Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim has ordered the defence ministry to scrap its plan to procure second-hand Black Hawk helicopters.
Pointing out the aircraft would have been over 30 years old, Sultan Ibrahim warned the ministry against putting the air force’s pilots into “flying coffins”.
Sultan Ibrahim, who is also the supreme commander of the armed forces, said the ministry must not repeat its past mistakes, citing the controversial purchase of 40 second-hand A-4PTM SkyHawk aircraft in the 1980s when it initially planned to procure 88 jets.
“Do we want to place our pilots in flying coffins? Think for yourself.
“I believe that all of this happened because the defence ministry is full of agents or former generals who have become salesmen. We even have textile firms wanting to sell us drones.
“If we have to follow the middleman’s price in eerie procurement, then the existing allocation won’t be sufficient. So don’t try to fool me. If you don’t want to listen to me, I won’t reprimand you anymore after this,” he said in a Facebook post.
In November, the defence ministry scrapped a RM187 million Black Hawk lease deal with Aerotree Defence and Services Sdn Bhd after the company failed to meet the October delivery deadline.
The four helicopters, meant to be leased for five years, were intended to serve as a platform for the army’s Air Team Nucleus, supporting both training and operational flight missions.
In July 2024, deputy defence minister Adly Zahari said the company had cited the ongoing war in Ukraine as one of the reasons for the delay in procuring the helicopters.
The army previously said it would propose cancelling the helicopter lease contract if the vendor failed to meet its delivery obligations.
In March, the ministry said it was reassessing its options for procuring the Black Hawks, which include a possible government-to-government agreement or continuing to pursue leasing the helicopters.
Asset quality paramount, not what agents say
The king urged the government to prioritise the quality of defence assets by scrutinising proposed deals thoroughly, warning against simply following the suggestions of agents.
He said the procurement of assets that were exorbitant in price or irrelevant to the armed forces’ needs was a waste of public funds.
“Don’t waste time purchasing nonsense that does not suit the military’s needs. If you don’t know what the actual (market) price is, ask me first (before proceeding with the deal),” he said.
He cited the procurement of rigid raiding craft for commandos at RM5 million each five years ago, saying better vessels could have been purchased for under RM2 million a boat.
“Recently, I found out that there was a proposal to buy the same boat but just a little bigger for nearly RM10 million. This doesn’t make sense,” he said.
