A Secure Malaysia - Malaysia Militarium

Who Says There Is No Transparency

2012-01-20T11:54:00.002+08:00

With the Parliamentary briefing by the Ministry Of Defence Chiefs to the BNBBC and PR MPs on the purchase of the Littoral Combat Ship purchase price and other allegations, I really hope that all the spin on such defence purchases will stop or it really shows you politikuses are just making political capital without any sincerity.

The Star Online > Nation
Friday January 20, 2012

Clearer picture of defence buy

By FLORENCE A. SAMY
florenceasamy@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: The Defence Ministry has explained the supposed RM3bil increase for the purchase of six navy patrol vessels in an unprecedented meeting with Pakatan Rakyat MPs.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said they were also open to the setting up of a Parliamentary Oversight Committee on its procurement as suggested by the Opposition, but would leave it to the House to decide.

This was also agreed in principle by representatives from the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC), who also attended the more than two-hour meeting held at the ministry here yesterday.

Dr Zahid, accompanied by the navy, army and air force chiefs, explained to the MPs that the procurement price of the vessels was not increased from RM6bil to RM9bil as alleged, but was actually spread across the 10th Malaysia Plan (RM6bil) and the 11th Malaysia Plan (RM3bil).

The vessels are known as Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).

“The main purpose of the discussion was to address the misinterpretation and misperception.

“We were transparent in our explanation. There is no cover-up. We invited the BNBBC as they deserved to know as well,” Dr Zahid said after the meeting on defence-related issues at his ministry.

Pakatan's delegation was headed by DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, who has been vocal about allegations involving certain defence procurements.

The meeting is a follow-up to Dr Zahid's invitation for Pakatan MPs to personally visit his ministry to get an actual view of current issues that have been raised including the LCS purchase and allegations and weaknesses in the purchase of submarines and aircraft.

Pua, who pointed out that the RM6bil was previously stated as the ceiling price for the purchase of the six LCS, said they had the right as MPs to clarify and ask questions to ensure procurements were made according to needs and were value for money.
“We welcome today's discussion and hope the ministry will continue to be transparent and that the Oversight Committee can be set up soon to address matters that are unclear,” he said.

Useful What?

2011-12-18T11:30:00.003+08:00

For those wondering why we need the submarines, or for that matter other armaments during PEACE TIME, well here is one for the submarines are good for.

Submarines Help Complete Malaysia's Hydrographic Charts

December 08, 2011 22:30 PM

LANGKAWI, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- The addition of two Scorpene submarines in the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) assisted in the completion of hydrographic and nautical charts of the country's coasts, said RMN chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar.

"Our hydrographic chart is already at 100 per cent and this success can also be attributed to the Malaysian Marine Department and National Hydrographic Centre in Pulau Indah, Selangor.

"The process could be expedited and completed as the submarines were equipped with a sophisticated sonar system, among others," he told reporters at the Awana Porto Malai jetty during the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2011 (LIMA '11) here Thursday.

Abdul Aziz said the RMN also planned to have a fleet of six submarines.

LIMA's air display segment is held at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre while the maritime segment is at the Awana Porto Malai.

The five-day exhibition ends on Saturday.

-- BERNAMA

Well if you do not think this is important, ask the fisherman and the sailors who brings the majority of stuff you use in your household what they think?

A Good Day For The Malaysian Military

2011-12-16T20:49:00.003+08:00

Today is a good day for the Malaysian Military.

For the Royal Malaysian Navy, the contract for the LCS is signed but only currently appears in the Malay version of Bernama.

16 Disember, 2011 19:24 PM

Unit Boustead Dapat Kontrak Mindef Bernilai RM9 Bilion

KUALA LUMPUR, 16 Dis (Bernama) -- Unit kepada Boustead Holdings Bhd, Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd telah diberikan kontrak bernilai RM9 bilion oleh Kementerian Pertahanan.

Kontrak itu ialah untuk penghantaran enam unit generasi kedua "Patrol Vessels Littoral Combat Ships" (Frigate Class) kepada kementerian, kata syarikat dalam kenyataan kepada Bursa Malaysia Jumaat.

Niaga janji itu meliputi reka bentuk, pembinaan, peralatan, pemasangan, pelaksanaan, integrasi dan pengujian ke atas keenam-enam kapal itu, katanya.

"Kontrak itu bernilai RM9 bilion, akan dilaksanakan dalam tempoh tiga Rancangan Malaysia, 10, 11 dan 12," katanya.

Penghantaran pertama dijangka pada 2017 dan disusuli oleh yang lain setiap enam bulan selepasnya.

-- BERNAMA

Only I wonder why they chose not to sign it during the recent LIMA.

Second the bravery of the RMAF own special forces is recognised as per below :

December 16, 2011 19:46 PM

Operasi Fajar RMAF Sergeant Recognised For Valour

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 (Bernama) -- A Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) personnel who was involved in Operasi Fajar to free a Malaysian ship from Somali pirates early this year, has been recognised for valour.

RMAF's Special Air Service (PASKAU) member Air Force Sergeant Mohamad Lockman Abdul Jabar, 32, was among three RMAF personnel who were conferred valour awards (Airman of the Year 2011) from RMAF chief Gen Tan Sri Rodzali Daud in Subang near here Friday.

He received the award in the sergeant's category.

"The award is given based on evaluation of an individual for integrity, bravery, excellence, friendship and prioritising services," Mohamad Lockman, who is from Kluang, Johor, told reporters.

In the 11.40pm incident on Jan 20, seven Somalian pirates armed with AK-47s and pistols attacked and captured the MT Bunga Laurel in the Gulf of Aden about 333 nautical miles (555km) east of Oman.

Nevertheless, the fast action of RMAF's PASKAU (air commandos) succeeded in rescuing the merchant ship and its 23 crew.

In his speech, Rodzali said the presentation of the awards should act as a catalyst to all RMAF personnel to improve their performance and contribute towards the human capital development of their teams.

The other two recipients of the awards were Air Force Warrant Officer 1 Azmi Bakar (Warrant Officer category) and Air Force Corporal Norafiszal Sabran (corporal category).

-- BERNAMA

Good Job!

What's The Story Mory Now?

2011-12-13T14:41:00.005+08:00

I had read with concern the news report below on the status of the Royal Malaysian Navy LCS programme and till the end of LIMA 2011 there was no concrete information on its status by any party.

Combat ship deal held up
Posted on 7 December 2011 - 05:30am
Last updated on 7 December 2011 - 02:17pm
Marhalim Abas
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

LANGKAWI (Dec 7, 2011): The Gowind frigate, designed by French company DCNS, has been selected for the Royal Malaysian Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) programme.

However, the contract for building the six ships remains on hold due to disagreements between the builder, Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS), and the end user RMN, according to people familiar with the programme.

One of the key sticking points is BNS and DCNS’s insistence that the ships adopt the SETIS combat management system (CMS) designed by the French company.

RMN instead wants another system developed by Thales, the Tacticos, being integrated into one of its vessels, KD Kasturi.

The navy had hoped to reduce the number of CMS in its fleet to reduce training and support issues. RMN chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar told theSun yesterday that the government had chosen the Gowind design for the LCS programme.

He declined to confirm or deny speculation that the contract would only be signed when the RMN was satisfied that its requirements were met. He, however, confirmed most of the specifications for the ship had been finalised.

BNS managing director Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor, however, denied the delay was due to disagreement with the end user.

“It is up to the government. We are ready to go forward,” said Ahmad Ramli, a former RMN chief.

Despite the delay, BNS is displaying a model of the Gowind frigate at the Langkawi International Maritime Aerospace exhibition here. The frigate is 107m-long with a displacement of 2,750 tonnes.

It will be armed with a 57mm gun, surface-to-air missiles and torpedoes. With four diesel engines, the ship will have a top speed of 29 knots. theSun had reported on Tuesday that the widely speculated deal for six LCS would be delayed until next year.

A report published in the Janes Defence Weekly stated that the Malaysian government was likely to postpone defence procurement in view of the general election, which could be held early next year.

The LCS contract has been in news since February after Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that the government had awarded BNS a RM6 billion contract to build six LCS or Second Generation Patrols Vessels for the RMN.

The announcement caused an uproar as critics claimed the price of the ships were inflated.

I would rather the story wither rather than the project as the only indicator things are moving along is the display of a supposed model of the LCS based on the French Gowind class below courtesy of forumer marc_zman of mymil. However whether this is the definitive model or otherwise, your guess is as good as mine.

There Is Just No Satisfying Some People

2011-12-12T10:26:00.008+08:00

Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng and his entourage climbing aboard the KD ‘Tun Razak’ for a dive session about 40 nautical miles from the Awana Porto Malai jetty in Langkawi.

It is now a matter of record that the three opposition leaders that heads the current Penang State Government has taken a dive in one of the Royal Malaysian Navy Scorpene Submarine during the recent LIMA.

But Politicians being politicians, it can be expected that the event would still be spinned away as per the Chief Minister's blog posting below.

Guan Eng slams Zahid: Don't try to cover up Scorpenes high cost and commission

He can rant all he wants but to this I wanna ask, where does he get off in comparing a submarine purchase with a car purchase ;

After all if one buys a new car, and there is a defect, you take it back to the showroom and ask for a new one. However Zahid refused my suggestion and challenged me to take a dive with the submarine.

Please show of any case in the world where a country with a defective submarine can get a replacement, maybe he is referring to Australia but then he has been mis-informedla as they also cannot get a replacement hahahaha!

At least this time he praises our serviceman including the submariners, but please do not forget your praises of them the next time you want to heap scorn on our military purchases and operationality.

Edited : In case anybody wants proof of the dive itself, the photo sequence is right here at Mymil forum courtesy of forumer Standupper.

First Shots Of Training Ship

2011-12-08T19:55:00.003+08:00

Here are some of the first shots of the RMN new training ships expected to be commissioned in 2013. The rest of the pictures can be seem here. Credits to Standupper of mymil forum.

Well If You Can't Make It

2011-12-05T21:31:00.003+08:00

Well well the RMN finally did something different, they made a photo gallery of the first day of LIMA 2011, so if you cannot be there like me, at least these photos can be a consolation.

Galeri - LIMA '11 - 5 DISEMBER 2011

No New Idea Ma?

2011-12-05T10:25:00.004+08:00

Again so called experts are asking questions about the Navy's submarine purchase in order to bring it into disrepute.

This is in a dated article from another supposedly naval procurement expert which I initially do not want to comment about; Our Third Submarine Stirs Up Muddy Waters, but if an Old Salt commented with rational reasons in response is something that I should highlight here.

Masih Isu Kapal Selam

While I am it might as well post here some comebacks by my erstwhile forum colleague Mr. Alphawolf, the owner of Firebase Alpha-Kyron blog, made in Mymil forum :

So, selain flogging a dead horse (takleh menyelam etc) ada lagi benda cuba diisukan...

Tapi aku suka part ni
- Agosta class JV DCNS dengan 'Agosta'....tahun 70an mana ada JV sangat...dah la tu tak wujud shipyard nama Agosta. Spanish punya Agosta cumalah licence-built

Analogi Ouessant dengan Proton Saga
- Hah, even belajar memandu pun pakai Kancil lama (zaman aku dulu pakai Nissan 120Y lagi!). Pasal rega tu wa tak pasti, tapi kalau tak salah wa France bagi free? Dan analogi muzium = reban ayam. Aku tak tau la, ada ke orang bukak reban ayam untuk lawatan?

Agosta jadi sweetener = analogi aku ...kalau kita beli BMW 320i, lepas tu ada faults, instead of repairing FOC, we get an older model of a Beemer to appease us...

Beli senjata...as if kalau beli Scorpene fully armed harga sama dengan 'kosong'. Dah la tu, weapons contractor asing dari shipyard...

'envy sebab ada 3 exhibit'? Setakat 3 sub aje sape nak envy...kat US ada 2-3 biji carrier, 2-3 biji battleship, berbiji2 smaller combatants.....

Anyone for dead horse meat? But not in the form of a submarine museum piece la.

By the way, this was never our so-called third submarine, only an ex-French Navy submarine re-activated by a third party to be used as a training submarine for Malaysian Submariners that was deactivated again and finally donated to us as a museum piece. And even if it is donated, we still have to sign a transfer of ownershipla, why you think that this means we purchased it. Do your research properlyla, again I remind you.

What Shall We Name This Museum Piece?

2011-10-26T11:12:00.003+08:00

Earlier this month the Ex-Quessant Submarine was loaded on board her transport ship and is due to arrive in November 2011. Since she has never been officially inducted into the Malaysian Navy yet she is to be displayed as a museum piece in Malacca, I was wondering if we should rename her when we put her on display. What do you all think? In the meantime, enjoy photographs of her being transported and also her final destination being prepared courtesy of Standupper @ mymil

Don't Miss Your Chance

2011-10-09T09:34:00.006+08:00

I finally had the chance to see the above exhibition in our National Museum and I must say that it is worth the entrance fee. It is not everyday we can see model kits and dioramas depicting events related to Malaysian development from before and after Merdeka, and both civil dan military showcases has done a brilliant job of it.

Though it is officially to end on the 14th October, I believe the exhibition will be extended to the end of the month. So do not miss the opportunity to visit as this is not only about the model displays, but the show case of how Malaysia arrived at where we are. Let the family especially the kits enjoy history in a very unique way, they will love it. I leave you with a selection of photos that I had taken at the showcase, but please go there to enjoy it personally. More photos can be seen at mymil forum.

Ops Pasir Demo Video

2011-08-19T09:39:00.002+08:00

Video on recent demonstration for Ops Pasir, to keep Sabah safe.

Bunga Mas 6 Commissioning Video

2011-08-15T10:54:00.002+08:00

Here is the video of the commissioning .

Kredit Standupper@mymil forum

As A Matter Of Record

2011-08-09T10:36:00.002+08:00

Credit : Standupper @ mymil

Finally the Navy's second Auxilliary Vessel Bunga Mas 6 (BM6) was officially launched yesterday.

Read all about her here. I wish the ship crew good hunting and godspeed in your duties. Nonetheless, I would like to highlight that there will now be two naval helicopters that will operate outside the nation's maritime boundaries. Maybe it is now time for the Navy to get more aviation units for their operations, don't you think?

Taming Sari Exercise Video

2011-07-30T14:08:00.002+08:00

Courtesy of Standupper from Mymil forum.

So CanThese Be Displayed In The RMAF Museum?

2011-07-28T10:40:00.005+08:00

A Malaysian military modeler forumer is letting go of his RMAF 1/48 scale aircraft collection as a set. These things rarely go to the market in museum quality state. I wonder if some wealthy scion of society can buy up the set and donate it to an appropriate museum as a showcase of our Armed Forces history.

Some sample photos :

Now That's A Thing Of Beauty

2011-07-28T10:04:00.002+08:00

Another MM40 hits the target.

You can see the shot by shot sequence here.

Our Submarine Can't Sink!

2011-07-28T09:43:00.002+08:00

Baca betul-betul or read properly. Our submarine flotilla once again proved their operational status when KD Tun Razak dove to her maximum depth with the Navy's Captain in Chief, The Sultan of Selangor on board. The Captain in Chief also took part in a naval tradition of tasting the seawater of that depth.

Photos originally posted by Standupper at Mymil.

This proves that allegations that our submarines cannot dive are pure lies and hogwash. Continuing a theme in the cyberworld, if you still cannot believe this fact, why don't you politicians in Selangor ask your Sultan about it?

The Police Has Acted In Good Faith, So Will You?

2011-07-22T10:42:00.004+08:00

All is revealed, the PDRM has answered the allegations made against them and showed one to be an outright lie.

Cops give their side of events; video clips on Bersih rally shown

So will you accept the facts or still live in your own dream world.

Full disclosure videos can be seen here.

Video Perhimpunan Haram 9 Julai Part 1

Video Perhimpunan Haram 9 Julai Part 2

Video Perhimpunan Haram 9 Julai Part 3

Video Perhimpunan Haram 9 Julai Part 4

Muscle Flexing

2011-07-17T21:04:00.004+08:00

Well sometimes we have to show what we have right, especially to disprove claims that our assets cannot perform.

Read the official Royal Malaysian Navy report here while the Jane's report can be read here.

Best Photo of 9 July 2011

2011-07-10T17:57:00.002+08:00

Bersih supporters shaking hands with policemen after the rally in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur yesterday. - 10 July, 2011

Remember when all is said and done, we are all Malaysians and do not let adversity drive a deep wedge between us.

Here's Hoping!

2011-07-08T21:22:00.003+08:00

Here's hoping that 09/07/2011 will not be a significant date in Malaysian history and our Armed Forces will not be forced into this.

You may think you want to try their resolve, but my advice is don't! You will regret it as the nation is behind them despite what you may think.

Check Mate, Mate!

2011-07-06T10:13:00.003+08:00

It is good that the proposed street rallies has been cancelled, otherwise we could have seen these men in real action.

It is good to know that the men in camouflage has got their brothers in blue back as it seems that there are subversives who had prepared to take the street rallies to a more violent course. It is good reminder that the threats to the nation are both within and without.

Orderly inventory: DCP Tun Hisan (left) looking at the Molotov cocktails, parang and Bersih 2.0 T-shirts in Shah Alam Tuesday.

Sempang To Sendayan

2011-05-28T20:39:00.003+08:00

Its now confirmed but will await a further press conference for more details, but the Prime Minister has just announced the location of the new Air Force Base to replace The Sempang Sungei Besi Air Base as previously mentioned before.

The Star Online > Nation
Published: Saturday May 28, 2011 MYT 12:41:00 PM
Updated: Saturday May 28, 2011 MYT 2:19:41 PM
PM: New air force base in Sendayan to replace Sg Besi base

By SARBAN SINGH

GEMAS: A new air force base will be built in Sendayan in Negri Sembilan, to replace the Sg Besi base in Kuala Lumpur.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the details of the project would be announced soon.

He was speaking to reporters after launching the community rehabilitation centre here on Saturday.

Sendayan is 12km from Seremban.

In June, last year, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed that the air base would be closed to make way for the “Greater KL” development project as laid out in the 10th Malaysia Plan.

However, the high cost of a relocation, estimated to cost several hundred millions of ringgit, if not more, has been a major sticking point.

Apart from Royal Malaysian Air Force and the police air wing, the air unit of the Fire and Rescue Deparment (Bomba) also operates from the airport, as well as the Royal Selangor Flying Club with its fleet of three Cessna aircraft and a Robinson R44 Raven helicopter.

The Aerospace Medical Institute and the RMAF museum are also located there.

The Sungai Besi Airport is the country's first international airport.

The 162-hectare airport, also known as Simpang, served as the main air link from 1952 to 1965, before Subang Airport was opened.

Sungai Besi Airport was originally used as an airstrip in the 1930s but was turned into an airport after World War 2.

Perkasa FPB With Missile

2011-05-22T20:07:00.005+08:00

A reader had asked me if there are pictures of the Perkasa class with missiles. To meet his request, I upload these photos including one showing the wire-guided SS12 missile being fired.

Say Hi To The Missile Box

It Seems the Navy experimented with the configuration, mixed with torpedoes as above, AND

fully loaded as above

and above a rare photo of the missile being fired.

So I hope the photos will shed some light on this matter.

Sempang Air Base To Be A Thing Of The Past

2011-05-09T20:01:00.002+08:00

Sempang? Where's that you may ask? As I understand it this was the old name for the Sungei Besi Air Base and the base itself may follow the name into the pits of forgotten history if this article is any indication. After a slow start, it seems that by the end of the year the Air Base will no longer be around. Read it here.

The only mystery to me is that why the base will not be replaced or relocated elsewhere and how they will ensure 'strategic' assets can be maintained in such a developed area.

He revealed that 1MDB would not have to rebuild a new air base for the RMAF but “we are committed to helping them maintain national security requirements”.

“Air force functionality needs to be there, for example, the national radar system. It is too sensitive for me to say how but the principle we are following is that none of the functions will be removed,” he added.

Do You Mean Milgem Is The Frontrunner?

2011-05-07T22:59:00.004+08:00

I don't know if the Defence Minister is confused or what but based on the extract of the interview below, it seems the Turkish Milgem is the front runner for the SGPV project although I doubt FNSS Savunma who is the hull producer for the AV8 is also the agent/producer for SGPV hull. Nonetheless the interview is quite enlightening, especially on the Malaysian Armed Forces procurement process. To read the full interview, read it here.

What you are saying is that there can be no corruption in purchases because of the seven stages of vetting?

Previously, Malaysia purchased the assets and equipment from abroad – no such thing as a local defence industry. Datuk Seri Najib Razak when he was defence minister set up the National Defence Industry Council. When I took over, I expanded it into the National Defence, Security and Enforcement Industry Council – meaning the policing and enforcement units (are included). So it consists of elements such as an offset programme; transfer of technology; transfer of intellectual property rights (IPR); right to expand the industry; and the right to sell the assets and equipment – meaning we are not only the end user, but we are also getting many other benefits from conditions imposed for the purchasing of products.

For instance, when we work with FNSS Savunma Sistemeleri A.S, Turkey, a military vehicle producer in Turkey, the hull of the ships are designed by them based on our input – the end user. But we specify that the materials would be imported by us, by Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS). The fabrication has to be done locally, but if they were to supervise the fixing of the equipment inside (system integration) – the equipment we, the end user, decide, then we appoint 600 over vendors to come up with their specifications according to our needs. Maybe for one piece of equipment, we give the vendors 10 or 20 different tenders, we choose the right price and duration of delivery, then we integrate the system. So with that kind of system integration, we also get transfer of technology and knowledge.

Even on the IPR, Turkey is sincere. We have previously produced first generation petrol vessels (PVs) with BNS. Now we are talking about second generation PVs – which is literally combatant ships, meaning warships.

Submarine Pen Project Only Now Taking Off?

2011-05-06T10:31:00.002+08:00

I have thought previously that prior to our PM Class submarine arrivals, the berthing or submarine pens for them like the above photo had already been built. But thanks to Dzirhan Mahathir's highlighting of the article below in his FB page, it seems only now the project is taking off with the award of a sub-contract to Tran Resources Corporation. Well at least Boustead can say they are sharing out the contract goodies with other Malaysian companies.

May 03, 2011 19:06 PM

TRC Secures RM45 Million Contract From Bousted Penang Shipyard

KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 (Bernama) -- TRC Synergy Bhd's wholly-owned construction arm, Trans Resources Corporation Sdn Bhd, has secured a contract from Boustead Penang Shipyard Sdn Bhd worth RM45 million for a 27-month period.

In a statement Tuesday, the company said the contract is for the design, construction, outfitting, integration, testing and commissioning of submarine safety conditioning facilities, submarine hangar and workshop facilities in relation to the Royal Malaysian Navy contract for the in-service support for two units Scorpene class submarines at Sepangar Bay, Sabah.

Its executive chairman Datuk Seri Sufri Mohd Zin said:"This RM45 million contract follows the previous main contract, which was completed in 2009. I am delighted that our client maintains the confidence in our capability and expertise."

TRC specialises in building and infrastructure construction and turnkey design and building contracts.

-- BERNAMA

Osama May Be Dead...

2011-05-02T20:54:00.002+08:00

Osama may be dead so good luck to the US in finding a new bogeyman. Nonetheless like when 911 happened it would be us poor citizens that will face heightened security hysteria, wonder why people want to make us a target in the first place.

Published: Monday May 2, 2011 MYT 5:13:00 PM
Death of Osama: Police to boost security in various spots

KUALA LUMPUR: Police will step up security in various important locations in the country following the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a pre-dawn operation in Pakistan on Monday.

Federal police assistant director of management (Public Relations) ACP Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said this was to ensure residents of Malaysia could live freely without worries of threats from any quarters.

"Police have also heightened security measures in sensitive areas...if an area needs more security, it will be done," he told Bernama when contacted here Monday.

He said this when asked to comment on a report that the United States government had put all its embassies on alert following Osama's death.

US President Barack Obama announced Sunday (it was still Sunday in the US when the raid took place) that Osama bin Laden was killed in a firefight with US-led forces at a hideout outside Islamabad earlier Sunday and that his body was in US custody. - Bernama

Confirmed! Read On Lah!

2011-04-22T11:34:00.003+08:00

As previously stated in my post on the Royal Malaysian Navy obtaining a second auxiliary ship for escort duties in the Gulf of Aden, today it has been confirmed by the newspaper article above and below. An interesting fact is that will allow the Navy circular escort from and to the area from home.

The Star Online > Nation

Friday April 22, 2011

Sub to arrive in August

KUALA LUMPUR: The Agosta submarine, which had been used to train Royal Malaysian Navy personnel in France, will arrive here in August.

Navy Chief Adm Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said the submarine, which has been decommissioned, would become a museum piece.

“We are expecting its arrival in August. There will be a signing ceremony between the Defence Ministry secretary-general and the French side before it is handed over to us,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

On the country's first two submarines KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Razak Adm Abdul Aziz said they were in the open sea and operating smoothly, contrary to reports.
He also denied claims that kickbacks were involved over the two Scorpene submarines, adding that neither the European Union nor the RMN condoned such acts.
It was announced last month that the submarines would cost RM50mil a year to maintain.

On the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, Adm Abdul Aziz said there could be two RMN auxiliary escort ships guarding Malaysian trading vessels by the end of this year.

The second ship, he said, would supplement Bunga Mas 5, which successfully foiled a hijacking attempt against Malaysian MT Bunga Laurel last January.

Commandos had captured seven Somali pirates who have since been charged here.

Adm Abdul Aziz said assigning Bunga Mas 6 as the second auxiliary ship resulted from continued strategic cooperation between the RMN and the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC).

He also said that NGV Tech Sdn Bhd would build two training ships for the RMN at its shipyard in Sijangkang, Selangor with a two-year completion target.

In addition, finally the fate of Agosta has been sealed where as speculated before she will be brought back to Malaysia to become a museum piece. It will be quite a unique showpiece since she has not been officially commissioned to the Navy's fleet and it will be a first time a naval ship as such will be featured in what is supposed to be a nation's maritime museum. Maybe the justification would be that she was the only vessel ever used in the training of the full crew of Malaysian submariners.

Finally the two new training ships will start building soon as informed by the CNO and article below.

Another Event To Get Closer To Our Armed Forces.

2011-04-21T19:29:00.003+08:00

Thanks to Dzirhan's FB posting, come join the merriment in celebrating this naval festivities.

SAMBUTAN ULANGTAHUN KE-2 PENGISYTIHARAN LUMUT BANDAR TENTERA LAUT DAN PAMERAN MARITIM PADA 22 HINGGA 24 APRIL 2011

1. Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) akan meraikan Sambutan Ulang Tahun ke-2 Pengisytiharan Lumut Bandar Tentera Laut pada 24 April 2011. Berlanjutan itu pelbagai aktiviti akan dilangsungkan di Lumut Bandar Tentera Laut mulai 22 hingga 24 April. Majlis Perasmian akan disempurnakan oleh Yang Amat Berhormat Dato’ Seri Dr. Zambry bin Abdul Kadir, Menteri Besar Perak pada 22 April 2011 bersamaan hari Jumaat, jam 3.30 petang.

2. Antara aktiviti menarik yang akan diadakan sepanjang tiga hari tersebut adalah Pameran Maritim oleh unit-unit TLDM seperti Pasukan Khas Laut dari KD PANGLIMA HITAM, Unit Udara TLDM atau Markas Udara, Pusat Hidrografi Nasional, Persatuan Perahu Layar TLDM, KD DUYONG atau Pusat Selam dan Peperangan Periuk Api TLDM dan beberapa unit dan persatuan lain dari TLDM. Selain daripada unit dari TLDM, antara agensi luar yang akan turut serta dalam Pameran Maritim ini ialah Akademi Laut Malaysia (ALAM), Agensi Penguatkuasaan Maritim Malaysia (APMM), Jabatan Laut, Pasukan Gerak Malaysia (PGM) dan Malaysian International Shipping Corporation atau MISC.

3. Sepanjang tiga hari tersebut juga orang ramai akan berpeluang menyaksikan Pertunjukan Kawad Senyap dari unit Provos Tentera Laut (PROTELA) dari Pangkalan TLDM Lumut, Persembahan Seni Mempertahankan Diri (SMD) Pencak Silat, Teakwando dan Judo daripada Persatuan SMD TLDM. Disebelah malam pula orang ramai akan disajikan dengan persembahan Konsert Mini oleh Badan Kesenian Dan Kebudayaan (BAKES) TLDM. Kesemua aktiviti ini akan dilangsungkan di kawasan Lumut Waterfront, Bandar Tentera Laut dan dibuka kepada seluruh orang ramai.

4. Aktiviti yang berlangsung sempena Ulang Tahun ke-2 Bandar Tentera Laut ini juga akan menambahkan lagi kemeriahan Sambutan Hari TLDM yang ke-77 yang bakal diraikan oleh seluruh Warga TLDM pada 27 April 2011 ini.

5. Pengisytiharan Lumut Bandar Tentera Laut sebelum ini telah disempurnakan oleh Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Izzudin Shah Ghafarrullahu-Lah Sultan Yang Di-Pertuan Negeri Perak Darul Ridzuan pada 24 April 2009 sempena Sambutan Hari Keputeraan Baginda Yang ke-81.

AKTIVITI SAMBUTAN BERSEMPENA ULANG TAHUN KE-2 PERISYTIHARAN LUMUT SEBAGAI BANDAR TENTERA LAUT

22 Apr 11 (Jumaat)

3.00 ptg - 4.30 ptg

Perasmian oleh YAB Menteri Besar Perak diikuti gimik dan persembahan kawad senyap TLDM, seterusnya lawatan MB ke pameran

Dataran Lumut

4.30 ptg - 10.00 mlm

Pameran Maritim

Dataran Lumut

8.30 mlm

Pertunjukan Kawad Senyap TLDM

Dataran Lumut

9.00 mlm - 12.00 mlm

Pertunjukan Konsert Badan Kesenian TLDM

Dataran Lumut

23 Apr 11 (Sabtu)

10.00 pg - 10.00 mlm

Pameran Maritim

Dataran Lumut

4.30 ptg -6.00 ptg

Persembahan Seni Mempertahankan Diri (SMD)

- Pencak Silat.

- Taekwondo.

- Judo.

- Pertunjukan Kawad Senyap TLDM

Dataran Lumut

8.30 mlm - 9.00 mlm

Pertunjukan Kawad Senyap TLDM

Dataran Lumut

9.00 mlm - 12.00 mlm

Pertunjukan Konsert Badan Kesenian TLDM

Dataran Lumut

24 Apr 11 (Ahad)

10.00 pg - 4.00 ptg

Pameran Maritim

Dataran Lumut

11.00 pg - 12.30 tgh hari

hingga 4 ptg

Persembahan Seni Mempertahankan Diri (SMD)

- Pencak Silat.

- Taekwondo.

- Judo.

- Pertunjukan Kawad Senyap TLDM

Dataran Lumut

For Your Weekend Enjoyment?

2011-04-20T21:20:00.004+08:00

So anyone game for a free tattoo, but not that type of tattoo but tattoo show by the Malaysian Police.

Here are the details.

Tajuk Persembahan TATU PDRM 2011
Deskripsi Persembahan yang dipertontonkan :- Badan Seni Budaya PDRM, gimik pesembahan tebusan kapalterbang Boeing 737-400, Pancaragam PDRM, Kawad Tanpa Perintah, Kawad Patung, Unit Berkuda
Daripada Cawangan Perhubungan Awam
Tarikh Mula 29/04/2011
Tarikh Tamat 30/04/2011
Tempat Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur

Persembahan TATU PDRM 2011

Tarikh : 29 - 30 April 2011
Masa : 8.00 malam
Tempat : Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur

Persembahan yang dipertontonkan :- Badan Seni Budaya PDRM, gimik pesembahan tebusan kapalterbang Boeing 737-400, persembahan laser, Pancaragam PDRM, Kawad Tanpa Perintah, Kawad Patung, Unit Berkuda, Akrobatik Motosikal, payung terjun, 'para motor dan 'Gayung Perang'.

TUDM AFNG Video

2011-04-05T19:32:00.005+08:00

Posted by Venez in our forum. Possible sighting of our new MRCA?

No New Idea Meh?

2011-04-05T19:13:00.002+08:00

Aiseyman, when the Government want to be transparent, can still get criticised meh? Cannot walk the talk or ashamed that you are about to be proven wrong?

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia’s two new submarines, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Razak, may be about to sail into a new controversy with the plan to send them on a promotional tour to all Malaysian ports for public viewing.

Unimpressed Kota Kinabalu parliamentarian Dr Hiew King Cheu said: “This is actually going a bit too far, because these tactical subs are not toys and not for pleasure rides.

“The cost and expenditures involved is definitely going to be very high and is a gross waste of the taxpayers’ money.”

So where is your reference or still again trying your luck by making allegations without substance.

He also contended that the annual maintenance cost of RM50 million was extravagant and exceptionally high.

And where have we heard this before? So basi la!

“If for a period of six years, it will be a staggering RM300 million; the money spent on the purchase and maintenance of the submarines could have been better used to provide free housing for the poor Malaysians and to eradicate poverty in the country.

“We just don’t see any real justification and logic behind the huge spending,” he said.
The rest of the article here.

Maybe you are not aware or just an ignoramus for not knowing that there is still a certain nation who has not dropped their claim on Sabah, you know the state KK is in and another who cannot stand the fact that they are sharing Borneo Island.

Belated But A Fitting Tribute To Our Men Sang Saka Biru

2011-03-28T19:48:00.006+08:00

Please don't mind the grammatical errors but to those who can only paint them with a single brush and brand them all as corrupt, thiefs and thugs and whatever nasty things you can think of, this came from the heart of a policeman who only know how to serve with sacrifice.

The Police Officers' Life

First and foremost, we thank Abdul Manan Bin Shuib for sharing this piece of interesting poem regarding the Police officers' life in the Discussion Board. It's depicted the inner voice of the police officers who scarify (sic sacrifice) in silent (sic silence).

You wonder why he pulled you over and gave you a ticket for speeding...

He just worked on an accident where people died because they were going too fast

_________________________

You wonder why that cop was so mean...
He's just work on a case where a drunk driver killed a kid
____________________________________________

You work for 8 hours...
He works for up to 18 hours
_________________________

You drink hot coffee to stay awake...
The cold rain in the middle of the night keeps him awake.
__________________________

You complain of a "headache", and consider it as falling sick ....
He goes into work still hurt and sore from the guy he had to fight the night before
__________________________

You drink your coffee on your way to the mall.. .
He spills his coffee as he runs to a tragic crash with kids trapped inside.
__________________________

You make sure your cell phone is in your pocket before you leave the house.
He makes sure his gun is clean and fully loaded and his vest is tight
__________________________

You talk trash about your "buddies" that are not with you...
He watches his buddy get shot at,and wounded in front of him.
__________________________

You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls...
He walks down the highway looking for body parts from a tragic crash.
_________________________

You complain about how hot it is...
He wears fifty pounds of gear and bullet proof vest under the scotching sun and still runs around chasing crack heads
__________________________

You go out to lunch,and complain because the restaurant got your orders wrong...
He runs out before he gets his food to respond to an armed robbery incident.
__________________________

You get out of bed in the morning and take your time getting ready...
He gets call and get out of bed at 2 am after working 12 hours and has to rush to work as soon as possible for a traffic homicide
__________________________

You go into the mall and get your hair done...
He holds the hair of some college girl while shes vomiting in the back of his patrol car
__________________________

You are angry because your class ran 5 minutes over...
His working shift ended 4 hours ago and there is no end in sight.
__________________________

You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight...
He cannot make any plans because on his off days he still get back to work
__________________________

You yell and scream at the patrol car that just past you because they slowed you down...
He is in the driver seat of the patrol car, going to cut somebody out of their car only to find out that their dead when he gets there.
__________________________

You roll your eyes when a baby cries in public...
He picks up a dead child in his arms and prays that he/she was crying.
__________________________

You criticize your police department and say they are never there quick enough...
He blasts the siren while the person in front of him refuses to move while talking on his cell phone and doing her makeup.
__________________________

You hear the jokes about fallen officers and say they should have known better...
He is a hero and runs into situations when everyone else is running away in order to make sure no one else gets hurt and loses his life doing it.
__________________________

You are asked to go to the grocery shop by your parents. You do not...
He would take a bullet for his buddy without questions.
__________________________

You sit there and judge him, saying that its a waste of money to have them around...
Yet as soon as you need help he is there.
___________________________

Thank you to everyone involved, and may each and everyday, everyone in their career come home safely....

"To whom who serve the people, the country with pride, commitment, dedication and passion... We salute you. You deserved this respect. We love you " - From PDRM

AV8- The What If 2

2011-03-28T09:30:00.004+08:00

Further to my initial post, my fellow forumer at Mymil Mr Dewafrost had said that in his discussion with DEFTECH's representative during the recent Air Force Open Day in Kuantan, he was informed that there has been a proposal for the AV8's to use Oto Melara's turrets. These are the result of his Photoshopping the available turrets onto the V8 frame.

Oto Melara HITFACT 120mm

Oto Melara HITFIST 25mm

Oto Melara HITFIST 30mm

Meanwhile the photos below are the result of other turrets as suggested by other forumers.

INGWE anti tank missile

INGWE + 50cal turret

AV8-ADATS

AV8 TUNGUSKA

AV8-THALES ADES

And this is another turret from Russia, that even though it looks very utilitarian, is my personal favourite as it can provide three type of lethal treatment. Nonetheless this has not been commercially sold yet but since Malaysia has a track record of being pioneer buyers, why not eh?

AV8 Kliver Turret

Nonetheless to bring back the topic of discussion into serious focus. The posting of the what if photos may seem indulgent bordering on childishness, but the reason I did it is to show the versatility of the platform itself, which if the final design is optimally chosen, can provide a very lethal weaponry combination to an indigenously built fighting platform that nobody should sneer at.

Finally A Mainstream Paper Picks Up The Story

2011-03-25T19:21:00.002+08:00

Further to my previous posting that the Navy should be getting another auxiliary ship, finally Berita Harian reported that the Navy confirmed that their proposal has received the attention of MISC. So can we take it that the Corporation has agreed to the proposal?

TLDM bakal dapat satu lagi kapal pengiring
Oleh Zailani Ahmad
2011/03/25

BAGI melindungi lebih banyak kapal dagang yang mempunyai kepentingan negara daripada ancaman lanun di perairan antarabangsa, Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) akan menambah satu lagi kapal pengiring keselamatan tidak lama lagi.

Panglima Angkatan Laut, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar, berkata pihaknya sudah mengemukakan cadangan kepada syarikat perkapalan, Malaysian International Shipping Corporation Berhad (MISC) baru-baru ini, supaya menyumbang satu lagi kapal bagi dijadikan kapal pengiring keselamatan dan cadangan itu sudah mendapat perhatian perbadanan berkenaan.

Katanya, usaha itu perlu berikutan banyak syarikat perkapalan antarabangsa menunjukkan minat menggunakan khidmat kapal pengiring TLDM bagi melindungi kargo masing-masing di perairan antarabangsa.

Beliau berkata, sebelum ini MISC menyumbang kapal Bunga Mas 5 kepada TLDM dan berjaya menumpaskan beberapa kegiatan rompakan laut di perairan antarabangsa.

“Kejayaan TLDM membanteras kegiatan lanun di perairan Teluk Aden Januari lalu, membabitkan kapal dagang Bunga Laurel milik MISC, menarik minat banyak kapal dagang untuk menggunakan khidmat kapal pengiring,” katanya selepas mengiringi Sultan Selangor, Sultan Sarafudin Idris Shah yang berkenan menemui pasukan anggota dan pegawai tentera yang terbabit dalam Operasi Fajar di sini, baru-baru ini.

Pada pertemuan ringkas itu, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah memuji usaha pasukan itu menumpaskan tujuh lanun warga Somalia yang merompak kapal dagang MISC di perairan Teluk Aden awal Januari lalu.

Baginda juga berkenan menganugerahkan pingat kepada pasukan yang dianggotai Paskal TLDM, unit Gerak Khas Tentera Darat dan Paskau TUDM.

Mengulas usaha membanteras lanun, Abdul Aziz berkata, Operasi Fajar bermula pada 2008 apabila kapal MISC Bunga Melati 2 dan 5 ditawan lanun di perairan Teluk Aden dan TLDM menggunakan KD Lekiu dan KD Seri Indrapura untuk menumpaskan lanun terbabit.

Katanya, kejayaan itu membawa kepada penugasan berterusan kapal TLDM hingga Operasi Fajar 4 dihentikan sementara pada 2009.

“Berdasarkan situasi semasa di perairan Teluk Aden yang masih diancam lanun, penugasan disambung semula menerusi perkongsian strategik bersama MISC dengan menggunakan kapal Bunga Mas 5.

“Langkah ini perlu bagi menentukan keselamatan kapal dagang yang berkepentingan kepada negara ketika melalui perairan Teluk Aden,” katanya.

Sehingga kini, Bunga Mas 5 sudah melaksanakan empat penugasan membanteras lanun dan 231 mengiring kapal dagang berkepentingan negara serta menyelamatkan harta dagangan melebihi RM63 bilion.

“Kejayaan ini memahat satu lagi tanda kematangan serta kemampuan Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) dalam memikul amanah yang dipertanggungjawabkan negara.

“Ia juga membuktikan keberkesanan kerjasama unik antara pasukan laut, darat dan udara dalam misi membanteras lanun dan menjaga kapal dagang berkepentingan negara," katanya.

AV8-The What IF?

2011-03-24T21:20:00.005+08:00

As a mental exercise, my fellow forumer at Mymil Mr Dewafrost photoshopped these possible representations of the AV8 variants as a matter of conjecture until the real prototype is revealed by June 2011 as expected. At least it may show that what we are buying is a 'ganteng' as the Indonesians say product. He says he based it on the PARS brochure he received during DSA2010 above.

The One Man Turret Variant

The Two Man Variant

Meanwhile the following variants has not been announced but is part of the wishlist that we forumers would like to see developed.

A 105mm Tank Destroyer Version, using the Rooikat turret

A Light Air Defence variant, using the LAV-AD turret.

Remember these are representations and expectations based on available open source information, and we all hope the actual prototype will exceed these expectations.

Here Is All You Want To Know About Kementah, And Its Not Wikileaks!

2011-03-23T20:26:00.002+08:00

Many a time people claim they want transparency, but do not even bother to check the truth even it is shoved into their face. Well thanks to Mr Dzirhan Mahadzir, this link below will take you to the Hansard of the current Parliament seating debating the Kementah's issues, including responses to Mr Pua's questions. Go ahead, look it up, all that can be revealed is there, no need to hear it from a third party.

21st March 2011 Parliamentary Hansard- Debate on Kementah issues

Here Is Another Analyst Thoughts On The Av8

2011-03-22T08:32:00.004+08:00

In the interest of knowledge-sharing, here is the ADJ's Editor comments on the AV8 purchase;

Sunday March 20, 2011
The Star on Line
Re-equipping the Army

By M. GHAZEMY MAHMUD

The intensity of combat on the modern battlefield requires infantry vehicles that are mobile, survivable and lethal.

EVEN before the Government agreed to the deployment of troops for the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in Lebanon a few years ago, military officials were concerned about the protection of our troops during their tour of duty.

But orders are orders, and the troops were deployed, backed up by a squadron of Condor armoured personnel carriers (APC) made in Germany nearly 30 years ago.

Luckily, as a further back-up, the peacekeepers were supplied with 12 newer Nyala mine-resistant vehicles by the UN.

Since the deployment, no major combat incidents have occurred with the Condors, although one vehicle toppled into a gully in the dry hilly terrain of the MALCON East operational area of Kawkaba, killing a soldier.

“The Condor is a good armoured vehicle that has seen better days, along with the heavier Belgian-made Sibmas which were ordered in the early 1980s and delivered in 1983,” said a local defence analyst.

The vehicles had seen action in the Malaysia-Thai border region, the Balkans, Somalia, Timor Leste and now, Lebanon.

Indeed, the 1993 Bakara Market battle in Mogadishu, highlighted in the Hollywood flick Black Hawk Down where scores of American soldiers were killed and wounded, displayed the vulnerabilities of armoured vehicles in modern-day battle.

Several Malaysian soldiers were also injured and one was killed in the fight when the Condors were hit with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine gun fire.

“What we are facing now is block obsolescence of our wheeled armoured vehicle fleet because the two types were procured at almost the same time to face the communist insurgency,” an army general told this writer recently.

“The threat environment has changed. New vehicles to meet present and future threats need to be acquired,” he said, adding that “our boys have to have that protection against enemy fire in a modern battle environment”.

“The requirement for new armoured vehicles has been on the table for quite some time now,” he further pointed out.

Analysts have said that despite the various upgrades through the years, the Army’s present fleet of wheeled armoured vehicles are somewhat dated.

They say the intensity of combat on the modern battlefield requires infantry vehicles that are mobile, survivable, and lethal.

Due to budgetary constraints, many armies continue to use armoured vehicles which might be considered obsolete.

But the chances of troop survival in a much older machine in modern-day battle with a well-equipped enemy is low, one analyst said.

Aware of the need to protect our troops, the Government recently decided to equip the Army with a new generation of multi-purpose armoured vehicles.

Defence contractor DRB-Hicom Defence Technologies (Deftech), a wholly-owned subsidiary of DRB-Hicom Bhd, early this month announced that it had been awarded a contract worth RM7.55bil from the Government to develop armoured vehicles based on a foreign design for the Army.

Deftech had accepted the Letter of Award dated Feb 23, 2011 from the Government to design, develop, manufacture, commission, supply and deliver 257 units of 12 variants of the 8x8 armoured wheeled vehicles.

The contract is for a period of seven years, starting 2011.

And like many local manufacturers anywhere in the world, the vehicle will be developed in collaboration with a main foreign partner, in this case Turkey.

Deftech will utilise the transfer of advanced defence technologies from its technology partners and original equipment manufacturers (OEM), research and development and local vendor development, it said.

The company also said it expected the contract to create new local OEMs through direct and indirect foreign investments and generate higher employment for the local defence industry.

Deftech had earlier said that the cost of the contract included manufacturing and other costs associated with the production of a new combat vehicle.

DRB-Hicom is one of Malaysia’s leading corporations and plays an integral role in the automotive manufacturing, assembly and distribution industry through its involvement in the passenger car and four-wheel-drive vehicle market segment, the national truck project and the national motorcycle project.

It is an open secret that the Malaysian-developed armoured personnel carrier is being built from the PARS APC produced by the FMC-Nurol Defence System (FNSS) of Turkey.

FNSS is currently one of Turkey’s Top 10 defence firms in terms of total revenue.

Turkey’s Nurol Holding, Inc. maintains a 51% controlling interest in the company.

The PARS is a new generation wheeled amphibious armoured combat vehicle designed and manufactured by FNSS for the Turkish Armed Forces, which reportedly plan to order some 1,000 units.

The vehicles can be easily transported by the Airbus A400M and the Boeing C-17 tactical transport aircraft. The Royal Malaysian Air Force is awaiting delivery of four Airbus A400M tactical airlifters.

Many types of 8x8 armoured vehicles of mostly European and Russian designs are in service in the armed forces of many countries. Even the American Stryker is based on the Swiss Piranha.

Neighbouring Singapore has also developed its Terrex armoured vehicle with foreign technology.

It was reported that the vehicle was developed by Singapore Technologies Kinetics and Irish firm Timoney.

It should be noted that this is not the first time that Deftech has designed and produced an armoured vehicle.

The company has produced an armoured vehicle known as the AV4 in a private venture costing millions of dollars.

The vehicle was intended for the Army and Police but, for some reason, it was not bought by any of these services.

FNSS’ cooperation with Malaysia is not new and the latest one can be seen as a natural progression.

Previously, the company supplied tracked armoured combat vehicles which were assembled by Deftech locally.

The ACV 300 was dubbed by the Malaysian Army as “Adnan” after the Malaysian soldier who fought the invading Japanese to his death along with his men during the Battle of Singapore in World War II.

The PARS armoured vehicle is named after a big cat, as Pars is the Turkish name for the Anatolian Leopard.

Models of the Deftech designs displayed at defence shows were dubbed AV8 but whether it will be later renamed after a big Malaysian cat remains to be seen.

Cynics may regard the Army’s programme for its next-generation wheeled armoured carrier as a wasteful exercise.

Some would say that since we are not at war with anyone and there are no more communist guerillas lurking in the jungles now, why then do we need an armed forces.

But then again, why do we need the fire extinguisher in the house when there is no fire. The current ever-changing strategic and security environment requires that vital element of insurance to ensure that stability, development and economic prosperity can continue unabated.

M. Ghazemy Mahmud is editor of “The Asian Defence Journal”.

Navy Getting Another Auxilliary Ship?

2011-03-18T09:27:00.003+08:00

Thank you to Mymil forumer Standupper for providing the following article, which seems to be exclusive Bernama news as I cannot find the link nor an English version. Nonetheless it seems after the announcement by the Defence Minister that the Navy can add another auxiliary ship for anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden as I hoped before in this posting, the additional ship seems to be becoming a reality. There seems to be a change in the specifications as the concept, shape and details of the ship is still being discussed by the Navy and MISC, who has in principle approved the provision of a second ship to act as the auxiliary ship.

Nonetheless as I have also mentioned in another posting, the responsibility should not solely lie with MISC to provide such auxiliary vessels even though they are a GLC company, and other Malaysian shipping companies should consider providing additional vessels so that more range can be added to the convoy coverage by the Malaysian Navy. This is especially pressing as the Somalians seems to have extended their range and also employed more men in their piracy missions like in the hijacking of this Indonesian vessel yesterday and becoming more deadly at that. Thus efforts to engage other Asian navies like Singapore and India to be more involved should be applauded.

Ok here is the Bernama report on the introduction of the second auxiliary vessel, most probably in September this year.

TLDM dijangka dapat kapal tambahan kedua September

17/03/2011 6:21pm

KUALA LUMPUR 17 Mac – Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) dijangka mendapat sebuah lagi kapal pengiring bagi melindungi keselamatan kapal-kapal dagang berkepentingan negara di perairan Teluk Aden pada September depan, kata Panglima Tentera Laut, Laksamana Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar.

Beliau berkata, pada dasarnya syarikat perkapalan, MISC Berhad telah meluluskan penugasan sebuah lagi kapal dagang untuk ditransformasikan sebagai kapal tambahan TLDM yang kedua.

"TLDM dan MISC masih berbincang termasuk menentukan konsep, bentuk dan ciri-ciri kapal kedua itu,” katanya di pejabatnya di sini hari ini.

"Kapal tambahan pertama iaitu Bunga Mas 5 mengambil masa tiga bulan untuk perbincangan awal dan tiga bulan lagi untuk diubah suai menjadi kapal bantuan TLDM.

"Justeru dengan pengalaman itu, anggaran paling lama untuk kita melihat cadangan itu direalisasikan ialah enam bulan dan saya percaya MISC Berhad telah pun membuat penilaian untuk penugasan kapal kedua tersebut,” katanya. – Bernama

So if You Say It Still Cannot Dive...

2011-03-14T19:30:00.004+08:00

A bit late as I have been away, but if the naysayers still believe our submarines cannot dive still, you guys bettter stop smoking the stuff you are having....

Agong Joins Submarine Crew For A Dive

March 10, 2011 20:34 PM

KOTA KINABALU, March 10 (Bernama) -- Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin was today taken on a ride in the country's first submarine, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, in the South China Sea.

Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said the submarine dived to its maximum operating depth.

Tuanku Mizan also witnessed a series of demonstrations and "evolution" exercises performed by the submarine crew, including the water shot demonstration on the KD Lekiu frigate.

Abdul Aziz said the evolution exercise showed the submarine's capabilities in detecting remote targets even before the enemies were aware of its presence.

Tuanku Mizan also operated the missile firing simulation inside the scorpene-class submarine, he said, adding that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was impressed by the submarine and also expressed his satisfaction over the capabilities of the crew members in handling the KD Tunku Abdul Rahman.

"The dive participated by His Majesty today clearly dismissed all the negative statements against the country's submarine, with some claiming that it could not dive.

"I would like to stress that both the submarines, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Abdul Razak, are in fine condition and operating at the optimum level," he told reporters after seeing off the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who ended his two-day visit to Sabah today.

Abdul Aziz said the RMN would ensure that all its assets and the massive government investment would give high returns to the country.

This was the second time Tuanku Mizan boarded a sophisticated asset of the Malaysian armed forces.

On Feb 7, he was flown at a supersonic speed on a Sukhoi SU-30KM fighter jet over Langkawi, Kedah and Penang.

-- BERNAMA

And this is the same posting in the RMN's website and the picture gallery of the visit.

Something That Does Not Meet The Eye

2011-03-09T10:31:00.003+08:00

PARS IFV With 25mm Sharpshooter Turret

I guess everyone would have heard that DEFTECH finally managed to obtain the LOA for the AV8 project. But I feel that the announcement may be truncated in details as something just does not feel right and does not add up. This is especially if you take into consideration this article in the foreign press that did not make it into the local papers regarding the purchase price between Deftech and FNSS that will deliver the base platform.

Turkey's FNSS to produce 257 ACVs for Malaysian Army (Jane's)
By Lale Sariibrahimoglu

25 February 2011

Turkey's FNSS Savunma Sistemleri has signed an export agreement with Malaysian manufacturer DRB-Hicom Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd (Deftech) for the design, development, production and logistical support of 257 8x8 wheeled armoured combat vehicles (ACVs) for the Malaysian armed forces.

The project, which is worth about USD600 million and is the largest single arms export for the Turkish defence industry, was one of several accords signed in Ankara on 22 February during a visit by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The Malaysian ACVs, of which 12 variants will be delivered, will be based on the Pars (Leopard) family of multirole armoured fighting vehicles.

I understand the need for secrecy but to those who has a good inkling about the project will take 2 and 2 together and will not be able to come up with 4. This is because he platform cost of USD600 million or around RM1.9 Billion should have been a major portion of the project cost, instead is only about a third of the overall cost. So many would be thinking what constitutes the cost of the remaining RM5.65 billion.

As it is, some have already started taking potshots at the project by saying that by simple cost division by the number of units that comes to around RM30 million per piece, basically justifies their claims that the AV8 is overpriced. They make the claim that this is even more expensive than the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank. After checking the price the Saudi paid in 1989 of USD1.148 Billion for 315 units of M1A2 Abrams, I believe that this makes it easier for them to make the claims even taking into consideration the inflation factor.

All I can say is that there may be a storm if more details are not forthcoming, and I wish that such defence purchases should not draw such uncomplimentary attention by being forthright with all publishable facts from the beginning.

You Want Transparency? You Got It!

2011-03-07T22:30:00.002+08:00

It is too bad the mainstream English papers did not pick this up in their reporting. but the Defence Ministry through the Minister intends to invite the Opposition ,especially the leaders like Mr Lim Guan who usually comments on the defence purchases , to LIMA 2011 so that they verify for themselves the capabilities of the purchased defence equipment. The Minister hopes this will answer all their allegations and they can confirm directly the truth regarding the equipment, including the oft-repeated allegation that the nation's submarine cannot dive or submerge by visiting the submarine itself. Therefore no more such unreasonable allegations should be raised under the immunity of parliament.

So what are you guys waiting for, you always ask for transparency and its now being served to you on a silver platter, don't tell me you are afraid of the chance of being proven right, or more likely wrong? If you don't accept the invitation below, it is concrete evidence that you guys have been talking BS all this while.

Menteri Pertahanan, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, berkata beliau sendiri akan mengatur program lawatan Ahli Parlimen pembangkang dengan harapan dapat mengelak pertikaian berhubung kemampuan aset terbabit yang dikhuatiri mewujudkan implikasi negatif terhadap pertahanan dan ketenteraan negara, termasuk dakwaan kononnya kapal selam negara tidak boleh menyelam. “Saya bercadang menjemput Lim Guan Eng melawat LIMA dan secara peribadi nak beliau (Lim) membuat pemeriksaan kapal selam negara. Saya akan mengatur lawatan dan lihat sendiri kapal selam yang didakwa tak boleh menyelam. Saya harap selepas itu tiada lagi persoalan mengenai kemampuan aset ketenteraan diajukan pada sidang Parlimen,” katanya selepas perbarisan kontinjen dan aset Tentera Darat sempena Hari Terbuka Tentera Darat di Dataran Merdeka, semalam.

For those who can and want to read more of this article in Bahasa Malaysia, below is the link :

Parti lawan dibawa lawat LIMA

Now This Is Responsible Defence Debate

2011-03-06T21:36:00.003+08:00

A good article on Malaysian Armed Forces spending that is properly debated, and quoting the article itself "This is where informed groups and individuals, motivated by the national interest rather than narrow partisan concerns, can help enrich discussion by contributing what ideas they can."

I hope this will enlightened those who are really interested in the actual defence needs of the nation.

Sunday March 6, 2011
Need to spend on defence

By BUNN NAGARA
sunday@thestar.com.my

Issues concerning Malaysia’s defence budget and arms purchases are re-emerging but more open and better-informed discussions will dispel common misperceptions.

IN the 1990s, there were ominous reports from mostly Western sources about a supposed “arms race” in East Asia. Such loose talk was often related to a presumed “China threat” that corresponded with a rising China.

Through the past decade until the present, such perceptions have returned based on accounts of growing national defence budgets. This time, the problem of conflicting claims to disputed maritime territory among Asean members is cited in addition to the spectre of a hulking China.

The current season of critical reporting about South-East Asian defence budgets coincides with the success of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the United States and Russia. By comparison, Asian countries are somehow seen as less responsible.
But responsible reporting itself must be clear about actual developments, not merely perceived ones. They must be grounded in solid evidence, not interpretations of assumptions.

An arms race is a mutually competitive relationship between two or more powers in acquiring additional weaponry. It stems from national ego or crude threat perceptions of the other side, not on mature strategic planning and careful assessments of a country’s actual needs in asset procurement.

Such a “race” is therefore unnecessary and wasteful, being invariably costly, self-propagating and an unjustifiable misallocation of resources. It carries a negative connotation particularly in terms of questionable public expenditure.

However, that is also where much misunderstanding of defence budget allocations begin. Like credible reporting of arms-related developments, assessments and criticisms must be founded on fair judgment and factual evidence.

There is no arms race when two or more countries in a region equip themselves with military hardware for reasons entirely or principally of their own, however large the defence budgets involved.

But there would be an arms race when they do so solely or largely because the other(s) are doing so as well, however small the budgets may be.

In the midst of talk about an “arms race” in Asean, an Australian defence official testified in parliament in September 2008 that there was no such thing going on. He, however, noted “a substantial military modernisation,” distinguishing between the two.

Also, since defence budgets cover acquisitions of increasingly sophisticated hardware, costs escalate from year to year without necessarily any enlargement in overall firepower.

Then there is the element of inflation and the question of currency exchange rates.

Most critics, however, rely only on the size of the budgets year-on-year. They typically assume growing belligerence without factoring in rising costs of production, inflation and currency exchange rates.

Ironically, year-to-year comparisons also tend to neglect how the previous year(s)’ budgets had been slashed, so that a revived budget looks (relatively) large. Malaysia, for example, has lately seen consecutive years of defence budget cuts.

The size of the defence budget alone may seem sensational but is ultimately insubstantial. Gross sums are an unreliable indicator of combat prowess, much less intent, since the single largest component of defence budgets universally comprises the salaries and employment benefits of personnel.

With new procurements in particular, personnel need to be trained or retrained. Costs increase again when the equipment is imported for which technical expertise lies abroad, as the personnel would have to be sent overseas for long periods, sometimes with their immediate families.

Further, there is also the issue of linkage between a nation’s economic fortunes and the size of its defence budget. When a country’s economy is doing well, it may be expected to aim for a larger budget in defence as in other public sectors.

But when the economy is not doing well, defence (and other public sector) budgets are expected to decline. And so some European critics, for example, are targeting some apparently enlarged defence budgets in South-East Asia, given the 2008 financial crisis.

Defence analysts, however, know there is a time lag between declining economic fortunes and defence budget downsizing. For this region, the 2008 crisis was less severe than in Europe or its source, the US, so the budgeting consequences have been modest.

Besides, since the largest cost component of defence budgets is personnel, the impact of an economic downturn is low or slow. Demobilisation of a country’s defence forces is a major decision that takes time to consider and decide on, and more time to have a palpable and appreciable effect.

An Australian study has concluded that “defence expenditure appears less prone to cutbacks” because of the large personnel component. And while it detected a link between economic health and budget size, the link was neither strong nor definitive.

However, the 1997 financial crisis that originated in and shook East Asia had a significant impact on defence imports. After the region recovered, procurements grew markedly and was seen abroad as disturbing.

There is also a common misconception that reduced defence budgets would in themselves enlarge budgets in other public sectors such as education and health. Scandinavian studies have shown no such reciprocal linkage, since the overall government decision-making transcends the defence sector alone.

A broader misperception is that defence expenditure is necessarily unproductive. A 2009 study in Malaysia examined the economy-defence relationship of five Asean countries over four decades (1965-2006) and found very mixed results.

The multi-authored Universiti Putra Malaysia study found that for Malaysia and the Philippines, “no meaningful relationship (between defence expenditure and economic growth) could be detected.” Nonetheless, popular perceptions about invariably wasteful defence expenditure prevails.

Among the basic facts for any country are that national defence is a continual need, and defence budgets are necessary. Pertinent questions would then concern the budget components, in particular the type of equipment purchased.

Apart from new acquisitions and occasional equipment updates, military forces also require periodic replacements of worn hardware. The Royal Malaysian Navy, for example, is due for major replacements of surface vessels within a decade.

Need for practical items

Malaysia needs more multi-function assets like transport aircraft and ships, OPVs (offshore patrol vessels) and spotter aircraft, including helicopters, rather than prestige inventory.

These practical items are essential in military and quasi-military functions like regular patrols and interdictions at sea against smuggling, human trafficking, illegal migration and piracy as well as search-and-rescue operations. A degree of interoperability would therefore make sense.

Various national agencies require such procurements: the Fisheries Department, Customs and Excise, Marine Police, Maritime Enforcement Agency and the Navy. A long coastline in both East and Peninsular Malaysia, and disputed island territory, add to these routine needs.

For its part, the Malaysian army still needs more basic infantry items like field armour. In the interests of budgeting, cuts are made in areas like (UN) overseas postings to make up for needed expenditure elsewhere.

Indonesia and the Philippines are sprawling archipelagic nations with innumerable maritime territories between thousands of islands. But their operating needs are often overshadowed by budgetary constraints.

Thailand’s government-military relations have fluctuated with the party in office, which has in turn fluctuated considerably.

Singapore is by far the biggest spender in the neighbourhood, its defence budget for fiscal 2011 rising 5.4% from last year to S$12.08bil (RM28.89bil).

Singapore is also the region’s most robust economy, posting a high 14.5% growth last year. Growth alone does not account for enlarged defence budgets, but when coupled with a nation’s lack of strategic depth it can produce a compelling need for enhanced security.

Malaysia’s defence budgets have been cut in recent years, as expressed partly in a 30% demobilisation, but actual expenditure has repeatedly exceeded budget allocations. The 2011 defence budget is a modest RM9.1bil, down by some 20% from last year.

The Defence Ministry wants to make better use of existing equipment in place of more new acquisitions, after some high-profile procurements in recent years. Overall, Malaysia’s emphasis is on consolidating the economy as a firm foundation for a more robust nation.

The key defence issues are threat perceptions, strategic planning, operational purposes, maximal use of assets, streamlining, harmonisation, optimalisation and old-fashioned value for money.

And then there is the question of whether ultimate decision-making for these lies best with political or military leaders.

There is still a lack of vigorous debate based on updated information and educated opinion on such matters of great public interest. Opposition political parties still have no cohesive and coherent alternative plan, for all their pent-up anxieties.

This is where informed groups and individuals, motivated by the national interest rather than narrow partisan concerns, can help enrich discussion by contributing what ideas they can.

Malaysian Army Open Day

2011-02-28T15:11:00.002+08:00

Malaysian Army Open Day will be held at the Dataran Merdeka from 4th March to 6 March 2011. A grand display complete with march past is scheduled as follows that is open to the public :

Credit : Dzirhan

Location: Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur

Friday 4th March

0900-2200: Static Display/Career promotion

1600-1620: Army Band Performance

1640-1700: War Dog demonstration

1700-1715: Parachute (freefall demonstration)

Saturday 5th March

0900-2200: Static Display/Career promotion

0900-1115: Full Dress Rehersal of Army March Past

1600-1620: Army Band Performance

1640-1700: War Dog demonstration

1700-1715: Parachute (freefall demonstration)

2100-2230: Army Cultural Troupe performance

Sunday 6th March

0855-0900:Para Warrior Dance show

0900-2200: Static Display/Career promotion

0900-0950: Army Contingent and assets march past

0950-1115: Army Specialist Demonstration: Parachute demonstration

Red Warriors motor acrobatic show

Anti-Terrorist Unit Demonstration

Hope to see you all there. I will!

History Not Taught Becomes Urban Legends?

2011-02-24T20:57:00.005+08:00

It is with a little dismay that true stories that occured in the Malaysian Armed Forces seems to become part of the Malaysian Military Urban Legends. Two that I can confirm as facts are firstly the KD Sri Selangor incident during Confrontation that resulted with the death of Able Electric Mechanic Abdul Samad Suliman as stated in the book Tiger Territory: The Untold Story of the Royal Australian Navy in Southeast Asia From 1948-1971

and two, the sinking of KD Sri Perak as aptly remembered by a survivor of the sinking, Pak Mail in his blog Catatan Pak Mail;

Taken from Pak Mail's blog

Until when shall these stories be kept away from the public, so much so the Armed Forces are now considered as unnecessary users of public money punching bag by some and their deeds the stuff of urban legends by others?

AV8 Is On

2011-02-23T16:02:00.004+08:00

The AV8 APC program is now progressing as the contract to purchase the main component of the vehicle that the APC is being developed from has been signed during the PM's visit to Turkey. So we now just have to wait for June 2011 that is the deadline for Deftech to present the APC prototype for the Government's review to actually how the APC will look like, and how much it differs from the base vehicle.

I chose to attach The Star's article here as it gives a good definition of what an APC is in case some 'defence analyst' would like to compare it again with the M1 Main Battle Tank.

Troop carrier: Najib being briefed on the capability of the armoured personnel carrier during his visit to the FNSS plant in Ankara. — Bernama

The Star Online > Nation

Wednesday February 23, 2011

Malaysia to produce APCs for Asia-Pacific market

FROM TURKEY - SIRA HABIBU

ANKARA: Malaysia is set to produce armoured personnel carriers (APC) for the Asia-Pacific region. The country plans to buy 257 units of armoured carrier frames from the FNSS Defence System plant here and assemble components sourced from various countries. Deftech Malaysia and FNSS Turkey signed a letter of agreement for the purchase of the main body frame of the armoured carrier here yesterday.

An APC is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield. APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles or mortars. They are usually not designed to take part in a direct-fire battle.
FNSS chief executive officer K. Nail Kurt briefed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his entourage on the facilities at the company’s high security plant. Also present were Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and army chief Jen Datuk Sri Zulkifeli Zin.
Speaking to reporters after the signing, Zahid said the carriers would be assembled at the Deftech plant in Pekan, Pahang. FNSS is willing to accord Deftech its intellectual property rights that also allows it to export the assembled products to the Asia-Pacific region. “We have an understanding that we can source the defence fittings from elsewhere,” said Zahid, adding that Malaysia plans to mix-and-match various technologies.
Najib later laid a wreath at the Anitkabir mausoleum as a mark of respect for Turkey’s founder and first president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Najib also had a closed-door meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyib Erdogan.

The two leaders later witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Small and Medium Enterprises Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp) and Turkey’s Small and Medium Industry Organisation (KOSGEB). SME Corp CEO Datuk Hafsah Hashim and KOSGEB president Mustafa Kaplan signed the MoU.

Another MAF Warehouse 13 Item?

2011-02-21T20:15:00.003+08:00

One of my younger forum mates was saying that he overheard his father's army mates reminiscing their days as the Super Energa squad. The forumer could not identify the weapon until we helped him out and identified it as the HEAT-RFL-75 Super Energa grenade and the wow factor kicked in. Even the older forumers like me always thought the start of the man-portable recoilless rocket antitank weapon era in the Malaysian Armed Forces was with the Carl Gustav as the pioneering weapon in the inventory. Further discussions revealed that such anti tank teams may have already been in place since the sixties, long before any visible threats with tanks became a reality in the region. That would be a credible evidence that our nation truly has a professional armed forces with the foresight to identify true threats to the nations. even when others may not As such the shoddy treatment they seem to be getting from certain quarters through no fault of theirs is truly non deserving to our men.

Kasturi Class SLEP Going Well

2011-02-15T11:48:00.005+08:00

Slowly our Navy's Strike Flotilla are being beefed up at a reasonable cost despite what some may claim, and we can look forward to a credible force that can give anyone a bloody nose if they so dare threaten our independence. KD Kasturi is expected to be ready in October 2012 while KD Lekir will start her SLEP in August 2011.

Credit to Mcwood/Milphotos

PROGRAMME TO REDUCE ESPENDING, SAYS ZAHID
Bernama - Tuesday, February 15

LUMUT, Feb 14 — The Service Life Extension Programme or SLEP for Royal Malaysian Navy ships is expected to reduce defence spending sharply.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that SLEP — which was for refurbishing ships of 30 years old or more and equipping them with sophisticated armament and other systems — could save the government a lot of money.

“The programme can reduce spending by up to 75 per cent if we do not have to buy new ships to replace existing assets,” he told reporters here today after observing refurbishing work on KD Kasturi.

SLEP was being carried out by Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd, whose bid was 50 per cent lower than the next lowest, he said.

For a start, Ahmad Zahid said, two ships — KD Kasturi and KD Lekir — were being refurbished at a cost of about RM695 million.

“What makes us so proud about this programme is that it is using up to 99.5 per cent local expertise... and the level of local expertise and quality of service are on par with what is offered at foreign shipyards,” he said.
Note : Can't find the English version on Bernama site, but the Malay version is more informative anyway.

Why Wait? Reportlah!

2011-02-15T11:27:00.003+08:00

Well the minister concerned has issued the challenge, so why wait as it only makes you look that you have something to hide.

The Star Online > Nation
Tuesday February 15, 2011
Minister dares Pua to prove fraud in combat ship purchase

LUMUT: Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is willing to be investigated if there are indeed elements of fraud and corruption in the Government’s decision to procure six Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) at RM6bil.

He would also provide a complete explanation in the next Parliament sitting to justify the purchase.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said opposition MP Tony Pua should come forward and provide evidence to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to allow investigations to be carried out on the matter.

“What is he so afraid of? Please give whatever evidence (you have) to the MACC.

“I’m ready to be investigated. My officers are also ready to be investigated if there are irregularities in the procurements,” he told reporters after a visit to the Boustead Naval Dockyard here yesterday.

He was responding to Pua’s allegation on Feb 8 that the Government was buying the six ships at a cost of 870% more than what other countries had paid for similar ships.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said the allegation made by the DAP MP was politically motivated.

“We can differ in our opinions but do not spin about the country’s defence and security needs,” he added.

It was reported that the MACC was waiting for Pua to come forward with facts to support his allegations so an investigation can be carried out.

However, the DAP national publicity secretary said filing a report with the commission would be irrelevant as he merely wanted the minister to justify the purchase.
The Star Online > Nation
Published: Monday February 14, 2011 MYT 4:08:00 PM
Zahid says he is ready to be probed over RM6bil-vessels purchase

By ROSHIDI ABU SAMAH

LUMUT: Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is willing to be investigated if there are indeed elements of fraud and corruption in the Government's decision to procure six Second Generation Patrol Vessel-Littoral Combat Ships (SGPV-LCS) at a cost of RM6bil.

He said opposition MP Tony Pua should come forward and provide evidence to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to allow the commission carry out an investigation on the matter.

"What is he so afraid of? Please give whatever evidence (you have) to the MACC."

"I'm ready to be investigated, my officers are also ready to be investigated if there are any irregularities in the procurement," he told reporters after a working visit to the Boustead Naval Dockyard here on Monday.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said he would provide a full answer in the next Parliament sitting about Pua's allegation that the Government was buying the six SGPV-LCS at a cost 870% more than that paid by other countries for similar ships.

He said the allegation made by the DAP MP was politically motivated.

"I would like to remind the DAP and other opposition parties not to politicise the country's defence and security."

"We can differ in our opinion but do not ‘spin’ the country's defence and security," he said.

Bernama had quoted a MACC source as saying that the commission was waiting for Pua to come forward with facts to support his allegations so an investigation could be carried out.

However, the DAP national publicity secretary said filling a report with the commission would be irrelevant as he merely wanted the Minister to justify the purchase.

A defence analyst with Asian Defence Journal was recently reported as defending the Government by saying that the figure of RM6bil was a standard ballpark figure in the naval ship building industry.

The analyst added that the high cost of procuring the six SGPV-LCS was rational, taking into consideration the capability and sophistication of the ships.

A Little History To Give Perspective

2011-02-15T07:19:00.002+08:00

Regarding the brouhaha surrounding the current proposed SGPV/LCS project, I would like to give a historical perspective on similar allegations made against such naval projects. The opposition's Major Domo Mr Lim Kit Siang has made similar allegations from at least the 1970s and in fact in a well documented case broke the law and suffered the penalty when he became a political martyr(to the opposition) when he went to the extend of revealing national secrets on the Spica-M or Handalan class fast attack project. Read up on his expose as referred here. Notice anything like similar script being repeated in the various other allegations after that and even now.

The most pertinent fact that I would like to highlight is this statement "as I have decided to such a meeting with the Prime Minister on this." clearly shows that despite claims of Non-transparency they feel comfortable that they would be able to obtain clarifications on such matters from the Government and that it would not be swept under the carpet.

And the most important fact is that despite all the allegations thrown against the Handalan class and its brethren, they have now served for more than 30 years and the rest for a decade at least as the backbone of the Malaysian Navy defence of the nation. Only the Ex Sri Inderapura bought second hand from the United States under the financial stewardship of then UMNO Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has led a checkered life ending in tragedy. Why until now no further investigation is requested into why the ship was bought second hand then after it was revealed that the primary decision maker was the gifted one.

Thus it seems to those who has not learned that the phrase “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it” is apt for them. Maybe they also want to become political martyrs like their major domo and thus keep repeating this stale piece of history. However history also serves to give a rational perspective to what is current and what is possible in the future. Maybe that is why the gifted one eliminated History as a compulsory lesson when he was the Education Minister and why they are so afraid that History will now be made compulsory. A leader looks at the present but a great leader looks at the past so that he can look at the present and the future. I will not be surprised if more similar allegations are made as long as our Navy ships continue their service with honour.

Say Request Clarification But Still Allege Lah

2011-02-14T22:35:00.004+08:00

Well the first one admitted his ignorance, so they had to bring out their own defence analyst. So is this still an act of requesting for information, or are they still trying to make fantastic allegations but now supposedly from an expert's mouth? If its the latter make the MACC reportla, don't be so shy! Darn I wish I have their gazing ball, can do more than gazing at navels la, pun fully intended! Especially now too lazy to do more research to counter, especially since these are allegations of things that may happen in the future. How to do that? Again I believe the readers can differentiate the facts if and when they come across the new allegations.

Alas all is not lost as still I learn sumtin new. You can say BS in a nice way by putting it as Taurus Turdu. Must have so much of it that they know such a term.

Nice Barrel Roll!

2011-02-13T00:03:00.002+08:00

Sophisticated machine: A concept model of an SGPV displayed by Boustead at Lima 2009. Defence analysts say the high cost in procuring the six ships was rational.
— Photo courtesy of Dzirhan Mahadzir from The Star article

After you intimate and allege, now just a justification request eh?

February 12, 2011 16:50 PM
Pua Says He Merely Sought Justification Over Vessel Purchase

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua will not file a report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commision (MACC) over the defence ministry's purchase of six offshore petrol vessels (OPV). He said this was because his article on the issue which was posted in his blog recently, only wanted the minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, to justify the RM6 billion purchase. "My statement did not accuse the ministry over the purchase but requested the ministry to justify its purchase by giving detailed specifications on the type of OPVs which was being acquired," he said in a statement Saturday. Hence, the Petaling Jaya Utara member of parliament said, the MACC call to him to file a report with the commission over the issue was irrelevant at this point in time. On Friday, MACC sources were quoted by Bernama as saying that the commission required a report from Pua before commencing any investigation into the purchase. Recently, Ahmad Zahid announced the order for six units of offshore patrol vessels for RM6 billion from Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd. -- BERNAMA

Again I trust my readers can make your own rational judgement on this overblown issue. I shall now put the matter to rest, thanks for reading!

Next Do A Barrel Roll Please!

2011-02-11T00:49:00.006+08:00

Put on the defensive, Mr Pua admits his lack of knowledge military and therefore I can safely say that he would have just been shooting in the dark with his previous comment but tries to spin out by now demanding the Navy or Government to reveal the SGPV design/details. To those who don't believe me, read it here while I paste the specific paragraph here.

"Pua today admitted to a lack of military knowledge and said he was eager to meet the navy chief for a briefing."

Well since you admit your ignorance, let me try to add to your knowledge.

First, buying a warship is not like buying a car out of a showroom or whatever out of a brochure. Tick your requirrements and what you want will be delivered the next day or next month. Buying a warship is an engineering project and as in developing any engineering project, a design will be developed and negotiated until final agreement is achieved. How long this takes, depends on the urgency and the budget may be revised based on the final agreement. A LOI if you still plead ignorance of its nature but this would surprise me since you are supposed to be a businessman, is just a letter given to a potential supplier to indicate your INTENT to start negotiating on the project. Both parties can still walk away from the negotiations if agreement is not achievement. However, if agreement is achieved, then a Letter of Award would be given as all the design and specifications would be have been agreed to. My tip to you; at this stage if its achieved, then you can start asking for facts and criticise to your heart content. Otherwise be patient.

Second, you are demanding all these details to be made public. Nonetheless there is one little detail, no country reveals all its defence secret and I dare you to name one. The public will only be shown snippets but you as a member of the Government by being a Member of Parliament, you can request for such briefing. Nonetheless such information would be given to you are under Parliamentary privelege so don't go revealing it to the public. Remember of a small detail of Secrecy Oath you took when entering the August Chambers eh.

Your statement in Malay is quite revealing " Betulkah pengkritik tidak adil kerana tidak membandingkan produk yang sama dan bagaimanakah hendak ditentukan dakwaan ini salah semcama membanding apel dan oren, sekiranya specifikasi tidak didedahkan pihak TLDM?" It seems despite your acknowledgement of your lack of knowledge in this matter, you still want to spin yourself out of this 'mistake'. I would advise you in military terms that if you want to spin, make sure that the deck is sufficiently far away and there are no obstacles in the way, or make sure you have a parachute ready.

I trust those who read up on the referenced article and press statement can make their own rational judgement. Cheers!

The Official Line

2011-02-10T09:20:00.001+08:00

Maybe delayed but it is still an offical response.

February 09, 2011 21:44 PM

RMN Denies Cost Of LCS Excessive

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- The increased cost in materials besides state-of-the art weaponry and other aspects are the reasons why the cost of procuring six Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) is over RM6 billion, said Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar.

He said the ships, which would be built locally by Boustead Naval Shipyard in collaboration with six reputable overseas shipyards, had better capability than the Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) RMN was currently using.

"The cost covers the overall cost of building the LCS including the aspects of sophisticated weaponry, sensing and radar equipment that have very high capability and also sonar to detect enemy submarines.

"The national defence industry is growing and depends a lot on foreign expertise and this is the main reason why the LCS cost so much," he told a press conference at his office at the Ministry of Defence here Wednesday.

He was responding to comments by Tony Pua, the Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara, which were carried in the Malaysiakini news portal that the six ships cost 870 per cent more compared to purchases of the same by other countries.

Abdul Aziz said Pua's remarks were off the mark as most nations would not reveal details on their military assets.

"It could also be that the costs abroad are much lower because the countries concerned have established defence industries and local expertise in ship maintenance and installing weapons and sensing systems.

"The costs forwarded (by Pua) also do not give a true picture of the overall cost, for example certain countries do not include the cost of GFE (Government-furnished equipment)," he said.

He added that Pua's claim that the New Zealand navy bought OPVs for just New Zealand Dollar (NZD) 90 million (RM211 million) each was also not correct as based on the ministry's findings, this and the cost of purchasing LCS by that country had yet to be finalised and that the amount stated (NZD90 million) was the price before 2004.

He also said that Pua's claim that the United States navy procured LCS at much lower prices was baseless as the MP did not have in depth knowledge on the matter.

Abdul Aziz further said that the procurement of the ships was done through the open tender process which would involve 60 per cent of the material to be sourced locally and would stretch over two Malaysia Plans, the 10th and 11th, a period over 10 years (up to 2020).

He said RMN badly needed the LCS as they had surface and undersea capability unlike the OPVs which had limited capability.

Furthermore, LCS are equipped with sophisticated defence systems like command and control, electronic warfare, various modes of engine control, three-dimensional radar, sea and air missile systems and anti-submarine torpedo capability, he said.

Other countries enlisting the use of LCS currently include the United States and England.

-- BERNAMA

For More Facts Rather Than Fiction

2011-02-08T19:14:00.002+08:00

Still on the misrepresented facts of the SGPV issue, I would recommend reading the following article from Malaysian Defence Analyst Dzirhan Mahadzir rebuttal on Mr Pua's allegations either on;

Malaysian Insider :My thoughts on SGPV and opposition statements – Dzirhan Mahadzir

or his Facebook posting below :

My thoughts on SGPV and opposition statements by Dzirhan Mahadzir - Defence Journalist

More facts rather than fiction is presented for your consumption.

An Open Letter To Mr Tony Pua

2011-02-08T10:51:00.004+08:00

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.

While We Ignorantly Complain, Others Praise

2011-02-07T14:28:00.003+08:00

It is rare for me to highlight a foreign blogger's post on Malaysian defence matters but this one I feel deserve the mention, as to me sometimes to see an unbiased review of the Malaysian Armed Forces should give fair insight to their capabilities, especially within the concept of HANRUH.

Read more by clicking on this link :

Senang Diri :Civil Resources in action: Malaysia launches Operasi Piramid (Ops Piramid, Operation Pyramid) to airlift Malaysian citizens from Egypt

The complexity of the operation is clearly defined as follows, despite some of the laymen's and ignoramus belief that it is so easy to evacuate our nationals out of Egypt;

Ops Pyramid demonstrates the ability of Malaysian authorities to rapidly plan, mobilise and deploy civil-military resources for a national effort, at short notice, with no rehearsal and at long range.

That the operation is taking place five time zones, some 7,400 km from its main support area in Kuala Lumpur and demands that flight schedules tie in with Malaysian Armed Forces (Angkatan Tentera Malaysia; ATM) ground support elements in Egypt illustrates the complexity of Ops Pyramid.

So What Shall We Be Getting?

2011-02-07T11:01:00.004+08:00

Speculation has been rifed amongst military forumers that the new LCS/SGPV will abandon the Meko platform and instead a DCNS Gowind derivative will be the base for this new vessel class due to statements that DCNS will assist in validating the new design. Yet when the Malaysian Defence Minister announced a Ringgit Malaysia 6 Billion allocation for the project after a briefing on the project by the designated builder, the model he was shown in a photo-op below is of the previously shown Stretched Meko platform marketed as a frigate by BNS previously. So what should be made of this eh?

February 05, 2011 19:15 PM

RM6 Billion Approved For Six Patrol Vessels

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (left), listening to a briefing by Ahmad Raqmli Mohd Nor on the model patrol vessel. Pic: Norsharuddin Sapian

LUMUT, Feb 5 (Bernama) -- The government has agreed to allocate RM6 billion to build six second generation patrol vessels for the Royal Malaysian Navy, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Saturday.

The construction of the ships will boost the economy while benefiting 632 vendor companies, he told reporters here after a briefing on the project.

"Thus, we will ensure that at least RM2 billion of the allocation will benefit these vendor companies which are strategic partners of Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd," he added.

Ahmad Zahid said that he would himself monitor the progress of the project, due to start next year, and ensure that all concerned benefit from it and that there was no delay in paying the vendors.

He said that Boustead Naval Shipyard had constructed several new generation vessels for the RMN and shown itself to be on par with other ship builders in the world.

Ahmad Zahid also said the Lumut-Bagan Datoh coastal area here has been identified for a world-class shipyard to be developed over the next 10 to 20 years.

He said the defence industry, including shipping, had immense potential in the Asean region and now generated income of US$25 billion a year.

If Malaysia could attract at least 20 per cent of the defence spending, US$5 billion or RM15 billion could be generated by companies in the country, he said.

Ahmad Zahid the government was now trying to attract more defence industry-based projects, including ship building, to the country.

-- BERNAMA

It Would Have Never Crossed My Mind

2011-02-02T18:24:00.002+08:00

Here is something that we never would have realised about all those port visits even though you can easily find all the foreign military personnel crowding our tourist spots.

Photo Credit : Mcwood/Milphotos

MOOTW

2011-02-02T12:53:00.003+08:00

Another prime example of our ATM's Military Operations Other Than War(MOOTW) and yet some still want to question why we need the military?

February 02, 2011 11:19 AM

Air Force Aircraft To Leave For Egypt Today In Mission To Evacuate Malaysians

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 (Bernama) -- Three C-130 transport aircraft belonging to the Malaysian Royal Air Force will leave for Egypt around noon today in a mission to bring home Malaysian students from the troubled country.

National Security Council secretary Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab said the aircraft would also bring along foodstuff.

"At noon today, the aircraft will take off from Kuala Lumpur. They are taking with them food supply such as rice, cooking oil, flour, canned food and so on," he told Bernama when contacted.

He added that the government was now arranging temporary visas with the Saudi Arabian government to enable evacuation of students to Jeddah.

"Their number is huge so we are bringing them to Jeddah first," he said.

Last night, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak ordered the evacuation of Malaysian students due to the mounting uprising in Egypt.

Najib said the decision was made following a report by a team of Malaysian officials who is currently on a fact-finding mission to Egypt headed by Deputy Foreign Minister A. Kohilan Pillay and participated by the prime minister's political secretary Datuk Sahlan Ismail.

There are about 11,300 Malaysian students registered with the Malaysian Embassy in Egypt.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptian stage demonstrations across major Egyptians cities in a bid to force President Hosni Mubarak to end his 30-year rule, plunging the country in its worst crisis in recent times.

What Our Armed Forces Do During Peacetime

2011-02-02T10:31:00.003+08:00

Usually we hear nonsense from some on why we need to have a standing Armed Forces when we supposedly face no threats. Well this time I want to show how the Armed Forces are useful when our nation faces another type of threat.

Kredit for All Photos RMAF/Standupper at mymil.forums2u.com

So please don't talk out of your arses when the Armed Forces wants to make equipment purchases as these are usually dual use that can bring benefits to the Rakyat even during peacetime.

RMN CNO Talks About MV Bunga Laurel On TV9 26/1/11 at 1030pm

2011-01-26T20:14:00.003+08:00

To those who follow my blog, I hope you all receive this message in time to see the show.

Dzirhan Mahadzir - Defence Journalist Navy Chief will be on TV9 tonight at 1030PM to talk abt RMN in Gulf of Aden ops area.

Dzirhan Mahadzir - Defence Journalist Just to add, there will be exclusive footage of incident

Success Only Can Give You Accolades Eh?

2011-01-23T13:48:00.006+08:00

Following their earlier success with the rescue of our own MV Bunga Laurel from Somalian pirates, this time laurels of accolade are being thrown towards the crew of BM 5, even by the same people who says the mission is a waste of public funds previously and by those who said that PASKAL were a bunch of cowards for not playing an obvious in the rescue of MISC's two cargo vessels a couple of years ago.

But yet do these people realise that not only the navy but members of the other arms of our armed forces sacrifice and risk their lives on a daily basis, against potential threats and adversaries as aptly stated in this article by Malaysian defence blogger, Asian Security Observer. These are the people who always ask why we should have a standing force of armed forces by asking who are the enemies who want we want to fight with. I hope this can open their hypocritical eyes that threats to our nation are omnipresent, and these people on a daily basis are every ready to meet the threats with potent force.

The Star Graphics

So please realise your calls and your criticism against our defence spending is not helping and will only make them impotent rather than a potent force. So it is quite right that the Defence Ministry attempts to make hay while the sun shines by expanding the expansion of Somalian piracy theater of operations by introducing another vessel, as I have advocated before.

January 22, 2011 20:31 PM
Defence Ministry Ready To Add On Ship For Protection

LABIS, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- The defence ministry is ready to provide another Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) ship to protect Malaysian merchant ships from pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden.

"We can add another ship, as long as the MISC (Malaysian International Shipping Corporation) agrees to bear its operating costs," the minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said this when met during the Tenang by-election nomination process here Saturday.

He was asked to comment on the navy's auxiliary ship, Bunga Mas 5 (TLDM BM 5) which rescued the MT Bunga Laurel from being hijacked by Somali pirates in the gulf on Thursday.

The success (of the rescue operation), he said, demonstrated the RMN's ability to protect merchant ships plying the gulf -- a notorious hunting ground of the dreaded Somali pirates.

The minister said he was inundated with calls from his foreign counterparts who congratulated Malaysia on its achievement and hoped RMN's operation in the Gulf of Aden continued in the future.

The incident occured about 300 nautical miles east of Oman at 11.40pm, two hours after Bunga Mas 5 had escorted the tanker and another MISC liquefied natural gas carrier, MT Seri Balhaf, to a safe zone in the gulf.

The Bunga Laurel is a chemical tanker hired by the MISC to ferry lubricating oil and ethylene dichloride from the Middle East to Singapore.

The navy's Fennec attack helicopter launched from the Bunga Mas 5 was also involved in the operation by providing reconaissance and aerial cover.

Three pirates sustained injuries in the incident and were treated onboard the Bunga Mas 5.

-- BERNAMA

A Duck To Ride On.

2011-01-05T11:23:00.004+08:00

The Malaccan DUCK's

It impressed me no less to see an amphibian truck typically called a duck, a legacy of the name of one of its enduring predecessor the DUKW, being successfully operated by a tourist company in Malacca during my recent visit there. Checking their website, I found that the truck is not a DUKW but actually a LARC V or Lighter, Amphibious Resupply, Cargo, 5 ton; which is an aluminium-hulled amphibious cargo vehicle capable of transporting 5 tons. It was developed in US during the 1950s, and is used in a variety of auxiliary roles to this day by no less than 5 National armed forces, and to my surprise by both the Philippines Marine and Singapore Combat Support Services Unit regionally.

The Singaporean LARC V

The Phillippines LARC V

That got me wondering why our own armed forces or security agency has not thought of this solution for our amphibious needs, if not the army or navy, at least the police or JPA3 Civil Defence agency should operate at least a squadron for use during our flooding season. We always complain that we do not have suitable transport to reach water logged areas, but the solution has been staring at our Powers-To-Be faces all this while. In the US the LARC V is undergoing SLEP as it has been found to be useful in emergency relief work, so should we not also consider this a viable solution. Don't la say that it will take a study tour to the States to decide on this, as it is already proven and operating locally. I have read that the Police managed to set a circumnavigation record with an amphibious RHIB on trial some time ago, but a RHIB will not have the capacity of this 5 ton Duck. Hopefully this post will get some brain juices working in someone working in our National Security Department. In any event, the Malaccan DUCK's should be made available for duty during a National emergency, but still this is a poor solution to an omnipresent threat.

The NGPV Is FInished, The SGPV Is Started

2010-12-29T09:55:00.007+08:00

For a project that has gone through a tumultuous time to complete over a decade, the NGPV saga that had finally ended yesterday with the commissioning of KD Selangor by the Chief Of Navy, did not merit wide coverage in the news including Bernama below.

Six Patrol Vessels For Navy

LUMUT, Dec 28 (Bernama) -- The government has issued a letter of intent to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd for the building of six second generation petrol vessels under a programme starting in 2012, Chief of Navy Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said Tuesday.

The additional vessels will ease the asset restraint that the Royal Malaysian Navy have had to endure since surrendering 17 of its ships to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, he said when launching KD Selangor, the sixth RMN petrol vessel, at the base here.

KD Selangor is the last ship ordered under a programme which started in 1999. The other vessels are KD Kedah and KD Pahang, based in Kota Kinabalu, and KD Perak and KD Terengganu, in Kuantan.

KD Selangor will be based in Lumut alongside KD Kelantan.

-- BERNAMA

She will be based together with KD Kelantan in Lumut while her sisters KD Terengganu and KD Perak are in Kuantan and Kd Kedah and KD Pahang are based in Kota Kinabalu respectively. The CNO commented that despite all what has happened, the Kedah-class construction has been worthwhile as they have provided a high level of readiness and carried out their duties with excellence.

The CNO has also announced that with the LOI issued to Boustead Naval Shipyard, the second generation patrol vessel project(SGPV) should commence in 2012. I do wish though that they are consistent with the name of the project as it seems it can easily alternate between LCS and SGPV depending on the wind, pun intended. Nonetheless there is still no news on whether the Kedah class will be upgraded even though the press releases has emphasized the class' ability to do so under the fitted for but not with concept. Well we may yet need to wait when if ever the upgrading will occur with bated breath for a while longer.

The Perils Of Defence Blogging

2010-12-20T20:34:00.004+08:00

The past few days the military vein of the internet was abuzz about which order that Samsung reportedly received a one billion five warship order from an unidentified southeast asian country.

Daewoo Shipbuilding Stock Gains on $1 Billion Asian Contract for Warships

By Saeromi Shin and Jun Yang - Dec 15, 2010
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the world’s second-biggest shipyard, rose to the highest in more than two years in Seoul trading after announcing it received an order worth $1 billion.

The South Korean yard received an order to build five warships for a Southeast Asian country, it said today in a statement, without naming the buyer.

The contract follows the $1.1 billion order Daewoo Shipbuilding announced earlier this month for a drill ship and semi-submersible rig as a global economic recovery fuels demand for vessels.

The shipbuilder climbed 3.5 percent to 33,800 won, the highest close since Aug. 29, 2008. The benchmark Kospi stock index gained 0.4 percent to 2,017.48 at the 3 p.m. close of trading in the city. (Source: Bloomberg)

Another version of the story did not even mention the type of the warship but still did not identify the nation making the order.

Daewoo Shipbuilding wins $900 mln deal

Tue, Dec 14 2010

SEOUL, Dec 15 (Reuters) - South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering , the world's second-largest shipbuilder, said on Wednesday it had won a $900 million deal to jointly build 3 ships with an unnamed Southeast Asian partner.

Daewoo said in a statement it plans to deliver the ships from 2013. (Reporting by Danbee Moon; Editing by David Chance

Thus the net chatter was for a while wondering which country was making the order, and some from Taiwan to the Phillipines even believing the order was for their navy. The funny thing was that being Malaysian I suspected this has something to do with the contract signing between NGV Tech and DSME for 2 patrol cum training ships, but the details was quite different than what was reported by our own news bureau. But to be responsible you really cannot comment unless you are really sure that the news at least is verifiable by a reputable source.

So here it is, something from the trade news source that reported the news more accurately, with a picture even.

Daewoo Over-achieves Order Target

2010-12-15 issuer:eshiptrading.com Reading Times:31 times

DSME president Mr Nam (right) and CEO of a local shipyard in Southeast Asian nation are signing the naval vessel joint construction contract
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has met its order target for this year by signing a naval ship contract worth up to $1bn.
On December 14th, DSME's president Nam Sang-tae was in a Southeast Asian nation to officially sign a contract with a local shipyard to jointly build naval vessels and transfer related technology.
The Korean shipyard will design and build the hulls of the vessels. Arming and outfitting work on the ships will be conducted in the local shipyard in the Southeast Asian country through technology transfer.
They are scheduled for delivery from the local yard since 2013.
Mr Nam said, "This contract is a complex business model in cooperation with local shipyard to boost exports of naval vessels."
DSME is also planning to secure similar contracts with other Southeast Asian countries, Brazil and Russia.
The Korean shipbuilder aimed to achieve new orders of $10bn this year and it has now secured $10.9bn worth of new ship contracts so far this year. Source:Asiasis

Well then we can at least confirm that the unidentified country is actually Malaysia but the most important factor is that the contract is potentially "worth up to $1 billion" , meaning not actually one billion dollars yet with our own insight on the story. Another problem is that the other news sources got the wrong number of units to be built. So therein lies the perils of defence blogging. You really have to verify your source of information unless you too want to contribute to the misinformation on the information superhighway.

Navy's Procurement Chugging Along Just Fine

2010-12-15T10:29:00.003+08:00

It is good news that NGV Tech have confirmed their receipt of the Royal Malaysian Navy order for two training ship cum patrol ship, that will have design assistance from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

December 14, 2010 16:36 PM

NGV Tech To Build Training Vessels For Malaysian Navy

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 (Bernama) -- Shipbuilder NGV Tech Sdn Bhd is collaborating with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd (DSME) to construct two 75.9-metre training-cum-patrol vessels for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).

"In the period of 24 months, we will collaborate to design, build and deliver the naval vessels," NGV Tech Executive Chairman Datuk Zulkifli Shariff told reporters after the contract signing ceremony here today.

"DSME will do the retail design; the vessel blocks will be transported to Malaysia and we will start joining it together at our 24-hectare shipyard in Sijangkang," he added.

NGV Tech builds about 40 ships annually, generating about RM500 million in revenue.

Zulkifli said the company had previously built and delivered naval vessels for foreign countries but the new units were bigger and more elaborate and sophisticated in design and capabilities.

"This will be our maiden project with the RMN. And with our local manpower and experience to be derived from DSME, we are confident that we will produce superb marine vessels for them," he said.

He also revealed that both vessels would be worth about RM150 million to RM180 million each depending on the negotiation outcomes.

Meanwhile, NGV Tech has also offered DSME to design the Multi Role Support Ship (MRSS) which the RMN has a need as well.

"We will start the retail design as per the requirements of the RMN and once orders have been confirmed, we can start building immediately," he said.

Currently, the company is in talks with other potential MRSS buyers, namely Nigeria and Egypt.

"By doing the design first, we can save about 20 months as designing this kind of vessels is time consuming, especially when MRSS is a large vessel which is 157 metres in length," he said.

He added, the MRSS could cost potential buyers about RM1.2 billion to RM1.3 billion each.

Present at the ceremony today were former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed and DSME President and Chief Executive Officer Nam Sang-Tae.

Nam said the deal with NGV Tech was the first of its kind for DSME.

"I think this is a good starting point for us although we do not see any significant impact in the near term," he said, expecting more collaborations with NGV Tech in future.

-- BERNAMA

Within a twenty four months period, the navy will have two additional 76 metre platforms to enhance their patrolling capabilities that has been decimated by the transfer of patrol crafts to the MMEA.

The other good news is that NGV Tech has also gone ahead with the retail design of their proposed MRSS, so if the Navy finally gets approval to order the ships, it is expected to shave 20 months from the lead time as the building can be started immediately. The below design is supposedly by Daewoo. Can we expect something in a similar vein for Malaysia? But what interest me more is the fact that Daewoo built the Submarine Rescue Ship for the Korean Navy. Maybe we can also parlay their participation to either build a similar ship or get cooperation for submarine rescue in the unlikely event an accident happens.

Let's Read His Thoughts -Part 1-

2010-12-14T06:40:00.002+08:00

As Dzirhan has mentioned before, he will no longer comment on the excerpts as he managed to get hold of the book itself. So let's read his thoughts on the first chapter shall we.

My Thought's on Chapter 1 of Dr. Kua's book-pt1
by Dzirhan Mahadzir - Defence Journalist on Sunday, 12 December 2010 at 19:32
Ok folks, apologies for the slowness but work left me pretty busy, for those unaware, there's a good write-up on Dr. Kua's book launch yesterday, in which more nonsense spouted by Dr. Kua, someone should point out to Dr. Kua that no UMNO member could die fighting Japanese in WWII since UMNO was only formed in 1946, link below
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/news/general/14065-patronage-the-practice-in-arms-spending
Wasn't surprised Dr. McCoy was present there, but nice to note only 30 people including media/NGO/PKR reps attending which shows how much interest there is in it ;), Notice Malaysiakini now carrying commentary from the book etc, all I guesss to make up for lack of interest, didn't see any coverage in mainstream media. Intersting enough for all the interest in defence issues etc and citing of my articles in the matter in a book and in Parliament by Pakatan MPs and NGO, nobody seems to see fit to speak to me and ask, same for media be it mainstream or online on defence issues, guess people who work in the business not credible in contrast to people who know little save for what they read ;). Anyway enough on that as that will be a note for another day.
Now I have no problem with defence spending being scrutinized or criticised, but my problem is when the matter becomes politicised, distorted and used by people to fulfill their own agendas or when people doing such don't know what they are talking about or when they deliberately used racial issues which is the entire problem with Dr. Kua's book.
The first flaw in the book is the manner of citations used, there's an inconsistancy in Dr. Kua's approach, he gives name credits to articles by writers like my old boss Bob Karniol, who recruited me into Janes and a few others but the numerous times he cites articles in Janes and Defence Review Asia (mostly mine) and the mainstream media articles in NST, Star and others, he can't see fit to name the authors and title of the articles. Now the reason for this is important as knowing who wrote the article, so we can judge the accuracy and quality as not all writers are the same, and the context of the quotation based on the article title. The other problem is just on a personal basis as Dr Kua quotes my JDW focus on the Malaysian Armed Forces several times but it doesn't rate a mention in the selected articles list in the bibliography, wherelse articles he quotes once or twice does which again falls foul of normal conventions in such, like I said I get no credit ;).
The other flaw in the book is that in all honest sense, the supposedly well researched book has no original information, as pointed by both Marhalim and Azra, all the book does is quote materials published publicly, even then Dr. Kua doesn't bother finding out additional information or digging out new information. The so called expose is a lie as nothing contained in the book hasn't been talked about. Furthermore if it really is to be an expose, why did Dr. Kua not find people willing to talk, even anonymously about the alledged wrongdoings etc. If the publishers and writer had been honest enough to state that the book simply was based on open sources and a compilation, I'ed have been less critical but as it is..
I'm not going to bother with analyzing the foreword as it's a waste of time,not to mention the disgusting insincere dedication and go to Chapter 1, first off Dr Kua states that defence spending is passed through Parliament without too much debate, conveniently forgetting that he was once an MP, so whose fault is that if MPs, especially DAP, PKR and PAS don't do their job during the budget debate?? Now as to the issue of tying in withdrawal of subsidies and defence spending, the problem is if we don't spend money on defence, the problem is that we could lose billions down the line due to loss of sovereignity or inability to defend ourselves and Dr. Kua fails to take into account much of the spending is making up for the years where defence spending was postponed. It's ironic that Dr Kua criticised the mainstream media for defence reporting but then cites them extensively in his book, a very hypocritical approach. On pg 2 he cites an article in NST as example of coverage of defence exhibitions but it deons't mention if the article was purely a fluff feature or serious news, btw at least mainstream media covers the defence exhibition, don't recall online media save for KL Security Review covering at all.
On page 2 Dr Kua cites an article by Kym Bergmann on DRA about the Su-30 engine, as I work for DRA and Kym is my editor, it's a actually in my opinion a mix-up or editing mistake on the two stolen F-5E engines and a story about the Sukhoi engines being damaged, there's no Sukhoi engines missing, of course this illustrates the problem of simply relying on articles written, honest mistakes do occur in defence articles written overseas and also locally, even I screw up sometimes but thing is, if you want to cite something which has not been written anyway else, verifying the matter independently is important
As I've already talked about his comments on what RM1 billion can buy, I don't need to add on it but I think I need to ask why is it that when a Malay makes a comment as to what is seen as racist or race baiting, everyone gets up in arms, one the other hand when a non-Malay like Dr. Kua does so in his implication that no Indian and Chinese schools are being built due to defence spending, no one makes noise about it. I'm not a fan of Perkasa or Ultra-Malay nationalists but I think everyone should be held to equal standards.
Interestingly on Pg 5, Bob Karniol's article is cited as saying (the bad grammar clued me in as something being wrong-see end thoughts):
"Looking at the actors in East Asia security compex, defence expenditures of China, S. Kora and Japan, each of their respective airacft procurement budgets would dwalf that of all of SE Asia combine. Look at South Asia Security Complex, against some big numbers for India. What is the impact of Malaysi's 1 squadron purchase in comparison to India's current order of Su-30s (or for that matter China's building plan for the J-10)? Given the disparity in defence budgets, ASEAN countries cannot be said to engae in an arms race agaainst regional powers like India or China, it would not be a race." (5)
Footnote 5 states Robert Karniol "Arms resurgence in Southeast Asia" Straits Times, 15 March 2010. Now look at the online copy of the article at link below where this para does not exist at all, so was this part edited out in the ANN online version of it or it never existed at all and was made up?
http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?sec=1&id=10740
More to come later....
and this was the addendum..
Did Bob Karniol's quote in Dr. Kua's book exist at all
by Dzirhan Mahadzir - Defence Journalist on Sunday, 12 December 2010 at 19:36
I'm just repeating my last para in my previous note to bring up this issue:
Interestingly on Pg 5, Bob Karniol's article is cited as saying (the bad grammar clued me in as something being wrong-see end thoughts):
"Looking at the actors in East Asia security complex, defence expenditures of China, S. Korea and Japan, each of their respective aircraft procurement budgets would dwalf that of all of SE Asia combine. Look at South Asia Security Complex, against some big numbers for India. What is the impact of Malaysi's 1 squadron purchase in comparison to India's current order of Su-30s (or for that matter China's building plan for the J-10)? Given the disparity in defence budgets, ASEAN countries cannot be said to engae in an arms race agaainst regional powers like India or China, it would not be a race." (5)
Footnote 5 states Robert Karniol "Arms resurgence in Southeast Asia" Straits Times, 15 March 2010. Now look at the online copy of the article at link below where this para does not exist at all, so was this part edited out in the ANN online version of it or it never existed at all and was made up?
http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?sec=1&id=10740

Leaks In Our Official Comms-Wikileaks?

2010-12-13T11:45:00.006+08:00

You guys can have your field day debating for or against the Wikileak report on a certain accused person, but what concerns me is the supposed "intercepted communications" that allowed an assessment to be made on the technical interception as alleged in this source article from the Sydney Morning Herald itself, as pointed out by a forumer in my military forum.

The document states the Singaporeans told ONA they made this assessment on the basis of ''technical intelligence'', which is likely to relate to intercepted communications.

I am interested to know which communication vehicle(s) that is so leaky that some other nation can make a good judgement call based I believe on a fair amount of data, as even their Senior Minister himself could commit to making a statement on this, somebody who is known not to tolerate nonsense.

'The Australians said that Singapore's intelligences services and [Singaporean elder statesman] Lee Kuan Yew have told ONA in their exchanges that opposition leader Anwar 'did indeed commit the acts for which he is currently indicted'.''

So can somebody identify where the leaks are coming from instead of concentrating on the sensationalism, as this really involves national security as we do not know how much more critical intelligence has been leaked to the others.

So Can We Imagine

2010-12-09T20:28:00.007+08:00

The forumers in my military forum was discussing how the RMN could realise a fixed wing component for their air service. It was proposed that a maritime patrol squadron and/or a maritime strike squadron should be established and whether an aircraft carrier should even be included in the equation. This is supposed the relieve the air force so that they can concentrate on air superiority as their main business. The arguments now basically agree that the most required is the MPA squadron as it can also be used as an anti-surface and anti-submarine platform, while an aircraft carrier is totally unnecessary as we have enough land mass to perform as a stone carrier. Meanwhile the maritime strike squadron is thought of as a nice too have, but unnecessary based on current conditions. Well the matter is still being argued, so if you want to participate in the discussions, join the forum.

WhatI want to write on is to imagine that approval was given for the navy to have their maritime strike squadron so that they can prioritise on fleet protection based on their needs in the event the air force is busy elsewhere. As such let's consider how this can be done. What I propose is to emulate how the navy's rotary air wing was established, whereby they bought the HAS Mk1 Wasp before graduating to the modern helicopters. And what fixed wing maritime strike aircraft would fill this role I wondered before remembering that Malaysia unfortunately has about 44 A-4 cocoons bundled away in the Arizona desert. Remember that money would be tight and this have to be started in the smallest scale as possible. The ones mothballed locally I expect to be in a very bad condition already, if they have not become gate guards or engineering projects in our local universities. The ones in reserve locally if still being kept in the condition in the photo below would definitely be a no no, but if we can refurbish eight units to fighting condition from the Arizona boneyard would still leave plenty for spare parts. Mind you that these units should be for maritime strikes only, or hit and run missions with no combat flying if possible, so the airframe should still be able to handle the stress.

Having said that, the Skyhawks should be fully armed for its specialised role, and I was made to understand that the AGM-65 F/J model fits the bill for an anti-surface mission that can be launched from 28 kilometres away. Therefore these naval skyhawks would not need to fly in close and fast like the Argies during the Falklands War, and can be a worthwhile deterrent to any approaching enemy fleet. Now where shall the deterrent be based then? I would say an East Malaysian air base should be selected, as West Malaysia can be handled by the Air Force Hornets in Penang. Can Labuan Island be our stone carrier in this case, as the areas it can cover would be a potential hotspot that currently has no such organic support. And with a squadron of only eight Skyhawks to be based, not much resources would need be expanded to permanently station the aircraft while breathing life again to KD Labuan.

In case you are wondering why only eight Skyhawks should be made operational, well you have to consider that there will be also be only eight Hornets available to be transferred to the navy from the airforce, while the LIFT aircraft squaderon would be equipped with the Air Force's Hawk 208. I would expect that the Navy would take this procurement option of taking hand me down aircrafts to make the operation economical unless they can get a big bump in the available defence budget so that they can acquire new platforms. In fact I would say that the only way such a maritime strike squadron is to be operated by the navy is to make it a small scale operation, with a focused mission. Maybe only then would what I imagine may even have the smallest hint of becoming a reality, and at least as important to me also is to see our Skyhawks flying off into the sunset, and not be laid bare in the desert still. In the meantime, excuse me if I am dreaming rather than imagining.

We Too Can Argue In Cyberspace

2010-12-03T07:01:00.002+08:00

With all due respect to Dzirhan, I repost here his thoughts on that book la. Keep the information flowing!

My Thoughts on excerpts in Dr Kua's book Pt.1
by Dzirhan Mahadzir - Defence Journalist on Thursday, 02 December 2010 at 22:27

Ok tks to Mudzaffar Alfian Bin Mustafa who posted the link to the excerpt on Dr. Kua’s book,
http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/letterssurat/36245-kua-kia-soongs-new-book-qquestioning-arms-spending-in-malaysia-from-altantuya-to-zikorskyq

I’m going to give my thoughts on it and highlight certain points in italics, the intro is purely hyperbole and by the way if they wanted serious endorsements for the book, I’m surprised nobody ask the defence journalists in the country to review/comment/endorse J, guess we are not credible enough, ha-ha, anyway this para made me laugh:

The ‘Arms for Aid Scandal’ contains revelations in the British press on the RM5 billion arms deal in 1994 and is published here for the first time,

Umm how can something published in the British press already be published for the first time now, either I’m missing something or somebody got carried away with the hype. Anyway on to the excerpt

EXCERPT

What RM1b Can Buy

Most of us do not realize the proportion of the country’s wealth being spent on arms, the commissions being paid for arms and in many cases, questionable purchases of such arms. Compare that with the gross shortage of schools and hospitals, public transport and other social services that so many Malaysians face and the obscenity of it all can be clearly seen.

For example, RM1 billion worth of arms is equivalent to building at least 100 hospitals or 1000 new schools or 10,000 new houses. Do you know that since Independence in 1957 – after more than 50 years - there has not been a single new Chinese or Tamil primary school built? In fact we had more Chinese and Tamil primary schools then (1,350 and 880 respectively) compared to the present (1285 and 550 schools respectively). And the population at Independence was only half what it is today!

But in one weekend alone in April 2010, the BN Government could justify spending RM10 billion on arms at the Kuala Lumpur Defence Fair. With that money, we could have built 1000 hospitals or 10,000 schools or 100,000 houses! The Tenth Malaysia Plan (2011-15) has allocated RM23 billion for defence and security.

Ok interesting that it mentions a portion of country’s wealth spent on arms but doesn’t throw in the fact, course that could be in the book, anyway we only spent around 2% of GDP on defence annually, as it is there’s a failure to mention that not all of the RM23 billion is actually spent on the armed forces, it says defence and security which includes the Police, MMEA, Home Affairs etc, at end of the day defence will probably only account somewhere around RM15 billion or so. Now we get into silly calculations that we if don’t buy arms we can build schools, houses, hospital etc, are we absolutely certain that such will occur, besides at end of day, there’s no saying the government won’t waste the money elsewhere. The other problem is that the money spent on defence is an insurance policy against the umpteen billions we could lose if we lose sovereignty over country or our natural resources, something all the idiots never take into account. Yes we can spend so much building everything for the people by not buying weapons but kinda pointless if they all get bombed etc because we don’t have any weapons to arm ourselves with. :)
As for the Chinese/Tamil primary schools, can we please show directly a link between defence spending and such not being built, there are so many reasons that this could have happened, and btw what happened to Malaysian Malaysia or whatever the pro-Pakatan groups like to say, are not ethnic based schools divisive? Sometimes some people speak with forked tongue if you ask me. :)
As for 10 billion at DSA, true but it’s not every weekend :) (and actually it was from Mon-Thurs so it’s in course of less than a week actually) but end of the day it looks like a large amount but keep in mind that 7-8 billion of that is the AV8 program which is going to be spread over several years and many of the contracts similarly will be spread over several years, the other problem is that military equipment is always expensive, no escaping that especially when we have to import and our exchange rate isn’t good.

Up to now, there has been a lack of public outcry over the size of the defence budget in Malaysia.

Erm, maybe because unlike some people, the public understands why we spend on defence, besides they love seeing shiny new fighter jets and tanks bearing the Malaysian flag on display :)

Thus, what is the purpose of this entire splurge on arms by the BN Government? Does it make sense in the light of the regional status quo and the state of our economic development?

In short yes :)

The arms race among the Southeast Asian countries seems the most pointless after all the talk at conferences on ASEAN integration. Even so, each country’s attempt to be ahead in the race is self-defeating. For example, does Malaysia’s acquisition of 18 Su-30MKM planes change the balance of power in the immediate region? This is doubtful since Thailand operates 57 F-16A/Bs & has 6 Gripens on order while Singapore has even more jet fighters including F-16C/Ds, F5s and F-15SGs on order.

So you are saying then we need to get more fighter jets to match our neighbours? Actually, we buy only to sufficiently defend our sovereignty not match our neighbours and what we can afford. I find it laughable to say an arms race is occurring, if it was, everytime our neighbors buy something, we would instantly buy something, so far not the case.

The Non-Aligned Movement was founded upon the principles of peace, neutrality and impartiality to the Superpowers. A genuine non-aligned policy can therefore go a long way toward ridding us of the need to procure expensive arms.

Rubbish, we get no respect if we do not have a serious military force. This is the kind of idiocy propagated by people who live in a cloud cuckoo land.

Many are not aware of the rapid growth of Malaysia’s domestic military-industrial complex. The top brass of the military guard their power and privilege and this is nourished by easy access to the defence budget and the simple justification of “national security”.

Honestly, most of the time the military officers complain that they can’t get anything approved without the civilians and treasury, there’s no such thing as the top brass simply having unfettered access to money. This statement is disgusting as it seems to say that our senior military officers simply take money from the defence budget and spend it anyway they want.

An offshoot of the arms purchases is the race to develop domestic defence equipment industries in each of the S.E. Asian countries. In 1993, aerospace became a new strategic sub-sector of Malaysia’s manufacturing sector. This sector is both capital intensive and involves high technology

We’re developing it because it reduces our reliance on foreign suppliers, creates job locally and reduce costs.

With the burgeoning of a domestic military economy, we see class interest developing between the ruling elite and the top brass of the military. As it happens, there is now an extensive military automotive complex in the Prime Minister, Najib’s electoral constituency of Pekan with its layers of contractors, sub-contractors, servicemen and other gainfully employed.

Well Deftech is entitled to put its factory wherever it wants and employ whoever they want, that’s business and no law against it, besides there are plenty of defence companies with facilities located elsewhere than Pekan

We also find many retired generals and other officers of the armed forces in the directorships of many if not most of these local aerospace companies. This brings into focus questionable practices in the Malaysian civil and military services when we see top military and civil servants retiring into directorships of utility and arms companies.

True but caveat that this happens all over the world, and obviously people with expertise and connections are employed in management positions by companies wanting to make use of them, if we go on that arguments, people like Dr Kua can come under scrutiny since in the end they end up going to high positions in NGOs so question might be whether their activities relate to being actually concerned on issues or getting jobs/funding. In the end on the retired civil servants/ mil officers, parliament can pass a law restricting immediate employment upon retirement and having a cool-off period of several years but nobody seems to have thought of that.

Most military contracts come with purchase agreements involving local spin-offs.

Very bad thing as it provides employment for people in the country (sacarsm), think the issue should be pointing out whether these contracts were done in the interests of giving people/companies business when the equipment purchase was unnecessary or unsuitable. Of course with people like Dr. Kua, this is a problem when the defacto argument is that all military purchases unnecessary.

The significance of this domestic military-industrial complex to the composition of the ruling class, class relations, a right-wing tendency, patronage, employment and the outcome of elections cannot be underestimated.

Cripes, think someone better lay off the leftist talk, seriously retired military and the military overall have little effect on the political situation and if the military people vote BN, well that’s because BN leaders don’t disparage or insult our military publicly, this isn’t to say BN are doing well by the military, the fact that no one from the government turned up to send off our Afghan contingent was disgraceful in my opinion, I know because I was there at the event, but on the other hand while the BN leadership can sometimes be indifferent or not supporting of our military, at least they don’t slander or insult them so it’s not surprising that service personnel active or retired, tend to vote for them and at the end of the day, aren’t people allowed to choose who they vote, problem with left wing people who talk democracy is that if you don’t vote them, then that’s wrong. Personally I’m of the opinion that in an election, you have to accept who people vote in, so if the people elected Spongebob Squarepants or Barney the Dinosaur, I don’t have to like it but it is democracy and you have to accept that, by the way I’m also in favor of the PM job being a national vote rather than the majority party but then my problem with that is the fact that none of the current political party leaders would get my vote J.
OK End of Pt.1, Pt. 2 later as tomorrow I have an early morning assignement.

I will also repost the other parts once it is posted, but I really hope to see these thoughts reach the widest audience possible.

Why You Need To Launch In London One?

2010-12-02T15:16:00.003+08:00

And what shall we call the author and the book?

I just found out about this book that claims to " unearths the vested interests, corruption, wastage and negligence in arms procurement and alerts us to the growth of the domestic military-industrial complex. Malaysians are called upon to seriously consider the question of war and peace; the justifications for arms procurements; procedures of accountability and the choice of alternative socially useful production." will have a London book launch.

In the same manner, it advocates an alternative defence policy that positions itself " to purely defensive rather than offensive purposes. Such a defensive policy is eminently preferable. In the event of aggression by an outside force, having decentralised, dispersed people’s militia forces in small units armed with precision-guided, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles would be the way to wage a protracted people’s war against the aggressor. As has been proven by people’s wars in history, eg. the Vietnam war, such a defensive strategy will render useless all the tactical weapons of the aggressor, including nuclear warheads. Most importantly, such weapons of self-defence will be many times cheaper than the offensive high tech jet fighters, tanks, submarines and other vessels in the arms race we cannot hope to win anyway."

Very laughable defeatist position from somebody who advocates we surrender our country's independence without a fight and then engage in an asymmetrical warfare with the hope that we regain our independence some time in the future, conveniently forgetting the last time we did that in 1511 we only regained our independence in 1957. Why do you think our southern neighbour invests so much into their defence in "a poisoned shrimp" posture and we in "a bloody nose" stance so as to at least let our potential adversary think twice before they really consider invading our shores!. Yes we may be defeated but hopefully we have inflicted the most amount of damage to our enemy that their supply trains will not be able to re-provision their force's needs quickly, and that will be the time our people's war will strike back to inflict more damage that hopefully dis-entrench their forces.

But never ever shall we entertain any thoughts of giving the enemy a walk-over to merrily wade ashore, and I call anybody who dares to think so a traitor! Never will we purposely become "gorillas" while the fat rats desert the ship. Allegations and spin does not a research make, more so when a not so well disguised politically motivated book commits the act. Come to think of it, it becomes more transparent why this book needs a launch in the west. An invitation mayhaps?

Still Need For Anti-Piracy Efforts

2010-11-30T21:57:00.004+08:00

No need to elaborate on the latest hijacking by Somalian pirates of a Malaysian flagged merchant ship the MV Albedo. With all due respect to the crew and vessel owner, we as a nation can breathe a sigh of relief that none of our countrymen was amongst those captured. It will not become a serious national event that puts pressure on the Malaysian Government to actively pursue a peaceful resolution, but rather allow an under the radar resolution to the matter as what happened with the Malaysian Tugboat Masindra 7 affair that was released after eight months in captivity.

The questions for me are these. Was the BM5 back on patrol station when the incident happened? Was the fact that that the ship was hijacked while it was carrying containers and bound for Kenya from Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates, reportedly 900 nautical miles away from the Somalian border makes her operations impractical to join the Malaysian convoys transiting the area. The expansion of Somalian piracy theater of operations was a fact that I mentioned in my previous posting, and the question of the need to have another escort vessel in station while the other goes home should now become central. This does not include the quandary whether a single escort vessel is actually sufficient to meet Malaysian vessels escort needs in the expanded threat area.

Such operational realities now needs to be answered, and whether the responsibility should remain only with MISC and the Navy or should also now be shared by all Malaysian shipping operators operating in the threat area. Even if the BM5 is still at home port while the incident transpired, it would be unreasonable to put any blame either on the Navy, MISC or the Malaysian Government. Their best efforts will never be good enough to protect all the Malaysian ships in the area, even more so with such limited resources. Those who complain should sign up and go for the 100 plus days tour themselves, or just shut their mouths up!

What Can We Read Into This?

2010-11-30T11:19:00.003+08:00

Boeing F/A 18 E/F : Credit Boeing

Since there is no English version of this statement, I append herewith an extract in Malay of the Defence Minister's comment on the Super Hornet's proposed purchase.

Sementara itu, katanya, kerajaan masih belum memuktamadkan pembelian dua model pesawat tempur pelbagai guna (MRCA), FA-18 E Super Hornet dan FA-18 F Super Hornet bertujuan menggantikan pesawat lama, MIF-29 N yang akan ditamatkan operasinya secara berperingkat menjelang 2015. “Walaupun pembelian pesawat baru itu bersifat strategik, namun kajian terperinci perlu dilakukan, termasuk mengambil kira implikasinya terhadap belanjawan kerajaan kerana ia membabitkan perbelanjaan tinggi,” katanya. - Berita Harian

I read into this that the consideration now is to have the Super Hornet F/A-18 E to replace our MIG-29Ns and the F version will replace/complement the existing F/A-18 Ds. This would mean other contenders like the Gripen has now fallen on the wayside. If my interpretation proves correct, this would actually be good for the Air Force as it minimises our MRCA types while still adhering to dual-sourcing concept. Let's just wait and see, shall we. In the meantime, what do you think?

Register Of RMN Active List Ships - Subsea Combattants

2010-11-28T18:39:00.005+08:00

In 1965 the British withdrew from Malaysia their hydrographic assets and platforms and then transferred the responsibilities to chart the nation's hydrographic territory to the Malaysian Navy. The Hydrographic Department of the RMN was later formally established in 1969. The Royal Navy transferred a converted Ton class coastal minesweeper HMS Myrmidon that was commissioned in 1968 as the KD Perantau to become the navy's first survey vessel. This vessel provided the RMN the ability to execute hydrographic activities without any foreign navy's intervention. As KD Perantau alone was not able to meet the demand for hydropgrahic duties, a converted tug KTD Penyu was also pressed for hydrographic duties later on. The later acquisition of modern hydrography vessels enabled the RMN to commence gathering of bathymetric data that not only supplied nautical charts for surface ships but ultimately allows the vessels to be involved in the training , search and rescue missions and assisting in weapons training, anti-submarine warfare and submarine operations. This is especially useful since the Malaysian Navy after a 30 year wait has now received two modern attack diesel submarines to complete their 3 dimensional naval warfare capability. The submarines are not only a very good deterrent but is a very good force multiplier for a small navy like the RMN to act as a credible defence force for the nation. With the hydrograhic force working in concert with the submarine arm, the sub-surface will not be a stranger or an obstacle to achieving success.

Mutiara Class AGS

A225 (Ex-152) 1976/1977

Displacement: 1905 tons standard, 1949 tons full load
Dimensions: 71.15m x 13.52m x 4.75 m
Guns: Fitted for 2 x 20mm. Oerlikon Mk24
Electronics: 2 Racal 1226/1229 Navigation Radar, I Beam, Multi-beam Echo Sounder Atlas Hydrosweep MD 2/30 kHz, Deep Sea Echo Sounder Atlas Deso 25, Sound Velocity Probe 10 Inch, Motion Sensor DMS 3-05, Expandable Bathymetry Thermograph (XBT), 2 X Side Scan Sonar Klein 3000
Propulsion: 2 X Deutz SBA 12M 528 diesels totalling 2000 bhp, 1 controllable pitch propeller
Speed: 16 knots, range 8334Km at 16 knots
Crew : 155
Aircraft: platform aft.

KD MUTIARA was built locally in Penang by Hong Leong Lurssen Dockyard. She was originally commissioned to the Royal Malaysian Navy’s Fleet on 18th December 1977 with the pennant number A 152, but was renumbered after taking on grey livery and is the squadron leader to the 36th Hydrographic Squadron. Her endurance renders her sustainability at sea for a maximum period of 3 months. She is fitted with the latest state of the art Hydrographic and Oceanographic surveying system and is complemented with 4 surveying boats and 2 working boats. She has an impeccable record of successful hydrographic surveys and has contributed to the production of more than 50 nautical charts and completed her upgrade in 2004.

Perantau Class AGS

A151 (Ex-153) 1995/1998

Displacement: 1505 tons standard, 2160 tons full load
Dimensions: 67.8m x 13.3m x 4m
Electronics: Integrated Navigation and Command System (NACOS), X band and S band, ATLAS I Band, Digital Survey and Mapping System 'HYDROMAP', Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS), SYstem LEgere pour mesure le DIStance (SYLEDIS) - Electronic Position Fixing System, 1 multi-beam medium / shallow echo-sounder, 2 dual frequency Single beam Echo Sounder, Hull Mounted Acoustic Current Profiller (ADCP) , Sound Velocity Probe , Sub-Bottom Profiler, Expandable Bathymetry Thermograph (XBT), 2 X Side Scan Sonar Klein 3000
Propulsion: 2 X Two Deutz MWM SB8 M628 diesels for 4760 bhp, 2 shafts Berg controllable pitch propellers, 1 Schotel 3 ton bow thruster.
Speed: 16 knots, range 11, 112 Km at 10 knots
Crew : 96

KD PERANTAU was ordered from Germany’s Krogerweft but was built locally in Penang by Hong Leong Lurssen Dockyard. She replaced the former KD PERANTAU which was decommissioned in 1990. KD PERANTAU was built with a combination of local expertise in shipbuilding and design and the main hydrographic and navigation system are based from German's technology. The ship was designed and equipped specifically for hydrographic surveying operation and conducting meteorological and oceanographic observations mainly in the tropics. he ship also carries two survey launch mainly deployed for surveying in shallow water equipped with shallow water multi-beam echo-sounders and short range UHF differential GPS.

Hidrografi Class HSL

Hidrografi 1 2005
Hidrografi 2 2009

Displacement: 8.5 tons standard
Dimensions: 16m x 4.45m x 1.5 m
Electronics: Navigation Radar, Echo Sounder, Side Scan Sonar
Propulsion: 2 X CUMMINS 6CTA8.3M(SW) diesels, 2 shafts x 1 fixed propeller
Speed: 19 knots, range 834Km
Crew : 14

In addition to the survey launches on board the hydrographic ships, the Royal Malaysian Navy has also commissioned two locally built hydrographic survey launches that operates independently to complement the ships' operations. Based in East Malaysia, these craft will be used for hydrographic survey and data collection.

Perdana Class SSK

KD Tunku Abdul Rahman 2003/2009
KD Tun Razak 2004/2010

Displacement: 1577 tons surfaced, 1711 tons submerged
Dimensions: 66.4 m x 6.2 m x 5.4 m
Weapons : 6 x 533mm torpedo tubes . 18 x Anti Ship Missiles/Torpedoes combination
Anti-Ship Missile: SM39 Block II missiles, Range : 50 Km
ASW: 533 mm WASS Balckshark wire-guided torpedoes. Range : 50 Km
Electronics: SUBTICS combat control system, I-Band navigation radar, Thales DR3000 ESM, TSM 2233 Mk II Hull Mounted Sonar, active/passive search and attack.
Propulsion: 2 x SEMT Pielstick PA4 200 SM D-12 DS Diesels, Exide Hagen propulsion batteries, 1 Jeumont Industrie Motor, 1 shaft.
Speed: 20.5 knots dived, 12 knots submerged ; range 667 Km at 4 knots submerged, 11 112 Km at 8 knots surfaced
Crew : 32

After a thirty year wait where the idea to induct a submarine force into the navy was first broached in the 1970s and the first submariners started training in 1985 but came back not to a submarine but a submarine planning duties, our first two submarines was finally declared fit for duties after passing their tropical, underwater and maintenance tests in november 2010. The Scorpene type submarines were cooperatively built in France and Spain and is based on a nuclear attack submarine design that ensures a very quiet platform in operations. Currently the most modern submarine in the region, these submarines are both armed with both anti-ship missiles and torpedoes that can be launched from their six 533mm torpedo tubes with a weapons capacity of 18 torpedoes and/or missiles. These are the Whitehead Black Shark wire-guided torpedoes from Italy and sub-launched SM39 Exocet anti ship missiles from MBDA and although it has been reported that the submarines can launch 30 mines alternatively, the type and whether the mines has been purchased is unknown. In addition, these submarine has not been equipped with AIPS (Air-Independent Propulsion System) which allows a greater submerged endurance and reduced vulnerability but this can be inserted at a later stage. The induction of these submarines now completes the naval capabilities of the navy in all the operational theatres it operates in.

Worth A Pretty Penny

2010-11-26T20:05:00.005+08:00

While checking up on a few facts on MRAP vehicles, I came across a couple of interesting facts on Singapore's purchase of their Navistar Maxxpro Dash MPTVs. It seems only 15 units was purchased in 2009 but at a total price of USD30,067,798.08 based on this US Department of Defence report, including spares.

"NAVISTAR IL M67854-09-C-1091 13,349,400.33 Singapore MAXXPRO DASH
NAVISTAR IL M67854-09-C-1091 16,673,397.75 Singapore Spares and Support"

That makes a per unit cost of about USD2 million per MPTV, but you will not find any objection from the Singaporeans methinks. However for a similar Malaysian purchase, I would think the following dialogue would be put forward in our august chambers by some brightspark;

" I want to ask why was these lorries bought by our Army at a price of US 2 million dollars each, cannot buy some lori from (insert preffered country) at very cheap price ka? Who we want to go to war with with these super expensive lori, can dive one ma? We only need to carry soldiers, no need expensive-expensive one."

Well enough with the jokes, but the point is that looking at the Singaporean purchase it really strengthens my argument that we should be thinking of producing our own MRAPs, as they cost quite a pretty penny. The time will come when we will need these sort of vehicles in order to enhance protection of our servicemen against direct fire anti tank munitions and IEDs. Even as a niche unit in a BIS regiment as I expect that our armoured and mechanised regiments would be suffficiently protected, the volume should be sufficient enough for these sort of vehicles to be seriously considered for production. We cannot depend on soft-skin vehicles to forever provide logistics support without any protective role whatever. Our servicemen deserves all the investment required to protect them in order for them to carry out their duties in defending our country.

(Edited : For a good primer on MRAPs, please read the MRAP Vehicle article in the November 2010 issue of Asian Military Review)

A Blast From The Past

2010-11-25T18:51:00.003+08:00

A recent posting of a SR.N5 Hovercraft photograph deployed at Tawau during the Confrontation inspired me to dig a little into the operational details of the Hovercraft by the British in Malaya. In fact, the author of the article from which the photo was taken even hinted that it was possible the USN's own use of hovercrafts that has now evolved into the giant LCAC's started from the American's evaluation of the hovercraft operations in tropical Malaysia as not long after that they used the SR.N6 version in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam Conflict.

In Malaya my finding was that two units of the SR,N5, 002/XT492 and 003/XT493 were deployed mainly in Tawau as part of the British Joint-Service Hovercraft Unit (Far East). These hovercrafts were used mainly in the logistics role as part of an evaluation exercise and these old PDF pages tells the story under the title "Supply Run To Kalabakan". With never seen before photos in my lifetime at least, I hope you enjoy the article as much as I do.

A. Page 1.

B. Page 2.

C. Page 3.

D. Page 4.

E. Page 5

F. Page 6 and END.

Slowly Drawing Out The Knives?

2010-11-24T20:24:00.004+08:00

I thought it was only me, but it seems people are noticing comments ala "who are we going to war with" bubbling up again into the public conciousness. Need the people be taught again that defence spending is like buying insurance, that buying insurance when the calamity is about to occur is practically useless, and definitely very expensive if anybody even offers it. Remember that ;

"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
Winston Churchill

I present to you two comments that was recently published. Make your own conclusions.

"How many Super Hornets then? As Kamal had pointed out probably not more than 10.
And why are we talking about buying new planes when we cannot even properly fund the current fleet? My guess is as good as yours…."

–Malaysian Defence

"Last year, Singapore spent over US$1bil to upgrade its fighter aircraft. Can there be any doubt that Malaysia and others will soon want to upgrade as well?

It will not matter too much that we are still struggling to integrate all the advanced defence technology that we purchased the last time around or that these expensive warplanes have a tendency to end up in our padi fields.

Of course it would help if we had someone like Ahmadinejad in our region to help justify a new round of defence spending.

Perhaps a case could be made against those “imperious Chinese” who seem intent on turning the South China Sea into their own private lake. Or those “sneaky Singaporeans” who have been stealing our water for years and are now about to make off with the last bit of real estate we own on the island. Or even those “prickly Indonesians” who have taken to spitting on our flag and calling us names.

All these make good excuses.

No worries of a real war though because the US will, as always, have final operational control over all the weapons we buy. After all, these weapons are intended to advance American interests rather than our own.

It’s going to take every ounce of our national will to say no to more needless defence spending, especially when so much will be quietly promised to so few to just say yes."

> Datuk Dennis Ignatius is a 36-year veteran of the Malaysian foreign service. He served in London, Beijing and Washington and was ambassador to Chile and Argentina. He retired as High Commissioner to Canada in July 2008.

Why No Need To Worry

2010-11-24T11:15:00.003+08:00

A good analysis of what's happening in the Korean Peninsular, so to me there is no need to worry yet. But keep an eye on the commodity prices! Good excuse for profiteers to make their quick buck!

Tensions on the Korean peninsula: What you need to know
By Zachary Roth

Tensions are near the boiling point on the Korean peninsula after North Korea shelled a South Korea Island, killing two South Korean soldiers. What's behind this latest spike in hostilities between the longtime adversaries, and just how concerned should we be -- especially since we have 25,000 military personnel stationed in South Korea? Here's what you need to know.
What happened, exactly?

Early Tuesday, North Korea fired artillery shells at the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, which sits off the disputed maritime border between the two countries. The attack killed two South Korean marines and wounded 18 soldiers and civilians. It prompted an exchange of fire between the two sides, involving around 175 artillery shells and lasting about an hour.

The North accused South Korea of having started the exchange by firing shells inside North Korean territory during a set of South Korean military exercises that the North called "war maneuvers." The South denies that charge, saying that its soldiers were merely conducting military drills and that no shots fell in North Korean territory.

The North Korean attack was the first on a civilian area of South Korea since the Korean War.

[Photos: North Korea fires on island of Yeonpyeong]

Why did this happen now?

Tensions have been running high since March, when a South Korean naval vessel in the same area was sunk, killing 46 sailors. Seoul blamed a North Korean torpedo attack, though the North has denied involvement. Then earlier this month, the South Korean navy fired warning shots at a North Korean fishing boat after the craft strayed across the border. The North Korean boat retreated.

Some analysts have linked Tuesday's action by the North to the impoverished nation's need for food. The Obama administration has refused to remove sanctions against the North, imposed in response to its nuclear program. "They see that they can't pressure Washington, so they've taken South Korea hostage again," Choi Jin-wook, a senior researcher with the South Korean Institute for National Unification, told the New York Times. "They're in a desperate situation, and they want food immediately, not next year."

Does this have anything to do with North Korea's leadership situation?

Kim Jong Il, the North's ailing and reclusive leader, is believed to be gradually shifting power over to his son, Kim Jung Un, who in September was promoted to the rank of four-star general.

Some analysts believe the transition has made North Korea eager to demonstrate its military power. Kim Jong Il famously employed an aggressive "military first" approach to politics, and spoke of turning the North Korean army into a "pillar of the revolution." The regime may now want to show the world that the same military-first policies will prevail under his successor. "The son's power base is derived from the military, and the power of [the] military is greater than ever," Cheong Seong-Chang, a fellow at the Seoul-based Sejong Institute, told Time magazine.

How has the world reacted?

The United States, Britain and Japan have condemned the North Korean attack, with America calling on the North to "halt its belligerent action." China said it was "concerned," while Russia has urged restraint and a peaceful solution to the crisis.

What's the U.S. role in all this?

The United States wants North Korea to resume the six-party talks on the country's nuclear program. The talks, which also include Russia, China, Japan in addition to America and the two Koreas, were launched in 2003, after North Korea opted out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The talks' aim is to arrive at a peaceful diplomatic agreement to contain the North's nuclear capacity -- but the talks have been in limbo since 2008, and earlier this week, an American scientist revealed that he had been shown a sophisticated North Korean nuclear enrichment facility, throwing the resumption of the talks into further doubt.
[More details: U.S., China disagree on more nuke talks with N. Korea]
Today's incident adds another obstacle, experts say.
The revelation of the uranium facility and Tuesday's attack on South Korea may both be expressions of the North's concern that the Obama administration and its allies are unlikely to offer concessions such as the easing of sanctions. "I think they realize they can't expect anything from Washington or Seoul for several months, so I think they made the provocation," Choi Jin-wook, senior researcher at the Korea Institute of National Unification, told CNN.
How scared should we be?
South Korea has placed its military on "crisis status," and Prime Minister Lee Myung-bak has reportedly ordered strikes on North Korea's missile base if the North makes any "indication of further provocation." It appears unlikely, though not impossible, that further military action will result.
[Photos: N. Korean leader Kim Jong Il and more]
South Korea does not have an active nuclear weapons program. North Korea is believed already to have eight to 12 nuclear bombs. But nuclear issues aside, any military conflict between the countries could badly destabilize the region, especially if the North Korean Government were to collapse -- an outcome that some South Koreans fear could lead to a Chinese takeover.

AV4 MRAP Rethink?

2010-11-22T22:09:00.020+08:00

A comment in my previous posting made me do a quick research on the unloved Deftech AV4 that todate has been unsuccessfully marketed even to the local security apparatuses. The question was why the AV4 is not being considered to be delivered to our servicemen in Lebanon instead of foreign makes like the Pindad Anoa, and I commented back that the requirement was for a 6x6 vehicle and maybe the AV4 should be marketed as a MRAP vehicle instead to supplement the Nyala RG-31 MRAPs already in use, if they are actually owned by the United Nations. And during the quick research on the AV4, the posting of the JDW article on the Sabiex Iguana by military forumer spiderweb6969 made me realise that the AV4 can be more properly marketed after some redesign as a MRAP vehicle.

The reasoning can be made as such based on the fact that the rebranded Iguana or RG-34 will have a mine protected variant or MRAP, so I see no reason why the AV4 could also not be re-designed as a MRAP vehicle as even Jane's considers it probably a larger development of the Iguana FV4. In such a case, the Malaysian Armed Forces should seriously consider it to equip a MRAP company at least as what the Singaporeans has done with the Maxxpro MPTV, in order to face the latest military environments. Our Unifil mission has already proven there is a niche to be filled here by using the RG-34's BAE family member RG-31, and an uparmoured AV4 should fit the bill.

It is enough that the AV4 had already lost out to equip the police peacekeeping force in an armoured role in East Timor to South Korea's relatively unknown Sh inje on g S5 AWV for the stated reason that it could not meet United Nation's delivery requirements. Acceptedly that the AV4 was still considered a prototype then and thus supposedly cannot meet the delivery deadline. In addition the Army Chief gave the reason that no vehicle was offered for evaluation as why the Army has not considered the AV4. If Deftech has not thought of this as part of their marketing efforts, it is high time they start the redevelopment and remarketing efforts to make the AV4 into a MRAP unit. It would be such a waste to own the intellectual property rights to the design and only be defeated by not having a product that would meet a potential customer's requirement. Deftech already have the AV8 order almost in the bag, and it would be wise to reinvest some of the earnings to make the AV4 more marketable by tweaking the design, and being a MRAP might just be the ticket to winning an order. Deftech's aim should be to become as credible as regional heavyweights like Doosan and PT Pindad, and not lose out to lightweights.

Why Should There Be A Controversy?

2010-11-18T20:58:00.013+08:00

Curious as to why the AV-8 LOI cost of RM8 Billion has become a flogging point for some commentators, I did a little digging just to get a simple understanding of what this whole project is about. Well based on the announcements made at the time of signing, the whole project is about "Deftech is to build 12 variants from the base vehicle, including personnel carrier, anti-tank weapon carrier, command and control and anti-aircraft weapon vehicles", based on this newspaper report.

Photo from KLSR

Adding further details from a defence magazine article and this photo from a defence e-magazine, we can conclude that the 12 variants of the modified version of FNSS PARS 8x8 would be as follows :

A. Battle Trucks

1. Armoured Fire Support Vehicle with a customised Denel LCT30 two-man turret fitted with a 30 mm cannon.

2. Infantry Fighting Vehicle with a presumed FNSS Sharpshooter one-man turret fitted with a 25 mm cannon, similar to those mounted on FNSS supplied ADNAN tracked IFV.

3. Armoured Personnel Carrier with a 7.62-mm machine gun in an overhead remote-control station.

B. Weapons Platform

4. ATGW Carrier with a two man turret fitted supposedly with a DENEL INGWE missile system.

5. Mortar Carrier with 120mm mortar, most probably the TDA 2R2M that is already mounted on the Adnan IFV.

C. Battlefield Management Platform

6. Command Vehicle

7. Signals Vehicle

8. Surveillance Vehicle, believed to be a type of Fire Support Team Vehicle.

9. Armoured Engineer Nuclear Biological Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (Remember the truck monitoring the nuclear blast in the movie Independence Day)

D. Field Support Platform

10. Engineering or Fitter Vehicle.

11. Recovery Vehicle or Kembalik in Malay.

12. Ambulance.

Mind you that Deftech CEO Abdul Harith Abdullah, in a separate Press conference, said the cost of the contract includes the manufacturing and other costs associated with the production of a new combat vehicle. And this reportedly will include the cost for Thales who will act as the electronic integrator, using its OICS vehicle electronics architecture and will provide mission system integration on specific AV-8 variants, while the communication fit for the AV-8 will be supplied by Sapura Thales Electronic.

And why all this electronics talk is important to be considered in evaluating the cost? Well if you couple the fact that AV-8 would be fully loaded electronically and that there is a specific Battlefield Management platform class consisting of four variants, then you would realise that these AV-8's are networked as in Network Centric Warfare ready, not just dumb battle taxis.

And the fact that the Defence Minister has clearly stated that said the value of the LOI was the ceiling price fixed by the government for the project. He said the actual unit price of the vehicle, designated AV8, could only be determined when the government signs the contract and also admitted that the unit price would be cheaper if the ministry decided to procure more AV8s after 10 years. And this is highly probable since 257 units barely replace the 500 odd Sibmas and Condor units still in the Army inventory, notwithstanding actual requirements.

And if the LOI also includes maintenance and support that includes the purchase of mechanical and electronic spare parts multiplied for each vehicle over a period of time, then it begins to look more and more a bargain to me. Especially since the project is designated as a national project to transform the local defence industry from "mere agents to developing a sustainable industry capable of developing and manufacturing world-class arms”, what is there to question about the project other than for petty or mischevous reasons.

Finally the only question I have still is, where is the anti-aircraft weapon platform mentioned in the Malay Mail articles, as that surely is one platform that the Army sorely needs.

So You Think This Will Work?

2010-11-15T15:18:00.008+08:00

A result of the brouhaha about the "patriotisme issue concerning the military recruitment", the Ministry of Defence has been ordered by none other than the Prime Minister himself to work with non-Malay organisations and NGOs to boost Non-Malay participation in the military. And it should "not be continued to be a subject of polemic". Polemic? So you don't debate it and expect to resolve it just by working with the target groups eh? I say good luck for the efforts.

Shoot the messenger so that your popularity remains without identifying what is the problem and finding effective means to resolve the problem is not a good way of managing the matter and is more akin of sweeping the issue under the carpet. Many a good general has lost not only battles but wars when some of their men begin thinking " I did not enlist to get myself killed". So unless you get these recruits, Non-Malays or otherwise, to enlist out of their patriotism and free will, then you risk the prospect of "rats abandoning the ship" when "the shit hits the fan". It used to be easier for these Non-Malays to join the military even though their brethren loyalties lies elsewhere, as they decided to throw in their lot to defend what they believe is their nation. Identify what has changed since then so that the Military again becomes attractive to the Non-Malays. I am sure the 19 percent of the Non-Malays already in the military has found reason enough to enlist. Identify the reasons and expand on it to make it more attractive for other Non-Malays to enlist. Don't tell me that since the nation is at peace, let's make money?

In the meantime, I want to see the person who wants to make an example out of the Defence Minister be patriotic enough to pick up the gauntlet thrown to him to join the Territorial Army, or he is just a good example of a Polemic himself. Don't call another a rat if you yourself is a politikus.

Can Somebody Answer Me This?

2010-11-12T15:05:00.004+08:00

Can anybody clarify if Malaysia has purchased General Dynamics Land Systems RG-31 MRAP for their Malbatt serving under UNIFIL colors or are these on loan from the UN. I have never heard of UN loaning any equipment to their peacekeeping forces but participating countries do obtain some UN funds with which they usually buy equipment for the peacekeeping forces. From Unifil servicemen blog postings and Malbatt's own facebook page, it seems clear that Malbatt is using the RG-31 Nyala for their patrols.

These Nyala MRAPs are supposedly supporting the Malaysian APC's detachment in operational areas that may not be suitable for the use of Malaysian Condors. The question is being posed here because the Malaysian Defence Minister was supposedly being quoted again that Malaysia is re-considering to purchase Indonesia Pindad Anoa APC to replace the Radpanzer Condors in Lebanon that has had a death in its operations when a unit had an accident when it overturned. So it is high time the 4x4 Condors are replaced for Unifil operations. However since there is some tensions still between Malaysia and Indonesia, questions are being asked if we need to purchase military assets from potential adversaries that may effect its operations in the future. In addition it is being claimed that the Anoa is based on an old French design and not modular and such a purchase would complicate the Royal Armour Regiments inventory as these planned 30 units will be odd armoured units, as they await the delivery of Malaysian owned indigenous AV8s planned for mass replacement of Malaysian armoured units.

Pindad Anoa

Some are saying that it would be wiser if we purchase additional MRADs with the funds or buy out the supposedly loaned UN units as these may meet actual Malaysian military operational needs that cannot be met by the AV8s, especially for current urban warfare whereby MRAPs would be more suitable than soft skin vehicles that may no longer be safely used due to threats of IEDs. It seems that even the Singapore Armed Forces is beginning to understand this with the introduction of their newly commissioned Navistar Maxxpro MPTV. Coupled with the actual operational requirements in Lebanon that may restrict full APC use, I personally think that buying additional MRADs that Anoa APCs would really make more sense.

Singapore's Maxxpro MPTV

Afraid Of The Reflection?

2010-11-10T21:41:00.002+08:00

As expected, the Parliamentary Statement by the Defence Minister reported yesterday has attracted flak from all parties, even from his coalition partners who called it an irresponsible act.

Published: Wednesday November 10, 2010 MYT 7:34:00 PM
BN leaders disappointed at 'lack of patriotism' remark

KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional leaders Wednesday expressed disappointment at remarks by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that "a lack of patriotism" was the reason for the low number of non-Malays in the armed forces.

MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the remarks were irresponsible.

"As a minister, he cannot doubt others' patriotism and loyalty. Instead, he should look into the ministry's recruitment system and find the root of the problem," said Liow, who is also the Health Minister.

On Tuesday, Dr Ahmad Hamidi told Parliament that non-Malays made up less than 1% of new recruits in the armed forces for the 2008/2009 session. He blamed this on a lack of patriotism, concern over the strict discipline imposed, lower returns compared with jobs in the private sector, lack of encouragement from families and negative perceptions towards the army.

MIC vice-president Datuk Sr S. Subramaniam said it was incorrect to relate the lack of non-Malays in the armed forces to a lack of patriotism.

"As a leader of the Indian community, I am saddened by the statement made by another community leader," he said.

Dr. Subramaniam, who is also the Human Resources Minister, said the MIC was willing to have discussions with the Defence Ministry and Armed Forces to resolve the problem.

Gerakan vice-president Datuk Mah Siew Keong urged the Defence Ministry to exhaust all plausible means, including soliciting non-governmental organisations and relevant groups to help recruit non-Malays into the military, instead of pinpointing fingers.

He said, in a statement, that Dr Zahid Hamidi's reasoning was "unfair and unwarranted."

"We certainly do not need such myopic views. It is more important to address the problem (if there is one). Publicity on the recruitment exercises will also be more effective," Mah added.

The funny thing is that of the five highlighted reasons above made by the Minister, only the "lack of patriotism" comment is being questioned by these parties. Does this mean that if the other four reasons are accepted as the truth since they are not contested by anybody, then the "lack of patriotism" will also be true if it remains uncontested in the event that we follow through with this fine logic. And if this is true, then would the reflection in the mirror is too ugly to be brought out to light, even by the Minister responsible and in charge so it has to be buried as soon as possible? And the Minister is the one being called with a myopic view.

As a fellow military forumer had commented, the low participation of the non-majority in the defence of the nation has been a feature of our society since Independence, and if it takes such a challenge from the Minister to start an honest debate, then debate it in total and try to resolve all five reasons and challenges, and not only the "patriotism challenge". It is high time the rest takes up the slack especially if you wish to be treated as equals, otherwise it is just another partnership of opportunity. So do something to ensure that everybody gets their fair share, even in the defence of the nation. What say you again?

So Do We Need Another Bunga Mas 5?

2010-11-10T15:31:00.003+08:00

The United Nations has been reported as saying that "Piracy off the coast of Somalia is outpacing efforts to combat it and more is needed to attack the problem at its root by creating economic alternatives for young Somalis,.........as pirates employ larger vessels and attack further off the coast to avoid stepped up patrols.....The problems would be worse if not for the very considerable international anti-piracy efforts under way".

Our small nation's own contribution to such anti piracy efforts has been for the past more than 16 months the deployment of converted merchant vessel Bunga Mas 5 crewed by a mix of regular and reserve servicemen. The last deployment lasted for 141 days, a new record, and safely escorted 109 Malaysian flagged vessels in 77 convoys not including other nations vessel tagging along. The importance of this mission has been proven where no Malaysian vessel has been hijacked or threatened since the start of Ops Fajar operations in August 2008.

However in light of the fact that "Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report that pirates have expanded operations well into the Indian Ocean, up to 1,000 nautical miles from Somalia. Some pirates have even begun using a "mother ship" towing two or three skiffs to help launch attacks far off the coast against ever-larger freighters.", would the lone deployment of a converted merchant vessel be sufficient to meet these expanding threats. This is not even considering the hardships of our servicemen serving 7,000 miles from home including fasting and missing out on major festivals, even though this highlights our Navy's foreign operations capabilities as highlighted during the BM5 welcome home ceremony last month.

Adding another converted merchantmen may not be a sustainable option as a real naval vessel would be more effective, but since our navy's assets numbers are still not enough even for home operations, maybe this solution would be the best to meet this increasing demand for protection over a larger theater of operations. May the powers that be start to consider this if they have not done so already.

It Is Defamation From Now On.

2010-11-09T17:36:00.003+08:00

Just a friendly reminder. If you say our subs can't dive from now on, be on notice that you are uttering a defamatory remark. Thank you.

Tuesday November 9, 2010
Two subs pass all tests

KUALA LUMPUR: The KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Razak submarines have passed their tropical, underwater and maintenance tests, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.

He said in a written reply to Datuk Juslie Ajirol (BN–Libaran) that the tests were to ensure all the engineering and weapons systems in the two submarines were in full working order.

Malaysia took delivery of the two submarines in September 2009 and July 2010, respectively. — Bernama

What Say You?

2010-11-09T17:14:00.004+08:00

So is this Ministerial Statement justified? So should the defence of our nation not be shared by those who want everything else to be shared as they consider themselves Malaysian by birthright? What say you?

Published: Tuesday November 9, 2010 MYT 1:36:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday November 9, 2010 MYT 1:39:35 PM

Lack of patriotism among reasons for lack of non-Malays in armed forces

By YUEN MEIKENG
KUALA LUMPUR: A lack of patriotism was one of the possible reasons for the small number of non-Malays in the armed forces, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told Parliament Tuesday.

He said Chinese and Indians made up less than 1% of the new recruits in 2008/2009, in his reply to Datuk Mohd Jidin Shafee (BN-Setiu) during question time.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said the small number of non-Malays could also be due to various other factors, such as concern over the strict discipline imposed, lower returns compared to jobs in the private sector, lack of encouragement from families and negative perceptions towards the army.

"The Government does not impose any quota on the recruitment of army personnel, whereby appointments are made based on qualifications and the applicant's interest in providing service as well as on voluntary basis," he said.

On how to encourage non-Malays to join the army, Dr Ahmad Zahid said activities to promote careers in the army were carried out in public and private higher-learning institutions.

"We have also conducted road tours in chosen schools as well as generated publicity in the print and electronic media, including Chinese and Tamil newspapers," he said.

He added that school cadet movements were also formed to encourage students to join the army.