He said STRIDE was always prepared to work together with local defence industry players, especially in carrying out training, research and development to reduce dependency on outside sources.
“Malaysia’s defence industry was established in 1960 with the focus, at that time, on developing the capability of maintaining, installing and building armed forces assets, leading to the growth and expansion of this industry to several key sectors, including maritime, aerospace, automotive and armament,” he told Bernama.
According to him, STRIDE, which has been in existence for 54 years, has more than 100 officers and technical expertise, including testing Malaysia’s first high mobility 4X4 armoured car and bulletproof vest. Mohd Yazid said the issue can be resolved through the provision of funds and platforms by the government to promote prototypes by the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, which handles the National Technology and Innovation Sandbox.