Why not procure Black Hawk helicopters on a G2G basis, PN MP asks

Perikatan Nasional’s Tanah Merah MP Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz questioned why the government is not obtaining Black Hawk helicopters on a government-to-government basis.

The former deputy defence minister said in a statement that this could be done via foreign military sales or excess defence articles from the American manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft.

The government’s decision to instead appoint local supplier Aerotree Defence & Services Sdn Bhd as a middle person was surprising, Ikmal added.

“All procurement of weapons/assets from the United States must go through the permission of the Directorate of Defence Trade Control.

“This can only be applied for by the Defence Ministry (as a representative of the Malaysian government) with the United States embassy in Kuala Lumpur (Office of Defence Cooperation) and cannot be done unilaterally by Aerotree without the involvement of the Defence Ministry.

"Does this mean that the Defence Ministry has to work for this company now?

"What is the track record of Aerotree in the procurement of air assets for the Malaysian Armed Forces until they are awarded important contracts like this?” he said.

Yesterday, Bernama reported Defence Force chief Mohammad Ab Rahman as saying that the Malaysian Army is expecting to receive Black Hawk helicopters by the end of this month.

Aerotree’s failure

In May, Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said his ministry would review the lease agreements with Aerotree before deciding to cancel the contracts.

This follows a delay in delivering four Sikorsky UH-60A+ Black Hawk aircraft worth RM187 million that the Royal Malaysian Armed Forces ordered from Aerotree.

The new helicopters were reportedly ordered to replace the Sikorsky S-61A-4 Nuri, suspended from service since 2020.

In his statement, Ikmal also said he had previously requested answers from Khaled regarding the decision to acquire the Black Hawk aircraft from Aerotree.

Besides that, the PN defence portfolio chief added, the decision to lease an Agusta Westland 149 (AW149) helicopter for use by the Royal Malaysian Air Force to replace the Nuri aircraft was a direct consequence of Aerotree’s failure to procure Black Hawk aircraft.

He expressed concern that this situation could cause lobbyists to offer aircraft incompatible with the armed forces’ needs.

“The proposed 15-year rental/lease method also seems to be inconsistent with the actual procedure or governance of government procurement, and seems to want to put the Malaysian Armed Forces in a ‘fait accompli’ situation, to only accept decisions made by politicians without referring to 'end-user’ consent,” Ikmal said.

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