The primary objective of the armed forces in Malaysia is to defend the country's sovereignty and protect it from any and all types of threats.

The main theaters of operations were within Malaysian borders, primarily to fight an insurgency led by the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) in what was known as the Emergency.

The only foreign incursion of Malaysian territory in modern times were in World War II by Japan (Malaya was then not a unified political entity and consisted of the British Crown Colony of the Straits Settlements, and the British protected Federated Malay States and Unfederated Malay States) and during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation by Indonesia under the leadership of President Sukarno.

The review addressed new security threats that have emerged in the form of low intensity conflicts, such as the kidnapping of Malaysians and foreigners from resort islands located off the east coast of the state of Sabah and the rising risk of territory disputes with several neighbouring countries.

The acquisition of Main Battle Tanks (MBT), Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC), Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV) and modern artillery make the Malaysian Army one of the most potent powers in the region.

However, limitations imposed by the United States on "new technology" to the region made the RMAF consider purchases from Russia and other non-traditional sources.

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said in a statement on 10 October 2013, that Malaysia is planning on establishing a marine corps for amphibious operations.

The 9th Royal Malay Regiment (Airborne) and 8th Royal Ranger Regiment (Airborne) have both conducted amphibious warfare training as a secondary mission such as the CARAT exercise with the US Marine Corps (USMC) and other amphibious exercises also conducted with foreign armed forces.

DefTech, Mildef International Technologies, Weststar Defence Industries and Cendana Auto are among the local companies that emphasize on the maintenance and manufacturing of military land vehicles and the automotive sector.

As a country with vast maritime area, Malaysia has long had a great shipbuilding industry since the Malacca Sultanate.

Nowadays, Malaysia houses many shipbuilding companies, giving its reputation as a country with great maritime expertise and facilities.

Through local companies such as Lumut Naval Shipyard, Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation, Destini and Gading Marine, Malaysia was able to locally build their own major surface combatants and combat boats such as Maharaja Lela-class frigate, Kedah-class offshore patrol vessel, Jerung-class gunboat, Gagah Samudera-class training ship, Sri Tiga-class fast troop vessel, Gading Marine G2000-18m class combat boat and Sandakan Jaya Teknik-class boat.

[16] In addition to this, local companies such as Labuan Shipyard and Engineering, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering, Grade One Marine Shipyard, Shin Yang Group and others were also able to execute minor and major maintenance and overhaul to the naval grade vessels locally, without needing to send them abroad.

Some of these great achievements were put on display when Malaysia succeeded in completing major overhaul of its Scorpene-class submarines.

[28] In 1969, Malaysia set up a firearms manufacturing company, SME Ordnance to supply the local armed forces.

[29] Both locally manufactured Steyr AUG and M4 assault rifles are currently used by the Malaysian Armed Forces and other government agencies.

[30] In conjunction of LIMA 2023, United Arab Emirates EDGE Group had signed an agreement with Malaysian-company Ketech Asia for the production of CARACAL firearms locally through the transfer of technology.

[32] The Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) between Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom is a regional security initiative which has been in place for more than 45 years.