There has been a four-fold increase in the defence budget in the past two decades - from RM1.7 billion in 1981 to RM4.8 billion in 2001 - Deputy Defence Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal told the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said during the communist insurgency the military operation was focused o­n "counter-insurgency warfare" that emphasised o­n the infantry force.

He added that after the communist surrender in the late 1980s and due to changes in the region, the focus shifted to "conventional warfare force" which provided "a balanced force" among the infantry, navy and the air force.