Defence Ministry issuing procurement award letter for drones, patrol planes

KLUANG: The Defence Ministry is in the final process of issuing a letter of award for the procurement of maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) and medium altitude long endurance unmanned aircraft system (MALE-UAS).

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the letter would be issued after all terms, clauses and specifications are agreed upon by the government and related companies.

For the procurement of MPA and MALE-UAS, he said the Finance Ministry had finalised both tenders.

"For the procurement of two MPAs, the government has agreed to an offer by the Leonardo company while for the procurement of three MALE-UAS, the government has decided to sign a contract with the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI)," he said in a statement on Sunday (Oct 9).

The Sembrong MP said the assets were among the procurement of new assets made through financial planning under the Malaysia Plan given that the allocation from the annual budget was limited and insufficient, especially for the procurement of strategic assets.

"The procurement of all these assets has been carried out through International Open Tender to ensure its transparency," he said.

Hishammuddin also said that in order to improve the capabilities of the army, the ministry would procure 136 Type A 4WDs as well as Type B vehicles worth a total of RM2.049bil.

On the maintenance of existing Air Force assets, Hishammuddin said one of the main focuses is the maintenance of the F/A-18D aircraft.

"For this purpose, approximately RM2.4bil has been allocated to improve the capability of the F/A-18D aircraft system as well as the F/A-18D sustainment programme.

"The maintenance of this F/A-18D aircraft will also be carried out through close cooperation between Malaysia and the United States," he added. – Bernama