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• Naw it is ok, everything is cool. It doesn't matter if they have dozens of 2nd hand tracked SPH and will be adding ballistic missiles. We will continue to wait and wait and wait... for our golden spanking brand new wheeled SPH. Mean time we can always throw spitballs in their general direction if things hots up.

• I think Brahmos is a cruise missile, not a ballistic missile.

• Btw you don't counter a SBRM with another SBRM.

  Still since India is getting awfully chummy with Malaysia we should ask them for Brahmos Missile to be integrated to MKM as well as shore battery version of Brahmos. The focus should be on defending our water though Brahmos could be used for ground attack as well

• They seem really ambitious with Rafael F15 fremm iver frigate and many more.is it just Mou or confirmed deal?

• Alex - "Still since India is getting awfully chummy with Malaysia we should ask them for Brahmos Missile to be integrated to MKM as well as shore battery version of Brahmos"

  We have had a long history of defence cooperation with India; buying stuff and training people but we're not exactly "chummy" per see and one doesn't necessarily need to be "chummy" to buy things.

  On Brahmos I don't see the value at this stage when there are other far more pressing things to get. Also, we need MPAs, UASs and coastal radars to form the needed strike recce complex if we intend on exploiting Brahmos or any other missile to its full potential. No point having Brahmos if the target is beyond the range of its acquisition radar or if we are unable to detect, track and hit targets in time sensitive scenarios.

  Alex - "The focus should be on defending our water

  With adequate numbers of hulls, MPAs, UASs, fighters and radars; all fully networked.

  Nazem - "They seem really ambitious"

  Internal politics, prestige, worries about China; the need to modernise the TNI, etc. For those who remember; in the mid 1990's Indonesia publicly expressed an interest in Scuds.

• Brahmos SSM? RTA also acquired SRBM from China few year ago if I m not mistaken..

• Nazem - "They seem really ambitious"

  Deterrence is an art of convincing rival that the cost > benefit of war. The posture depend entirely on which part of society the target audience is. be it the opponent politicians,public or military or your own public.

  ID asset acquisition seems aims at the general public both public & abroad but the military aren't likely be swayed. They lacked a lot of basic stuff as Azlan mention to make those weapons effective in a kill chain.

  MAF meanwhile in my opinion, priorities the basic item for an effective kill chain just without the stockpile nor the weapons which put suggestions to the opponent that a 3rd party could be involved which dramatically change the cost benefit equation for them while scaring the public (by not prioritizing big item purchased) so they push the politicians to do take defense seriously.

• Rather than Brahmos I'd prefer if RMAF is getting Taurus cruise missile if the deal for FA-50 is materialized. For shore defence a better option is NSM so training and logistics can he simplified. If needed we could always add another battery of Astros with GPS-guided missiles.

  Besides even when we do have cash to spare for the army there are plenty of other, arguably better things to get than SBRM like transport helo, SPH, new tank to complement (and eventually replace) PT-91M, etcetera

  Indonesia is a concern and they do seems to implode with anti malaysian rhetorics for the prettiest of reasons but hopefully their military are more mature than their people. Good thing we don't exactly have any major land issue with them as well

• Zaft - "MAF meanwhile in my opinion, priorities the basic item for an effective kill chain just without the stockpile nor the weapons"

  Understand that most of what we buy is capability driven in line with our policy of having a level of deterrence to deal with threats we foresee. The reason we do what we do is driven not just by funding but policy and threat perceptions as well. Planners also do recognise the need for various enablers and as you've noticed - or not - various things have been done over the years with regards to acquiring certain enablers.

• Seems to me Mr Prabowo is desperate to meet the minimum essential force requirement before his term ended. Doesn’t seem to care about commonality or interoperability between the assets.The leaked paper showed Indonesia gov trying to get a USD125b loans but only managed to get 25b from UAE. If you look at what they were sourcing like F-15, FREMM, Scorpene,A400M, Rafale, Arrowhead 140, Iver Huidfeldt bl bla bla. I only see this kind of bulk purchase from oil rich country from middle east. I dont think it’s achievable even with the 125b loans. Without an effective contract i only see this a purely rhetorical to maintain public support.