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Its Over for the Leased Black Hawks

MILDEF HMLTV displayed at the ADAS 2024 exhibition in Manila. Philippine DND.

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.

A US Army Black Hawk helicopter landing at the Kota Belud airstrip on June 30. The helicopter is part of the US Army contingent taking part in Keris Strike 2024 exercise with the Malaysian Army and the Australian Army. Army

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.
Leonardo AW149 helicopter. Leonardo.

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.
Paratroopers jumping out from a RMAF AW139 during an exercise in late 2023. Army. Note that the helicopter is not fitted with jump seats as it is a leased commercial helicopter. RMAF picture.

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.
Mildef booth at DSA 2024. Already painted in UN colours is the HMLTV and the right is the Tarantula HMAV.

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.

Nurol Makina NMS 4X4 is likely to be a contender for the HMLTV programme. The NMS was displayed by Nadi Corporation/Badan Bas Sdn Bhd booth which won the contract to supply the Pantheras to the Malaysian UNIFIL contingent. Malaysian Defence picture.

Once in service with Malbatt in Lebanon, the HMTLV will replaced the non-armoured Cendana Auto FFR.

— Malaysian Defence

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Marhalim Abas: Shah Alam

View Comments (53)

  • 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

    • 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.

    • 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.

  • "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.

  • It will be a huge relief for the current Malbatt team coming back but a dread for the new team going there into a warzone and not allowed to shoot.

    Sad the army could not further whet their appetite for more Blackhawks.

  • Rock - "Mildef Rentaka will be choosen so it will be easier for Mildef to marketed Rentaka to the Philippine"

    What's the reasoning behind this? Will the fact that it's been ordered by the Malaysian army influence a Philippines decision to buy it?

  • It is long overdue for MALBATT to have proper armoured jeep, rather than a softskin jeep pretending to look like an armoued vehicle.

    Other than the Terrier LT-79, we could also look at the KIA KLTV, something already in use in Lebanon by South Korean UNIFIL team. That thing cost around USD150k each. Or ask KAI to sponsor some as offset for FA-50 (like what is done with the starstreak deal, getting free IAG Guardians for MALBATT)

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F3e0ZC9X0AEKhYw.jpg

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F3e5TxfbYAI_d3v.jpg

    https://www.seairlandshots.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/744df9f2-90b2-4a8c-ae0c-d423e8f960d4UNIFIL_Attivita-combined-ROKBATT-FCR-.jpg

    • You know they will not do it. As I said before for both the HMAV and HMLTV requirements, the JTLV was found to be the best solution.

  • >IAG Jaws

    You mean they were cheaper 10 years ago when steel and other raw material prices were lower, labor were cheaper and when MYR were stronger? Wew who knew

    >LT-79
    It's smaller and made of literal civilian-grade chassis with armored hull transplanted on like any other ladder frame chassis. It's probably more suitable if we're transforming into full armored expedition army but thing is, we're not.

    That said it if the army is looking for Cendana auto FFR replacement it think it's more than enough.

  • @ marhalim

    Well if they basically want an armoured version of the cendana auto FFR, the IAG JAWS, TAG Terrier LT-79 or KIA KLTV will be the one.

    But if they want JLTV, then we should go and ask for US DSCA FMS approval. They will easily get those JLTV for under the RM2.5 million each budget.

    BTW this is the latest US Army scout platoon concept. Should be a good fit to the current KAD Cavalry regiment missions, something like the ferrets used to do in the past.
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FsYxa64aMAE3qPL.jpg

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FsYxdrZaAAEp1Y6.jpg

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F3vOeIhbcAAkLGP.jpg

    • They won't be getting the JLTV as soon as the word got out that they preferred the JTLV, every tom, dick and harry out there went out of their way to get the rights for them to be the sole agent in MY. The company that got it sent out a press release saying that they will uplift the local defence industry as they will be building the JLTV locally. The release was pulled out as soon as it came out. Note that I heard about the Army preference for the JLTV thing after I saw the release. I was intrigued about it, asked around, and found out the reason the release came out.

      As such TD lost interest in JLTV as they were then forced them look at the Nimr Abjan. The NMS from Nurol Makina was also favourable to the HMLTV requirement. Now it seems the requirement has gone back to a locally manufactured vehicle.

  • "not allowed to shoot"

    The ROE enables them to open fire in self defence if they are directly threatened. The same ROE applies to UN troops everywhere.