SHAH ALAM: 2018, A Year in Review. With 2019 knocking the door already its time look wind back the clock and review what had happened in the last 12 months or so. Good or bad, the first thing to come into mind of 2018 was the May 9 general elections. Pakatan Harapan led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad beat the odds and overcame the Barisan Nasional government.
The result of the GE led to the swearing in of Amanah President Mohammad Sabu as the Defence Minister replacing Hishammuddin Hussein. Even though Mat Sabu is a better politician than Hishammuddin, the evidence so far revealed that he is no better the minister than the son of the former PM.
Mat Sabu with the XO of 11th Sqdn Lt Col Jasmi Wahab who flew him on Lucky 14 on July 7.
The change of government also saw the Armed Forces chief being abruptly replaced by a former Army chief. There were also changes to the Army and navy but both were expected as they had reached their retirement age.
Thales technician testing the Control Master 200 radar and firing coordination system as part of the Forceshield acceptance test. Thales
Anyhow despite the momentous changes in the government, the military remained the same, in the fringes. Even the budget had to be redone weeks after it was announced.
On The Way…Ingwe missile leaving its box launcher from the AFV30 ATGW
A month before the changes, at DSA 2018, several contracts like the Nexter 105mm, M109SPH and NSM were signed though the upgrades for the Hawks, Hercules and Nuri were left out. Other notable events in 2018 that comes to mind include the first public firing of the Ingwe ATGW, acceptance of the Thales Forceshield VSHORAD system and the air-to-air refuelling of RMAF fighters with the A400M. RMN also finally put into service its two training ships, after almost four year delay.
A RMAF Hawk Mk 208 being refueled by the A400M. 25th Hawk Anniversary FB.
As of 2019, RMAF is not getting any new aircraft, used or even leased ones. The upgrades of its Hercules, Hawks and Nuri fleet remained unclear despite what had been claimed by the previous minister.
A Nuri seemed to land on the horizontal tail of an A400M at the Butterworth airbase open day in September.
The Army is getting more Gempita like in the previous few years, trucks and 4X4 but not really new stuff. It is unclear whether it is getting the MD Helicopters MD530G light attack helicopter by year end or not despite what the new chief said.
MD Helicopters on Oct 1, 2018 announced that it
new MD 530G will receive a U.S. Army Airworthiness Release (AWR) by December 2019
The navy is scheduled to take delivery of the first of its LMS from China next year. Though with our luck, it will be delayed as well.
Maharaja Lela at the BNS facility in October, 2018. She is still missing her mast and other items. She is likely rusty after undergoing limited harbour trials.
Hopefully by March, we will find out more the direction of the national security sector though the outlook is cloudy. Anyhow, Happy New Year!
–Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (26)
@ marhalim
"Though with our luck, it will be delayed as well"
Please put it as could be delayed, not will be delayed...
As for the navy, they have tried their best to plan to whatever budget there is, getting what they wanted (and more) for the LCS and a very compromised ship with the LMS. The army is completing its Gempita program (with lots of delayed funding issues) and pushing next to complete the very ambitious NCO project. The airforce... well seems that they have waken up from their MRCA wet dream and now put out another far out plan with the CAP55.
Off topic
More sales from the Jordanians. It is put as a modernisation program, but i wonder how much effect it really was due to the severe budgetary problems of the jordanian government nowadays (people are demonstrating on the streets protesting new tax increases).
https://www.rjaf.mil.jo/ar/showannouncement-31.html
https://www.rjaf.mil.jo/ar/showannouncement-32.html
The CN-235 gunship with forward firing weapons is a flawed concept (just use a smaller more maneuverable turboprop like tucanos or cropdusters if you want to forward fire your weapons). Those 8 blackhawks are interesting for PUTD though.
What I am looking forward to in 2019
- defence white paper
- CAP55 parliment review
- LCA, MPA for TUDM updates.
- Su-30MKM overhauls
- 1st LMS launch
- APMM new ships
On topic
Japan keen to offer new defence equipment
https://www.nst.com.my/node/444993/amp
Start small like asking japan for 1 of their coast guard king air MPA to replace the one king air MPA TUDM lost in a crash.
Next could be new air defence radars like the Mitsubishi Electric FPS-3 radars liket they have offered to the philippines.
Next year will be a great year for TLDM,more LCS and more LMS will see the expanding of TLDMs fleet with modern assets.
TDM agk bagus pembangunanya tahun-tahun yg lepas contohnya dgn program perolehan APV/IFV seperti IAG Guardian, AV-4 Lipanbara, AV-8 Gempita,SPH M109 155mm dan TH LG1 105mm serta misil pertahanan udara StarstreakThales ForceSHIELD.
TLDM juga agk bagus pembangunannya dgn program perolehan frigat LCS dan kapal peronda LMS dan UAV ScanEagle.
Cuma TUDM agk perlahan perolehannya.
Semoga akan dtg akan ada perolehan MPA dan UAV MALE/UCAV.
insyaAllah.
With the Japanese Beechcraft C90 you need mk.1 eyeball for surveillance while our three remaining Beechcraft B.200 hv the proper electronic tools (whatever) in doing the same job.I read that the government is interested with the Orions.
@ foxbat25
I did not mention about Japan Air Self-Defense Force Beechcraft C90.
This is the aircraft I am talking about, mostly similar spec to our original MPA.
https://blog-001.west.edge.storage-yahoo.jp/res/blog-2b-4b/ikeda_410/folder/149778/71/11178071/img_1?1318668426
I did not mention about Japan Air Self-Defense Force Beechcraft C90.
This is the aircraft I am talking about, mostly similar spec to our original MPA.
Actually I was praying hard that the Japanese would not entertain any ideas of giving us what the Pinoys had received.Honestly I feel the C90s (If given) would be better off playing the role of multi engine trainers for TUDM .As for the JCG B200,my wild guess is that the agency still need their Beechcrafts ....otherwise it would have been flown southward by now.Hopefully the Orions are coming soon,along with at least three years worth of spareparts.
Reply
No Orions as well actually
The outlook is cloudy indeed. Nowadays i rarely see lorry carrying palm oil in my area which is a norm before this. I heard the price is hitting rock bottom. I truly sympathize with this rural folks. They did not vote ph but they r d one who suffered d most now. This will have a domino effect on our country but hey at least ph manage 2 fulfill they manifesto which is cheaper oil price. Wakaka
The local economic outlook for the next few years has many more negative indicators than positive.
Malaysia's economy remains highly subject to commodity price fluctuations. Investments in more resilient revenue streams will not bear fruit for literal years.
Construction projects both public (transports and towers) and private (housing) are nearing completion. The short-term economic benefits of this activity are coming to an end. Now comes the bite as the debt incurred to build these infrastructures needs to be paid. But the revenue stream is questionable - in the case of 1mdb, absolutely loss-making.
Cancelled projects will incur further penalties. Public demands for cash handouts and subsidies is higher than ever before, but workforce productivity remains the same.
All this against the backdrop of a possible global recession, with weak US and Asian markets both. In SEA, Singapore and Indonesia continue to compete fiercely and the other nations are also growing fast.
Therefore...
What I want to see from defence and Govt, in the coming years, is not big budgets, but efficient deployment of resources.
No more buying US$10m IFVs. Cut down the "magical" overheads aka commissions aka corruption aka stealing rakyat's money. Let's see if we can make Malaysia truly a nation to be proud of.