SHAH ALAM: Going over the top. As we wait for the Defence Minister designate to be sworn in and make his first sortie to Jalan Padang Tembak, it is time for us discuss what ails the defence and national security sector.
For the last 40 years or so the sector became part of the national economic development agenda, which started during the 22 years of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad first premiership. And the practice continued during the two administrations that succeeded him.
Placing the defence and national security sector as part of the country’s economic development is a common practice by many countries. For Malaysia, the national interest agenda was turned upside down when it was driven by parochial interests which led to unbridled shenanigans, to say the least. This mostly resulted in procurement of assets and development mostly due to political patronage with little regard for life cycle costs and long term viability.
Unfortunately this was not limited to the defence and national security sector alone. The problem is further exacerbated by insistence of local manufacturing, which further increase the initial cost of procurement as well as long term one. Most of these prestige projects are nothing more than reinventing the wheel while at the same time further straining the already limited budget.
While some had benefited from these largesse, its always the Armed Forces that had to deal with the aftermath whenever something bad happens and it was not just the economy.
Remember that we spent billions to get six corvettes unsuitable for high intensity fighting and also too expensive for mundane patrols. This happened even as the coast guard is starved of proper funding to get the patrol boats it needs to secure our long maritime borders.
Remember that we have two submarines which are very expensive to operate and maintain while the surface fleet lacks the capability for proper anti submarine warfare.
The air force got four new transporters although it don’t need them. It needs new fighters, MPA, airborne radars and training jets though.
Its the same with the army, despite some highlights here and there, the infantry remained the king. As of recently it got some 100 8X8s from a 257 order though it’s sole tank unit is still stuck in first gear, literally and figuratively.
What’s the solution then? I have none for the PM – he probably has the solution already figured out as he bide his time to oust his successors.
As for the Minister, I think it’s time for him to stop campaigning and deal with the problem together with the PM and of course the Armed Forces. I know it’s difficult to do that after 40 years in the trenches. Its time as they say to go Over the Top.
Am I feeling nostalgic over the previous regime? None whatsoever. Just wary though I am grateful at least that the chance of me being blacklisted by the ministry has gone a long notch down already. And no, this is not an attempt to whitewash Najib and Pak Lah et al and lay all the blame on Dr Mahathir. They deserved everything that are lined up for them and more.
–Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (63)
@ Mahalim.
Perhaps you can advice on what the 2nd Mahathir administrationship can do differently compared to his 1st. While I might be accused of being a cybertooper, I would dare say Paklah's and Najib's follies are just a matter of following what goes before them, namely the rojak done by a certain 4th PM. What we seen so far is either using ill-suited equipment (Mig-29, AUGs) or shoehorning those we want into ill-suited platforms (SU-30 MKM with Western avionics, Gempita).
"What’s the solution then? I have none for the PM – he probably has the solution already figured out as he bide his time to oust his successors."
if i understand right,i love what you think. here to see that thing happen.
its all start with Dr M step down and dont want to become adviser as he is tired with all those stupid thing and want us,the citizen to think independent without him. then come pak lah who well......too good nature.have money but think positively(we have peace loh,no need more security).with pak lah goes,come najib which you all know how he is.
each admin have cause enough damage to our security from laksamana class to A400 transport. start with have enough money to no money right now. all we can hope now relies with the council to oversee all the security progress and the transparency which have been the theme song since they run to Putrajaya.
Lets give Tun a chance. Its early days. But if we can cut at the right places money csn be found. But then again many ministries have been out of gund gor dome time. Like MOH for medicie n replacement of equipment like basuc lines. As the holes are too many n very substsntial give some time
Hmm...
Yes the rojak was started in mahathir's 1st administration, but then it balooned into buying gold plated items and things so expensive and not required like the A400M that sucks every little budget the air force was allocated.
What is to be done.
- make sure the operational budget is enough in the 1st place. No use of expensive hardware but relegated to parades only.
- no more gold plated items in the next 5 years. So things like the LMS, MRSS, Gempita, MRCA, MPA need to be reviewed if it is already in progress (Gempita), stopped (MRCA) or to look for a more cost effective solutions (LMS, MRSS, MPA).
- to get APMM to have its needed ships for patrol. They are getting good value out of their NGPC and OPV programmes and should be expanded.
Probably there will be cuts in the defence budget for RMK-12, but I am hoping that it would be offsetted by sepending wisely.
@ joe
"What we seen so far is either using ill-suited equipment (Mig-29, AUGs) or shoehorning those we want into ill-suited platforms (SU-30 MKM with Western avionics, Gempita)"
- mig was bought for a strategic point of view. Sending a big massage that malaysia is not tied to the western block.
- AUGs? If not for the political fall out, it is a decent weapon.
- Su-30MKM and gempita. In a hindsight, we developed the best SU-30MK variant there is and was later used by russia itself as the Su-30SM. The unrefuelled combat range is unmatched by any western fighters and a very useful feature to patrol the SCS. As for the gempita, was one of the critics, but now most countries are jumping into the heavy IFV bandwagon. A second batch should be way cheaper than the 1st batch, and the cost need to add up the hull price to FNSS, turrets and ATGM to Denel, electronics, BMS, engines etc etc. That all adds up to something, but not as cheap as the FNSS numbers people quote, and not as expensive as what DRB charged the government for the 1st batch. Probably somewhere in the middle.
@...
At least you're a level headed person I can discuss with.
Mig-29 - yes, it was a message statement but at what cost? It was yet another one of Mahathir's grandstanding showing-the-middle-finger approach to the West. Yes, it did make waves amongst the ASEAN powers for a while but it resulted in an arms race (F-15s for SG, Sukhois for Indon, F-16s for Thai). And yet, our Migs are the first to be retired due to platform not designed to last. We lost in this game of one upmanship.
AUGs - yes, decent weapon but wasn't what TDM wanted. And its a deadend development weapon. Australia needed to extensively modify the platform to continue usage in modern times (Picatinny rails all round). An AR-15 based would have a longer shelf life, not to mention the multitudes of enhancements from US private companies.
SU-30MKM - with all the Western avionics & system, its basically a Western plane in a Russki body but w/o the durability of a Western plane. So why not just buy a Western plane? Same goes with Pendekar.
LCS - apparently we didn't gold plated it enough since we went for the cheaper, and lousier VL Mica instead of the better and more expensive Aster. Such shortsightedness by the Najib administration.
Gempita - It was expensive but its because of the integration needed and I agree with you that it was quite a foresight by the movers of this project but since this is Najib's baby I shouldn't say too kindly about it or I'll be accused of being a trooper, so I will let the more senior readers here to comment.
Seems majority here understands defense issues.
I'd like to see all the Gempitas AV8s and LCS/ LMS delivered under Mat Sabu. We do NEED them.
I like to see we cut the crap and set a time-date for buying fighters and maritime patrol planes. Buy new JF17s Block 3, or buy ex Kuwaiti Hornets. Trainers? There're cheap 2nd hand refurbished Hawks out there. Tanks? Easy, PH govt is reviewing many mega projects.Buy the VT4 MBT then. It's new, still not far removed from the PT91s. Period. * I have this distaste for armed forces bluebloods that thrives only on Western equipment. And get YB Mat Sabu to turn the screw on those who line their own pockets while lobbying MinDef to buy new assets.
I have no love for the new administration but I think some pause and rethinking of our national defense strategy or rather, a lack of it would be beneficial. No doubt all of the PH's fiscally populist measures will mean no new toys for the Armed Forces in the near future so we need to ask ourselves why we need our Armed Forces. Who is our potential enemy? What can we realistically do against the enemy? Which branch should get priority? On 4chan, foreigners marvel at our mish mash of equipment bought for "strategic reasons", H&K fetishism, propensity for buying snowflake one-offs and just plain cronyism. Maybe the previous (and current) government were adverse to mark any countries as a future enemy *cough*China*cough due to the potential diplomatic fallout but that is the reality that should guide our defense spending.
I don't know about you guys, but everytime I look at the Maharaja Lela class, I consider it lesser armed and lesser capable than the Formidable class. I mean, why put a pea shooter 57mm on a main line surface combantant? Even if in RMN service the main purpose is AA, why not the 76mm?
The RMN should have got a proper frigate, say a vessel around 120- 136m long, with a 76 or 127 gun, but then again some people may say it's too big for RMN use.
- The Fulcrums were bought mainly because they were cheap and Russia accepted part payment in the form of commodities. A problem faced was the contract did not include a maintenance/support contract. That was negotiated separately and the whole deal later was a big surprise to us as we had no experience dealing with the Russian way of doing things. Another shock was discovering the Russians were unable to provide a full flight simulator for the reason that even they didn’t have one during that period.
- My complain with the AV8 was it’s price tag - caused largely by the costs to enable local production and various modifications. Even during the period when it was ordered, it was clear that wheeled AFVs were getting bigger and there was no getting around this if one wanted to meet certain mobility and protection standards.
- The AUG was bought because Styer was willing to allow local production. The army wanted the M16A2 but Colt wouldn’t allow local production. Despite years of production SME did zero upgrades or modifications to it. What SME did was try to sell it to a number of countries including one which became a “Axis of Evil” member. It was and is a decent weapon which shouldn’t have been replaced.
- The MKMs range is useful but we must take into account that for operations over the SCS it will probably be operating from Labuan. We got the Cobham pods - useful - to enable them to refuel other MKMs and so when performing strike missions; they can fly circuitous routes for tactical reasons. Indeed the MKM on paper was the most capable variant but given the lack of numbers, cash spent on integration and certification, was it worth it? Also, given that the variant was unique to us; neither the Russians or Indians could help us formulate a combatt doctrine/syllabus specific to that variant. All they could do was help us with a maintenance syllabus. Like other “mega” projects neither the MAF or taxpayer got their ringgit’s worth.
"AUGs? If not for the political fall out, it is a decent weapon"
i"ve had experience with those.i really don\'t like them,telescopic sight tend to fog up when used in the jungle.it's too heavy to lug around on long patrols,the plastic mag tend to not work properly and often become brittle when exposed to the element.the trigger pull gets harder after the first shot. i like the m16/m4s better.just my personal opinion though..