THE Madani government has been taken to task for having “surprisingly” appointed a commercial firm to be a middleman in the acquisition of Black Hawk (Sikorsky UH-60A) helicopters to replace its decommissioned Nuri fleet when the Defence Ministry (MINDEF) can do so on a government to government (G2G) basis.
PAS Tanah Merah MP Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz further hit out that such effort can be pursued through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) or Excess Defence Articles (EDA) method with chopper manufacturer Sikorsky without requiring the involvement of a middleman.
“Moreover, all procurement of weapons/assets from the US must first obtain approval from the Directorate of Defence Trade Control (DDTC) which can only be applied for by MINDEF (as a Malaysian government representative) with the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur,” the former deputy defence minister pointed out in a media statement.
“This cannot be done unilaterally by Aerotree Defence and Services Sdn Bhd (contract awardee) without the involvement of MINDEF. Does this mean that now MINDEF has to work for Aerotree? What is the track record of the company in the procurement of air assets for the Malaysian Armed Forces until they are awarded such important contracts like this?”
Ikmal was commenting on the statement by Armed Forces chief General Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman over the weekend (Oct 6) that the Malaysian Army is expecting to receive Black Hawk helicopters before end-October as per the date agreed in the second extension letter issued by MINDEF’s Procurement Division
If Aerotree which touted itself as Malaysia’s leading defence services provider still fails to make the delivery by the set date, the army will urge the Procurement Division to take firm action in line with the conditions set in the extension letter.
Ikmal who is also the Perikatan Nasional (PN) shadow Defence Minister also expressed concern that the current situation has opened up space for other lobbyists to offer aircraft acquisition service that is incompatible with the doctrine and air operations based on the actual needs of the Malaysian Army.
“Additionally, the proposed 15-year rental/lease method seems to be inconsistent with the actual procedure or governance of government procurement,” he asserted.
“This seems to be putting a fait-accompli situation for the Malaysian Army to only accept decisions made by politicians without considering the end-user’s feedback/consent.
“Therefore, it is no coincidence that there are now proposals by lobbyists that the Malaysian Army be supplied with leased AW149 type aircraft which is more suited for civilian use on oil rigs than for combat use.” – Focus Malaysia
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