Instead, the title is bestowed on selected army corps and regiments who have been accorded the honour by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong ('The King of Malaysia'), who is the Supreme Commander of the Malaysian Armed Forces.

This allowed the initial recruitment of 25 males for the First Experimental Malay Company on 1 March 1933 in the Haig Lines camp in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.

The ‘Battle of Opium Hill’ on 14 February 1942 involved 42 soldiers commanded by Lt. Adnan Saidi who defended their position against attack from the 18th Division of the Japanese Imperial Army under Lt. Gen. Renya Mutaguchi.

The Kor Armor DiRaja ('Royal Armoured Corps') can trace its roots to the formation on 1 September 1952 of the Federation Reconnaissance Squadron.

The current Chief of Army (Malay: Panglima Tentera Darat — PTD) is General Datuk Muhammad Hafizuddeain bin Jantan, who succeeded General Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman on September 6, 2023, who was also appointed as the new Chief of Defence Forces (Malaysia) on the same day.

The Malaysian Army's most decorated soldier, WOI (Rtd) Kanang anak Langkau was a Regimental Sergeant Major of 8 Ranger.

Currently, the Corps consists of 5 battalions (sometimes referred to as Regiments), which are equipped with various armoured personnel carriers (AV-8 Gempita, SIBMAS AFSV-90, Condor, ACV-300 Adnan and K-200 KIFV) and light combat vehicles.

The regiment is equipped with 36 Brazilian-made Astros II multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and 28 G5 MkIII towed artillery guns from South Africa.

The Rejimen Askar Jurutera Diraja ('Royal Engineers Regiment') is tasked with demolitions, bridge-laying and the repair of military infrastructure, such as airbase runways or clearing obstacles in emergency situations.

The Kor Jurutera Letrik dan Jentera Diraja ('Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Corps') is responsible for the maintenance of all vehicles and machinery of the Malaysian Army.

Aside from handling propaganda and counter-propaganda, the corps is also tasked with conducting background checks on recruits when they first enroll in any training courses.

The Kor Perkhidmatan Diraja ('Royal Logistics Corps') is in charge of transporting troops and supplies to the various units of the Malaysian Army.

The unit has also provided relief MALMEDTIMs (Malaysian Medical Teams) to Pakistan, Afghanistan,[12] Western Sahara, Indonesia and Palestine.

One of the known foreign operations involving this regiment was in an attack by Somali militia on a convoy transporting UN Intelligence Chief in UNOSOM II on 18 July 1994.

Formed by college students, professionals and civilians, it provides support for the regular armed forces of Malaysia and is responsible for the security of key installations in times of conflict.

The ARB can be deployed to overseas conflict areas in short notice under order of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UN DPKO).

[17] Currently, the 7th Battalion, Royal Ranger Regiment (Mechanised) (7 RRD (Mek)) is assigned as the main combat element for the ARB.

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.

Malaysian Army received delivery of 48 units PT-91M Pendekar main battle tanks and other tank-based equipment like ARV WZT-4 from Poland with fully completed contract of sale in March 2010.

[22] In 2016, a Malaysian company Etika Strategi Sdn Bhd made an agreement with Rheinmetall and Otokar on the possibility of working together on the Turkish joint venture Altay MBT.

[25][26] The AV4 Lipanbara MRAPs were also manufactured by DefTech for the army and are stationed in East Malaysia ESSCOM area of operations.

[33] In same exhibition also, Malaysia signed a contract to purchase Ejder Yalcin for Malaysian Army to be use by the UNIFIL contingent.

[35] The United States reportedly agreed to transfer a total of 29 pieces of M109 howitzer artillery to the Malaysian Army but this deal was cancelled at the last minute.

[38] It is reported that in October 2024, Malaysian Army has selected the EVA M2 155 mm SPH as future self-propelled howitzer.

However, a dispute between the army and the air force on whether to introduce a mid-range surface-to-air missile system had led to the procurement being put on hold.

The programme also includes arming all the standard issue M4 carbines with SOPMOD kits, as well as equipping soldiers with a Glock series pistol.

The HSS consists of a Helmet–Mounted Micro Camera and night vision capability with a data output, helmet-mounted display and earpiece and microphone.

The BSS consists of a controller system, energy unit with a power pack for the communication interface, micro-camera and HMD with a single polymer lithium-ion battery for up to ten hours of operation; a communications interface for secure IP-based radio which from the image is a Thales St@rmille radio and finally a navigation unit with a display for blue force tracking and situational awareness, colour digital mapping and terrain and urban profile analysis.

The system displayed is visually similar to the Kord Defence SmartGrip RIC developed in partnership with Thales Australia.

The FSS in conjunction with the Network Centric Operation (NCO) System, will give the three branches of the Armed Forces a shared situational awareness, interoperability and a common operating picture via a X-band satellite-based link and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system, with hopes to enable self-synchronisation for all three branches.