SHAH ALAM: IT appears that long running saga of the four Black Hawks to be leased from Aerotree Defence & Services Sdn Bhd is finally over. Defence Minister DS Khaled Nordin today when asked about the contract stated that that the termination letter had been issued to the company. He did not say when the letter was issued though.
Asked about the Blackhawk leasing, Khaled said ” Well the deadline was October. It is now..”. Asked further, he added that the termination letter has been issued to the company.
Khaled was speaking to media after attending the farewell ceremony for the first batch of Malaysian peacekeepers leaving for Lebanon for the Unifil mission at the Subang airbase, here. The first batch of 220 officers and men of Malbatt 850-12 was scheduled to leave for Beirut later tonight. The other three batches will leave within this week as their predecessors in Lebanon returned home.
Malaysian Defence was the first the highlight the headwinds over the leased Black Hawks. The leasing contract for the four Black Hawks was publicly announced at LIMA 2023. If it was left to the Army the contract would have been terminated last year but the ministry had slow walked the termination, allowing for several extensions, before the October final deadline.
With the confirmation that the Black Hawks contract has been terminated, it is likely that the ministry and the Army will move forward with the leasing of four Leonardo AW149 helicopters. When the contract is to be signed is beyond me. But it is likely it will be featured at the the Lima 2025 contract day.
Asked on the High Mobility Light Tactical Vehicle (HMLTV) Khaled said the tender for them is expected to be floated next year. He initially said that the government was not buying new assets for Malbatt.
From the story at DSA 2024.
The HMLTV is also an armoured 4X4 vehicle but meant for the Malaysian UNIFIL contingent. The budget for the 80 HMLTV is RM200 million The vehicle will be lighter and more nimble as per the UN specifications as they will be used in urban terrain. It will be used for utility and communication missions unlike the 20 Pantheras recently shipped to Lebanon.
Once in service with Malbatt in Lebanon, the HMTLV will replaced the non-armoured Cendana Auto FFR.
— Malaysian Defence
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200 mil for 80 HMLTV sounds about right. Just hoping they could be brought back instead of being dismantled and sold as scraps that only benefits Lebanese scrapmonger
btw any idea about a couple of blackhawks flying in KK recently?
Its the US Army ones for Keris Strike exercise, the second picture in the post is one of them. They were based in KK airport for the duration of the exercise, where the old terminal is located. I have used the picture already a few times here. Also, there were Chinooks as well.
Its too expensive to bring them back home, especially after being there for three decades or so. The vehicles also need to be tropicalised as Lebanon is a four-season country.
“200 mil for 80 HMLTV sounds about right”
IAG JAWS cost RM2 million sold to PDRM.
https://www.malaysiandefence.com/home-ministry-and-assets/
But a more advanced APC also based on the land cruiser 79, like the TAG Terrier LT-79 costs just USD144K each including airfreight. Lets say with support + markup 100% RM1.3 million each. So 80 LT-79 costs RM104 million, far less than the RM200 million budget.
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/DteLdC5WoAEzSpc.jpg
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/ELfqI2zUUAI67xZ.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GbsbkmRa8AAHKki.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gbsbgy8b0AABIso.jpg
For HMAV it is confirmed 136 Mildef Tarantula will be bought. For HMLTV I hope Mildef Rentaka will be choosen so it will be easier for Mildef to marketed Rentaka to the Philippine.