Malaysian Armed Forces to create new Joint Special Operations Command

Former RMAF chief Gen. Roslan Saad checking on a PAKAU operator. Photo c/o Pinterest.

Malaysia plans to combine their special operations units from the Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Air Force and Royal Malaysian Navy into a Joint Special Operations Command, tasked with duties on national and strategic interests in mind.

Centralizing the command structure of these units was among the main reason in pushing for this plan, while emphasizing on combining the different aspects of specialization of all special operations units.

No timeline was provided by the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF), however it is expected that this could happen within the year.

Currently, the MAF has three Special Operations units:

1. Grup Gerak Khas (GGK) from the Malaysian Army (translated to Special Service Group),
2. Pasukan Khas Laut (PASKAL) of the Royal Malaysian Navy (translated to Naval Special Warfare Forces),
3. Pasukan Khas Udara (PASKAU) of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (translated to Special Air Service).

In addition, the MAF also plans to create regional joint commands, combining resources of the three MAF service branches during operations.



[1] Army Recognition
[2] Malaysian Defence
[3] Shephard Media