Can our two French-made submarines save Malaysia?

YOURSAY 'If Indonesia wants to invade, all they need is just launch their armada of small fishing boats and Malaysia would be overrun in two hours.'

'Scorpenes to prevent repeat of 1511 attack on Malacca'

Meranti Kepong: The Portugese invasion "explanation" by Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Laksamana Abdul Aziz Jaafar is merely to justify the purchase of the two useless submarines, which don't even perform well in our shallow waters.

Malaysia has no external enemy unless the Umno government deliberately provoke another country.

PM Najib Razak has a lot to explain when he was the defence minister as during his watch, he bought these two ‘lemons' and in the process, earned an estimated RM1 billion plus giving away our state secrets too. It also led to the death of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

AnakBangsaMalaysia: To put the sheer idiocy of the admiral's remarks under an even harsher spotlight, this is akin to today's Japanese Naval Self-Defense Force (JNSDF) justifying the purchase of a new nuclear aircraft carrier to fight off Kublai Khan's massive invasion armada of 1274 and 1281.

Such is the desperation of Najib's lackeys to justify the deliberately overpriced purchase of two completely unnecessary and substandard submarines that they have thrown all logic and reason into the sea, so to speak.

Anonymous #07443216: What can two unreliable Scorpenes do if Malaysia were to be attack from the shallow water of the Straits of Malacca?

If Indonesia wants to invade, all they need is just launch their armada of small fishing boats and Malaysia would be overrun in two hours.

Changeagent: In 1511, the Portuguese overwhelmed Malacca with superior weaponry, including muskets and cannons.

Shouldn't we put the RM500 million commission for Scorpene submarines to better use by purchasing more antique muskets and cannons since some of us are still living in the 1500s?

Whatever lose change we get after these purchases can be used to procure the cheaper locally-made keris since they were the popular weapons of choice back in those days.

Joker: The Portuguese won not just solely due to superior armaments but also because there was in-fighting among the royal courts.

In acquiring the Scorpenes, sensitive RMN documents were given to French defence giant DCNS.

The US has nuclear hunter-killer subs and 11 nuclear super-carriers. Any one of those carriers carry sufficient airplanes to overwhelm the entire Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), not to mentioned the pitiful helicopters of the RMN.

The RMN chief, however, posited that these two Scorpenes can give armaments parity to RMN. I doubt RMN can even handle the Singaporeans.

Cascara: The Portuguese are coming! The Portuguese are coming!

Hang Tuah PJ: Whilst I was reading this article, I had to slap myself to make sure I was not in dreamland and that a cartoon character was talking. I even thought Malaysiakini was pulling a fast one on us.

Swipenter: The present-day RMN could not even prevent the illegal Indonesian immigrants from crossing the Straits of Malacca in their fleet of sampans and they are now justifying the purchase of the two Scorpenes to prevent a present-day repeat attack just like in the 1511 by the Portuguese war galleons.

Abdul Aziz, where did the Japanese staged their landing points in Malaya during World War Two?

I have heard so many ridiculous excuses given by politicians and civil servants to justify their actions and decisions, but I must say this is one of the richer ones.

Onyourtoes: Why is the admiral so dramatic - Portuguese 1511, Dutch 1644 and Anglo-Dutch Treaty 1824 and all. Are you trying to show that you have just read the history of that period, is it?

Look, if you have learned anything at all, it is this: that the sovereignty then and may be even now, was decided elsewhere and not by submarine.

You think you are so clever by telling the world that the Scorpenes can stay under water for a maximum of 45 days and they each has 32 crew members. Why don't you go read what the submarines of the Singapore navy can do?

Kit P: Most of the seas surrounding Malaysia - the Malacca Straits and the Sunda shelf between East and West Malaysia are so shallow that submarines can hardly dive deep enough to operate effectively.

That inescapable geographical fact of life is well known to any potential foe as well. The admiral sounds like an armchair admiral or politico. If they want to play politics, he should just join Umno.

Gerard Lourdesamy: Where do these navy chiefs come from? Someone should send them for an IQ test first before appointing them.

Who is the enemy who is going to launch a full-blown naval attack on Malaysia which we need to defend with two miserable submarines?

There has not been an armada invasion of any country on the scale that the RMN chief is talking since the Spanish armada attempted to invade England during the reign of Elizabeth I.

Military doctrine today relegates the navy to a supporting role for land and air forces or perimeter defence while operations on land and air are underway.

The rakyat do not oppose buying military hardware for the defence forces provided they are needed, and the deals are transparent and value for money.

What we cannot stomach are the inflated prices, inadequate support services, poor maintenance, huge kickbacks and corruption from top to bottom in our defence contracts.

Queenie: Did you hear that Alfonso de Albuquerque? Don't you ever try to invade Malacca again. Our navy under Admiral Abdul Aziz will bop you one in the face with a couple of bath tubs. - Malaysiakini