Thales to produce 6,000 tactical radios in Malaysia, boosting local defense autonomy

Overview:

• Thales will produce over 6,000 tactical radios in Malaysia through a new local assembly line.
  
• Technology and production will be transferred from France to Malaysia to support defense autonomy.
  
• Local partner ADS will be trained to become a self-sufficient manufacturer in Johor.
  
• The radios will be maintained in Malaysia by Malaysian engineers to reduce foreign reliance.
  
• Malaysia becomes the first customer for this new generation of tactical radios with voice and data capabilities.

Thales is launching a major defense technology transfer in Malaysia, with plans to locally produce over 6,000 next-generation tactical radios in partnership with ADS, a new Malaysian operator. The initiative marks a strategic shift toward national defense autonomy and job creation in Johor.

Malaysia to Host Tactical Radio Assembly Line

Florian Riou, Country Director for Malaysia and Brunei at Thales, confirmed the company will establish a local assembly line in Johor to manufacture tactical radios for the Malaysian army. The project includes technology transfer, production training, and long-term maintenance capabilities, ensuring Malaysia can independently operate and sustain its radio systems.

“We are keen to transfer key technology from France to Malaysia to ensure our local partners and the Malaysian army are more autonomous,” Riou told BackgroundBriefing.news.

The radios will be produced in collaboration with ADS, which will receive training and support from Thales to become a self-sufficient manufacturer. The radios will be compatible with over 10,000 existing units already deployed across Malaysia.

Strategic Sovereignty and Job Creation

The initiative is expected to create new jobs in Johor, a region Riou described as “very strategic.” Thales will train local engineers and technicians to manage production and maintenance, reducing reliance on foreign expertise.

“We are going to support the Malaysian army from Malaysia with Malaysian employees, with our local engineers,” Riou told BackgroundBriefing.news.

Malaysia will be the first customer for this new generation of tactical radios, which offer both voice and data capabilities. The long-term goal is to establish ADS as a local champion in tactical communications, backed by Thales’ decades of experience in France.

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About the speaker:

Florian Riou
Country Director for Malaysia and Brunei
Thales

Florian Riou, Country Director for Malaysia and Brunei at Thales, is based in Kuala Lumpur and brings over 15 years of experience in international trade compliance, government relations, and regulatory affairs. Prior to his current role, he served as Group Trade Compliance Director at Thales in Paris, where he led global efforts to ensure adherence to export control and sanctions regulations. His career spans both public and private sectors, including key positions at the French Treasury and Safran, with a strong focus on EU trade policy and defense instruments.

Riou’s expertise in geopolitics and global regulatory compliance is backed by a robust academic foundation in international law from Université Laval and Aix-Marseille Université. Fluent in French and English, he has held strategic roles across Europe and Asia, contributing to the development of European regulations and managing compliance for aerospace and defense programs. His leadership reflects a deep understanding of cross-border trade dynamics and strategic policy implementation.

5W1H summary:

Transcript of the interview:

My priority as a new country director of Malaysia is to develop and reinforce our local presence in Malaysia. We have a major program, major project in Malaysia in order to develop a local assembly line for radio communications.

1. We are going to organize first transfer of technology and production.
2. We will produce with our local partner in Malaysia tactical radios.
3. We are going to ensure maintenance in Malaysia of these new technical radios in terms of transfer.

We are going to organize some transfer of production but also knowledge. We are keen to transfer key technology from France to Malaysia in order to ensure that our local partners but also the Malaysian army are more autonomous than before and able to at least produce these radios locally.

It is a major step in reinforcing our relationship with Malaysia as a country. This ensures that Malaysia becomes more and more autonomous and more and more sovereign in this very critical domain of tactical radios.

Secondly, in terms of production, we are going to help our local partner ADS, which is a new operator in Malaysia, in being autonomous. We will create some new jobs in Johor.

Johor is a very strategic place for us. They are going to build a new assembly line.

We are going to train these people and then they will be autonomous in producing this new radio for the Malaysian army. We are talking about more than 6,000 radios, which is a very huge number of radios.

It is new; we are talking about the latest generation of radios. Malaysia is becoming our first customer for this kind of radio.

It is a major success for Thales and it is very important for Malaysia as well.

Secondly, we are going to ensure the maintenance of the radio for the coming years. This is to make sure that Malaysia does not rely on foreign countries at all in order to maintain this radio.

We are going to support the Malaysian army from Malaysia with Malaysian employees, with our local engineers, in order to make sure that Malaysia is able to maintain alone this radio in the future.

Now what does Thales bring to this party? Why doesn’t ADS just do it on its own?

ADS is a new local player. They really need to grow and they need our technology, our knowledge, our experience coming from France.

In France, as you know, we are a very old player. We have a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge, and ADS as a new player needs this knowledge, needs this experience in Malaysia.

We are going to help them, we are going to train them. We are going to transfer some knowledge and experience from France to Malaysia in order to help them to become a real local champion in radio tactical communication.

Longer term. What is your vision for what the outcomes are?

Where will all this be heading?

The outcomes for us are very big. We are talking about a very important market because Malaysia is growing a lot and has a lot of needs, not only in radio but in other sectors.

For us, radio is absolutely key because it will help Malaysia to be autonomous again. It means that, for instance, for the Malaysian soldier tomorrow, they will be able to rely on this kind of new radio.

They will have access to not only voice recording but also to data.

They will be able to use this radio with all the installed radios in Malaysia. We are talking about more than 10,000 radios in Malaysia.

They will be able to use this radio in relation to all the radios already installed in Malaysia. It is a new step for them, but it means that we will be able to mix futures and past in Malaysia for the best of Thales.

Category	Details
What	1. Produce tactical radios locally 2. Transfer defense technology and knowledge 3. Support military communications capability
How	1. Build assembly line in Johor 2. Train ADS engineers and technicians 3. Ensure local maintenance capability
Why	1. Increase Malaysia defense autonomy 2. Create skilled jobs in Malaysia 3. Strengthen ASEAN regional resilience
Who	1. Thales leadership and engineers 2. ADS local manufacturing partner 3. Malaysian army end users
Where	1. Johor, Malaysia production site 2. Kuala Lumpur coordination hub 3. France technology origin
When	1. Current rollout in Malaysia 2. Multi-year maintenance commitment 3. Long-term ASEAN collaboration