Tuesday, February 8, 2011

An Open Letter To Mr Tony Pua

It seems that you have gone to town alleging that the Government announced RM6 billion budget to purchase six units of Second Generation Patrol Vessel aka Litoral Combatant Ship (LCS) is 870 percent over so-called similar purchases as touted in this Malaysiakini article.

To support your claims, you have tried to pull the wool over the Rakyat by giving the comparative purchase prices for these vessels as below, as I beg to differ :

a. Irish Roisin Class and New Zealand Protector Class Offshore Patrol Vessels.

Roisin Class OPV

Protector Class OPV

Firstly please pay close attention to the nomenclature of your referred ships. Both these ship classes originates from the Mauritian Vigilant Class OPV launched in 1995, with the Roisin class launched in 1999 and the Protector in 2006 but only accepted in 2010 by the New Zealand Navy as they did not meet their specifications.

On a base level, these ships are 80 meters and 86 meters gunboats respectively with no modular capabilities and can and will only be armed with one 76 mm main guns and supporting machine guns while the Kiwi ships only 25mm main gun, thus their function purely as patrol gunboats. Please keep this in mind. The cost of the Roisin is 20 million pounds in 2000 while the cost of the New Zealand Dollars 90 million per ship for the Protectors is not finalized as per the NZ Ministry of Defence own web posting. Thus the price may actually be more than stated.

b. Greek Super Vita Roussen Class

These vessels are classed as Fast Attack Craft as they are indeed only 62 meters long and fully laden 580 tons and the equivalent in the RMN fleet would be the Laksamana class. Nonetheless as they are well armed, they are also termed as small corvettes and in military terms should not be compared to a gunboat. Nonetheless as I will clarify later, this vessel can be a good comparison to the proposed SGPV project. Reuters reported in 2008 that the cost for additional two vessels cost the Hellenic Navy Euro 299 million while Janes reported the initial price for the first three units was Sterling Pound 200 million in 2000.

c. K130 Braunschweig Class Corvette, Germany

The K130 class is a 90 metre corvette that was delivered in 2010 for the last unit. It has a displacement of 1900 tons and is a well armed ship that would be comparable to our Kedah class once these are upgraded to its full modular FFNW capabilities, as they share the same MEKO geneology. Mind you that Jane’s announced the contract price in 2000 for the five K130 was DM1.9 or US$925 million equivalent at that time, and this contradicts the price of US$108 million each given by Mr Tony Pua In addition the development cost of this project was supposedly distributed amongst other shipbuilding projects like the F124 frigates being built by the same consortium at the same time.

d. Israeli SAAR V Corvettes and US Navy’s LCS.

SAAR V Corvette

Freedom Class LCS

These are 86 meter 1300 tons vessels with the last unit delivered in 1994 with the sticker price of USD260 million each. However what Mr Tony Pua neglected to highlight that a 2009 proposal by Northrop Grumman to supply an expanded version of Saar 5 corvettes was rejected as the cost would have been USD450 million each. The Israeli procurement also serves as a good guide for the export price of the USN LCS which Mr Tony Pua claims as being built at a cost of less than US300 million in 2004 but would have cost US darling Israel a whopping USD600 million after integration with Israeli systems while the ship itself would have cost USD480 million per vessel when the Israelis could only afford USD300 million each.

All the above facts I have reference to reputable defence sites like Jane’s and Naval Technology and well documented These ships are being offered as procurement price comparisons to the announced 102 meter long and 2300 tons SGPV/LCS. The problem I have with such simple comparisons are as follows :

a. These ships are smaller corvettes or gunboats as compared to the proposed fully armed and equipped SGPV/LCS. Even the comparable LCS from the United States cost more than the SGPV/LCS. Only on this factor alone can I beg to differ on Mr Tony Pua’s assessment.

b. The price given as comparison are either inaccurate as per the K130 figures or the vintage is at least a decade old without giving due consideration for inflation as demonstrated by the latest price proposal for the upgraded SAAR V.

c. In addition, it was not highlighted the vintage of the designs compared which are also based on a decade old design base. Even though the final design for the SGPV has not been announced yet, we can surely expect that this will be based on the latest technologies.

I am sure Mr Tony Pua and those hard core supporters will not accept the reasons given above to invalidate Mr Tony Pua’s claims, when even now they still believe we bought second hand submarines that cannot dive when all evidence points to the contrary. Nonetheless I hope those who read this can at least make your own judgement rationally and at the very least, make more investigation into the claims rather than accepting it at face value.

30 comments:

tin said...

Well said, bro!!!

Malcolm said...

Yes~ I was looking for evidence on internet to rebuke that dude's claim on the newspaper.

Journalism nowadays should go down the drain along with false reports and exaggerated facts.
"Trust no one, find out the truth yourself." That's what my lecturer told me.

Malcolm said...

btw pls allow me to copy this post into my blog. will modify a bit though.~

mumuchi said...

Please feel free to copy under fair use policy. Kindly highlight changes if any.

Kilroy said...

Mumuchi,

Well said, bro! Refer to Malaysiakini news they no nothing come to defense news.

Anonymous said...

ada somebody ambil nih dan tampal kat CI cari....anya did mention you as a away of acknowledging...just thought you should know.....

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing. It is always welcoming to hear as many different sides of arguments as possible. Can you also do a same piece about the armoured personnel vehicle that cost RM8 billion. I hate it when politicians highlight issues for political gains while risking our men in uniform.

mumuchi said...

already posted my piece on the AV8. Please search for AV8 using the search function at the top left of the page thanks!

Feel free to repost. Let there be light!

Anonymous said...

Huuh..
OVP (Over Price Vessel)..

mumuchi said...

No guts to stand by your comment with a name. Anyway its no longer an OVP, its a SGPV (So Good Priced Vessel) or LCS (Lowest Cost Ship) if you want to play with words.

Ismail aka Pak Mail said...

I do not know much of this issue related to RM or USD. But, anyway you have given the facts that many of us does not know.

Api said...

Way to go mumuchi! This helps me a lot!

Anonymous said...

with all the speculation about the design will it be Meko upgrade or Gowind . my view it will likely a combine Meko modular system hull modified to near Gowind or higher costumed spec by Malaysian Navy Ala Su-30MKM

mumuchi said...

When you have the knowledge, share! That's what my father taught me Api! Don't worry Dzirhan and the other real experts are also repudiating all the untruths. I am just contributing a very small information portion that those who have the littlest curiosity can dig up on their own if they want to.

The bad thing is the government should be repudiating the allegations. Not plain civilians.

mumuchi said...

Official line if I remember correctly on the design is that the design will be validated by DCNS on a BNS proposal. What will that be, I am patient enough to wait for its unveiling, maybe in LIMA'11.

mumuchi said...

Thanks Pak Mail. Kalau kita terbuka hati mencari kebenaran, Insya Allah ia akan sampai. Saya selalu berdoa agar kita semua jangan gelap hati, tak kisah haluan manapun.

Bertanya kalau tak tau, kaji bila diberitau, buat keputusan secara berilmu. Wallahualam!

Api said...

FYI, YB Zahid will be rebutting shortly. Dia bagi CN re-but dulu.

Zul said...

Now I understand....Thanks..kalau tidak org 2 yg kurang ilmu mcm saya ni mau nak termakan hasutan org 2 mcm tony tuh...

mumuchi said...

Tks Api. Keep up the good work!

Api said...

Tony Pua buat press conference today. His point I heard was nobody confirm what the SGPV will look like or how it would perform. So, he tembak in general la! Now he is demanding that the details of the design be revealed so that the rakyat can assess whether the price quoted is fair or not! Aku nak termuntah dengor spin dia ni!

M. Faisal said...

I dont't know what will happen if PR become government. Maybe they sold all the MAF's asset.

Anonymous said...

Salam,
Kita mesti bersikap terbuka terhadap sebarang kritikan, cuba lihat apa yg negara maju buat. Cth, sebarang pembelian/pembuatan alat senjata yg akan dibeli oleh tentera Amerika dibahas/ dibentangkan di dalam kongres. Sekiranya tidak memuaskan atau terlebih bajet, ia akan dibatalkan.

Tetapi berbeza dgn negara kita spt taraf dunia ketiga sebab itu kita ketinggalan berbanding Taiwan, Korea Selatan & Singapura dari segi kemajuan ekonomi dan ketenteraan. Negara mereka kaya ekonomi, kita kaya dgn korup.Buktinya projek NGPV dulu hampir dibatal spt dicadangkan oleh PAC? Siapa yg terlibat dlm penyelewengan adakah kena dakwa di makamah? Mana pergi boss PSCD? Dah kaya lepak kat Dubai!!!

Kat dunia ni kau org bolehlah kelentong dan bodohkan org lain. Mati nanti tunggulah balasannya.Insaflah jgn sokong puak munafik ni lagi. Matilah kamu dlm Islam sebenarnya.
Wassalam

mumuchi said...

Salam kembali. Jadi siapakah golongan munafik atau anda menuduh semua yang terlibat dalam projek ini munafik. Bukankah itu satu fitnah dan memfitnah itu sifat seorang munafik. Janganlah kamu terasa terlalu yakin anda tergolong dalam golongan Islam sejati kerana kamu mungkin terleka dan tuduh menuduh itu mungkin menyesatkan anda sebenarnya dan itu adalah kezaliman yang amat besar. Wallahualam.

apaajanews said...

adakah ini semua agenda untuk menghalang ATM dari memodenkan sistem pertahanan negara - atas nama
'ketirisan wang rakyat', sebab isu seperti ini dah banyak kali ditentang

Api said...

Singapore ada bahas dulu ke sebelum buat La Fayette frigate tu? Taiwan ada bincang dulu ke sebelum beli submarine?

Pandai2 je cakap tapi tak de fakta. LCS USA tu pun dah berlebih bajet gila babi pun jalan jugak apasal? Sebab keperluan dah ditentukan dari awal lagi oleh US military. Sama dengan PV ni. Keperluan dah ditentukan dari tahun 1990'an lagi. Semua dah tahu tapi masih nak bising apasal?

Ramai org nak cari publisiti free sekarang. Kononnya dah enlighthened! Porah!

bumibersih said...

Sdr anonymous...

Mudah sangat menghukum org munafik. Camni ke ajaran tok guru?

Kalau sebut ciri2 munafik (cakap berlapik) boleh tahan juga.

Apakah sdr merasakan reasoning sdr tu sama dgn reasoning Tuhan? Hebat sdr sudah dapat ilmu rasa!.... ataupun tertipu dgn ilmu yg sedikit!

bumibersih said...

Wah ada org dah sampai level kasyaf, level Sahabat Nabi.

Dia buleh tahu siapa munafik & siapa bukan.

Setahu saya, kita buleh nampak ciri2 munafik aje, bukan sampai boleh determine dia tu munafik betul atau dak.

Apakah ini yg dikatakan pejuang Islam? Sigh....

shahpaskal said...

Rakyat ini kadang2 tidak faham. Isu penyelewengan dan mengapa kadang2 mereka terlepas semuanya ada kaitan dengan akta syarikat, selok belok bisnes dan mcm mcm. Yang seleweng bukan sebenarnya bukanlah seleweng tetapi kegagalan mematuhi janji, kerajaan Malaysia kena hati2...semua tuduhan penyelewengan menteri yang kena pikul, tapi ramai yang terlepas pandang, perihal kakitangan kerajaan yang tidak jujur dalam memikul amanah mereka, mereka ini dalam tentera masih ramai dan menteri pula ramai backgroundnya orang awam. Sebenarnya penyelewengan wujud di mana-mana hatta di negara maju pun, cuma kalau menuduh tanpa bukti, lebih mudah dari mencari kebenaran

Anonymous said...

Please read this

http://www.globalsecutiry.org/military/world/destroyers.htm

According to Sec. Robert gates, only five designs are worth looking at.

MOHAMED said...

Well what more can I say?Above comrades of mine already replied to this Puah cheap political mileage.One thing that is equally explained it all is that in Malaysia we do things with diplomatic approach,hence the name SGPV when it is instead a full fledge Frigate.Well this Puah thought he's known a world of knowledge about defence just by surfing internet, well I have news for him, there's sooooo many things about security you cannot publish in open media bro! Stop your partisan politics and be a true Malaysian,think we don't know what you're after?