Thursday, October 23, 2008

malaysiakini Does Not Report This EUROCOPTER Weakest LINK

This has been a strategic weakness of Malaysia's defense system.
We can see that most defence contracts are packaged with the basic supply of equipment and then a local company gets a nice deal to provide services for 20 odd years.
This works OK during peacetime but if a conflict erupts with another country, it won't be long before your defense contractor is going to disappear and your sophisticated equipment is going to be left stranded without maintenance and spare parts.
It also makes the defence force vulnerable to external forces when they cannot deploy unworkable equipment that has to be abandoned.
So buying the most sophisticated weaponry will not work unless anyone using it can keep the thing going with some basic maintenance skills.
Just look at the AK-47 rifle. Considered the preferred weapon of most rebel armies, its rugged design allows most users to carry on with the most basic skills.
I would guess that our defense readiness is more for fly-past drills and flood evacuation.
My contention is that the Armed Forces should be responsible for the maintenance of its own equipment. In fact having a third party contractor will make the nation vulnerable to blackmail and bribes. That is the weakest link.

1 comment:

MYblog said...

Otherwise why buy such equipment.

Most defence purchases worldwide are g2g, only in Malaysia we have private contractors (cronies). This is national security and should never be farmed out. The MOD must have its own capability.

But then again, they all know this but then how to make easy money?