ATSC's aircraft Service Life Extension Program (SLEP), developed in-house and in collaboration with the RMAF and local firms, exemplifies our engineering capabilities," he said.
Another subsidiary, SME Aerospace (SMEA), delivers around two million aerospace parts annually and co-produces structural components for global OEMs.
NADI is also engaged in joint ventures focused on regional maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hubs, and technology transfer agreements to enhance Malaysia's export potential and regional supply chain integration.
A key partnership was with France's Satys, aimed at enhancing Airod Subang's aviation painting capabilities to serve future aircraft for both military and commercial sectors.
In the area of unmanned systems, Edron said NADI is collaborating with US-based Ghost Robotics on its quadrupedal unmanned ground vehicle (QUGV), the Vision 60, and with Korea's Nearthlab to explore AI capabilities for defence drones.
"These collaborations with proven global OEMs are being brought into Malaysia and will be featured at the upcoming Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (Lima '25)," he said.
Beyond engineering, NADI also supports the armed forces and national security agencies with end-to-end lifecycle services, including spare parts, inventory management, upgrades, and round-the-clock technical support.
"We manage logistics for strategic assets and ensure mission readiness with rapid deployment of maintenance teams, especially in remote operational theatres," he said.
To cultivate a future-ready defence workforce, NADI works with the Aviation Design Centre (ADC) and local universities to provide accredited technical training and specialised aerospace programmes.
"These initiatives prepare job-ready graduates and offer upskilling pathways for current personnel. We're building a talent pipeline that supports both present defence needs and future innovation," he said.
NADI is also reinforcing export readiness through certified standards, strategic alliances, and proprietary technologies.
Edron said NADI's branding is built on reliability, sovereign capacity, and cost-effective innovation.
This, he said as NADI has an active presence in global defence exhibitions and industry associations to attract contracts and technology transfers.
Edron added that NADI is also a founding member of the Coalition of Defence Industry (CDI), a platform for capability-building among local defence players.
"Our long-term vision is to build a vertically integrated, innovation-driven enterprise that supports Malaysia's defence autonomy and contributes to economic resilience through high-value exports. NADI aspires to be the cornerstone of a future-proof, sovereign defence ecosystem," he said.