The ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet (AARM) is an annual rifle, pistol, and machine gun competition between the armies of the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Its aim is to foster friendly competition and goodwill between the members' armies, and to give its officers and men the opportunity for professional interaction and to strengthen their social bonds and camaraderie.
History The ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet was the brainchild of a Commander-in-Chief of the Malaysian Army, who envisioned the participation of ASEAN armies in a joint military activity. The inaugural AARM was hosted by Malaysia in 1991 and included Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand as inaugural competitors. Malaysia took the first team championship crown that year.
The 2000 AARM was the first event wherein all ten ASEAN member countries participated, coinciding with the inaugural ASEAN Chiefs of Army Multilateral Meeting (ACAMM). The inaugural ASEAN Army Sergeant Majors Annual Meeting (ASMAM) was held 2011. All three meetings have been regular annual events since then.
As of 2025, Cambodia and Laos have yet to host an ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet competition.
Events The AARM consists of five main match disciplines: rifle, carbine, men's pistol, ladies' pistol, and machine gun. Each discipline consists of an individual and a team match. The top three in each match are awarded gold, silver and bronze medals. The trophy categories include overall individual champion for each discipline, overall team champion for each discipline, and overall champion in the "falling plate" event for each discipline.
List of champion states Indonesia has won the most number of championships since the AARM began in 1991; the Indonesian Army has 14 championships on record, followed by the Royal Thai Army with eight. Malaysia and Singapore have both won three times, while the Philippines won two times and Vietnam was champion once. Brunei, Cambodia and Laos have yet to win a championship.
In 2019, a new format for competition was adopted wherein the participating ASEAN member states were grouped into four teams, Team Alligator, Team Bear, Team Cheetah and Team Dragon. Team Alligator emerged as champion that year.
+ YearHostChampion 1 1991 Malaysia Malaysia 2 1992 Indonesia Indonesia 3 1993 Brunei Malaysia 4 1994 Thailand Thailand 5 1995 Philippines Singapore 6 1996 Singapore Singapore 7 1997 Malaysia Malaysia 8 1998 Indonesia Thailand 9 1999 Brunei Thailand 10 2000 Thailand Thailand 11 2001 Philippines Thailand 12 2002 Singapore Singapore 13 2003 Malaysia Thailand 14 2004 Indonesia Indonesia 15 2005 Brunei Philippines 16 2006 Vietnam Indonesia 17 2007 Thailand Thailand 18 2008 Philippines Indonesia 19 2009 Singapore Indonesia 20 2010 Malaysia Indonesia 21 2011 Indonesia Indonesia 22 2012 Brunei Indonesia 23 2013 Myanmar Indonesia 24 2014 Vietnam Indonesia 25 2015 Thailand Thailand 26 2016 Philippines Indonesia 27 2017 Singapore Indonesia 28 2018 Malaysia Indonesia 29 2019 Indonesia Team Alligator 30 2022 Vietnam 31 2023 Thailand Indonesia 32 2024 Philippines Philippineshttps://www.army.mil.ph/home/index.php/press-releases-archive-2/2580-strong-army-strong-country-philippine-army-rules-32nd-aarm 33 2025 Singapore Philippines
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