Scorpene - Again and Again and Again - Like a Broken Record Player

Persistency is good. But when you're persistent on things that had been proven wrong, that makes you an idiot.

And that is what I'm calling opposition party supporters who keep on highlighting the mantra that our submarines can't dive.

RMN Scorpene submarines

Since the inception of our submarine units using French - Spanish consortium of DCNS - Navantia, the opposition keeps on harping that the purchase was useless and waste of money, especially because the submarines do not dive and it is second hand.

RMN - Difficult Times called for Difficult Measure

Yesterday was a crazy day.  I nearly missed my flight due to my mistake of wrongly reading the flight schedule.  I had to huff and puff all the way to the airport with only 5 minutes to spare.

Things We Fight For

Yesterday, I travelled back to Sarawak for a short break.  Fallen asleep as soon as my flight took off, I woke up about 15 minutes to arrival.

Why is the LMS required?

Yesterday, DAP MP for Kampar, Dr. Ko Chung Sen questioned the need for Malaysia to purchase 10 Littoral Mission Ships worth RM3 billion from China, as reported by MalaysiaKini.

YB Kampar - Dr. Ko Chung Sen (DAP)
Source: DAP

The good doctor claimed that Najib administration does not care for the welfare of the rakyat as the purchases were made when the budget for Health Ministry was cut by 24%.  The good doctor claimed that the purchase of the 10 ships is not beneficial.

Thank you Doctor, for being very caring of the Rakyat's health.

Chinese Ships for RMN LMS

Finally, the news which has been kept wrapped tightly by Chief of Navy has been revealed.  The plan, known as 15-to-5 RMN Transformation plan was planned and submitted to the Prime Minister as soon as he was appointed as Navy Chief.

I first heard of this plan somewhere during this year's DSA, but kept mum on it for the following reasons. 

Defence Asset Procurement Policy - Logistical Consideration

In the prior article, we have discussed about non-conventional threats. While non-conventional threats are strictly police matters, in many situations, military will be called in to assist police operations.

In this installment, we will look into how logistics consideration can influence defence procurement decision.

Defence Asset Procurement Policy - A Need

Note: this article is intended as a follow through to my previous article titled "Procurement Shift in the Pipeline?"

The last major large scale defence asset procurement made under a single programme was under the PERISTA (Program Pembangunan Rancangan Istimewa ATM) which began in the late 70's which trickled through the 1980's.

The programme which saw Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) underwent a large scale modernization programme which changed it's face from a counter-insurgency centric defence force into a largely capable semi-conventional armed forces.

 

Part of PERISTA Programme.  Unfortunately, there is a dearth of material on PERISTA purchases.

China - Friend or Foe?

I note with interest during the last couple of months, Malaysians took to social media to vent their anger against the apparent inaction of both Wisma Putra and Ministry of Defence against the intrusion of China's coast guard agency, known as China Coastal Guard (CGC).

Malaysia - Defence Budget Constraint

Taking a short break from study and work.

Understand that the late Bernard Then's murder this week brought anger onto many Malaysians. The Govt's promise of a safe Sabah seems to have gone down the drain. That the Federal Govt does not care for safety of Sabahan and Sarawakian.

Malaysia And South China Sea

Recent revelation of China making land reclamation on Mischief Island which form part of the Spratly's had raised the concern of other claimants to the chain of islands.

Leading the charge is the Philippines and Vietnam, both nations who not only distrust the country, but had actually fought against the Chinese military might before; the Philippines while under the aegis of UN during the Korean War while Vietnam during the Sino - Vietnam 1979 border clashes.  The Philippines had hoped Malaysia as the current chairman to ASEAN, a regional grouping that Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines members would be firmer towards China.  However, there were not much noise coming from the recently concluded ASEAN Regional Ministerial Meeting, which was held in KL.

In fact, Malaysia is being seen playing it coyly with China on matters pertaining to South China Sea, even when the People's Liberation Army - Navy (PLA - N) had conducted a naval exercise in the vicinity of James Shoal (Beting Serupai to Malaysian and Zhengmu Reef to China), a rocky outcrop located about 80 nautical miles away from the Malaysian town of Bintulu back in 2013.

This fact is not lost to the Chinese, who had reciprocated Malaysia by giving the country a differential treatment.  This has led to PLA conducting a table top military exercise with Malaysia at the end of 2014, with a full fledged military exercise planned for this year.  Add on top of it, Chinese Politburo is said to be behind the recent visit of Chinese August One acrobatic team to Malaysia's Langkawi International Maritime and Air Show (LIMA) 2015.

Why does Malaysia, a regional powerhouse in the 90's, choose to pander to China instead of being aggresive towards China's military expansionism in South China Sea?  For us to understand this quirkiness, let us first understand the unique Sino - Malay relationship which has been in play since at least 649 AD.