Revised 2016 Budget and Typhoons

A CGI image of Typhoon with Kuwaiti Air Force colours. Eurofighter.

SHAH ALAM: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak presented a revised 2016 Budget today and it appears that the security sector – defence and national security – allocation for the year remained intact. In-fact, even though Najib said the revised budget will result in RM9 billion savings, other ministries allocation also seemed intact.

As I reported earlier, for 2016, the overall allocation for the security sector was RM31.2 billion. The OE allocation is RM26.9 billion (RM13.457 billion for defence and RM13.447 billion for internal security). The DE expenditure is RM5.196 billion (RM4.295 billion for defence and RM901 million for internal security).

KD Gempita, a Handalan class FAC during operations in early 2016. RMN picture
KD Gempita, a Handalan class FAC during operations in early 2016. RMN picture

According to the Star, the Prime Minister said under the revised budget the government revenue would be based on Brent crude oil at US$30 to US$35 per barrel when compared with the US$48 when it prepared the Budget 2016 last year.

He also said the economy was expected to grow at a slower pace of between 4% and 4.5% when compared with the earlier forecast of 4% to 5%. You can follow the link to look at the main salient points of the budget or read the full speech,here.

A close up of the A400M nose. Note the Thales EVS. Two more A400Ms will be delivered this year.
A close up of the A400M nose. Note the Thales EVS. Two more A400Ms will be delivered this year.

I read the speech and Najib did not touch anything on security sector so I assumed the projects already signed for are safe especially the LCS and the AV8 as had been reported before. Those in the industry also said the same thing though they point out “2017 is a different ball game altogether”.

One point which Najib touched in his speech which may affect the security sector was when he said that to boost the economy, several strategic areas owned by the government will be re-developed through a bidding process.

Of course, there are many strategic areas owned by the government which are not used by the security sector. However many of the strategic areas used by the security sector are in dire need of refurbishment and modernisation. Among them are the Butterworth airbase and the various army camps in Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh.

Two Typhoons powering up at Butterworth airbase in 2011.
Two Typhoons powering up at Butterworth airbase in 2011.

Although Butterworth airbase is already in the eyes of a developer, it is unlikely the project will be given the go ahead due to antagonistic stance taken by the Penang state government over the redevelopment plans. That said things change and only time will tell whether or not Butterworth airbase will survive or not.

Meanwhile, DefenseNews reported that Kuwait is expected to finalise the deal to buy 28 Typhoons on Jan 31. Apparently the Kuwaitis also wanted to buy the Super Hornets but delays for getting approval has made them to look for alternatives. It is likely that the Kuwaiti will still buy 28 Super Hornets when the US government approved the deal.

A CGI image of Typhoon with Kuwaiti Air Force colours. Eurofighter.
A CGI image of Typhoon with Kuwaiti Air Force colours. Eurofighter.

Kuwait had signed an agreement to buy the Typhoon with the Italians last year.

ROME and DUBAI — Kuwait is expected to sign a deal to buy 28 Eurofighter aircraft on Jan. 31, an Italian Ministry of Defense source has told Defense News. “Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti has been invited by Kuwait to attend the signing for 28 Eurofighter aircraft on Sunday in Kuwait,” the source said on Wednesday.
Kuwait has agreed to buy 22 single-seat and six twin-seat Typhoons in a government-to-government agreement. Italian firm Finmeccanica has been handling the industrial side of the sales push.

Industry sources have said the deal, which could be worth up to €8 billion (US $8.7 billion), could see the Kuwaitis become the first export customer for the active electronically scanned array radar being developed for the jet.

The aircraft are expected to be new-build, third tranche, swing-role versions of the fighter, with deliveries starting in 2019 and possibly covering munitions such as the Storm Shadow and Meteor.

What about the MRCA then? Unlikely now or the next 24 months.

— Malaysian Defence

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About Marhalim Abas 2131 Articles
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14 Comments

  1. Bad news is that we gained nothing major.

    Good news is, we loss nothing from our previous projects.

  2. The 2 billion plus RM donation from the Saudis could have got us 8 Super Hornets to complement the Hornets we have!

  3. During this time maybe Malaysian government should concentrate replacing the small stuffs such as a new anti tank missiles replacing the 20 years old Eryx, new manpads replacing the Anza…things that would not cost more than rm50 mil per buy.

    Btw saw a picture of kd perkasa..still got its missile launcher..so is it still operational (the missile?)

    Reply
    It will be much cheaper if we just buy direct from the OEMs but that is unlikely. Unlikely on the question.

  4. Eryx has long been taken out of service. I don’t know how many batches (if any at all) were bought to keep it in service after the first batch expired.

    Anyway Eryx is an MBDA product. There’s also Mini Spike and Spike MR, equally unavailable to us.

    Reply
    I prefer the Javelin as the replacement though I realised it’s the most expensive ATGM out there

  5. What ever it is…make sure to be prepared to save guard your teritories in scs…the chinese are coming with their air craft carrier to guard scs which claim theirs alone….and who said china got no ambitions?they will wait until the dragon grow fangs n breath flame then they will do wat they want…war of territories is not going to happen some says….watch n learn the chinese way…

  6. Nak tanya…adakah misil exocet mm38 di fac-m masih digunakan?sebab gambar terbaru menunjukkan misil tu maaih ada.

    Reply
    Ada gambar misil tu?

  7. With current and foreseeable future scenarios, why on earth do we need to maintained such a huge army relative to the strength of our air force and navy?

    The government is adamant about not approving any new billets, no matter what (except for JUSA and Turus levels mostly for PTDs – which by the way, in most cases only the PTDs managed to find its “necessity”, create it, approve it and then used it for themselves).

    To mitigate this challenges and in order to create a more balance force, I say the army should released 20,000 of its billets in stages, 10,000 each to the air force and navy. As drastic as it may sound, I don’t think it will hurt the army as much. On the other hand it will improve our air force and navy capacity to functions as it should be.

    Reply
    What the air force and navy going to do with the extra 10,000 personnel each ? They are not getting scores of planes and ships to justify having these extra personnel.

  8. the lack of news/progress regarding sgpv concern me, like there was something wrong with the project already

  9. @ marhalim

    You are looking for the 2016 mm38 pictures right?

    You posted them in your article above. The picture of kd gempita is armed with 4x mm38 missiles (those ribbed rectangular boxes on the ship). If the missile is not there, the boxes should’nt be there too.

    Reply
    AFAIK all of the MM38s have been retired. If the Handalan class still carry missiles it is most likely the MM40s.

  10. so the rumour in wiki that the handalan ships are armed with then MM40 are true?

    Reply
    I am not sure Kamal as I had not been able to visit the Handalan class ships to ask about it. The last MM38s were bought for the Kasturi class in 1984 and newer MM40s were bought shortly before the Kasturi undergone the SLEP. The last reported firing of the MM38s was in 2009. I counted at least six MM38s serving as gate guards at Lumut naval base during my visit late last year.

  11. @ marhalim.

    Tips for spotting exocets on its launchers.

    The missile and container is considered and handled as a single unit. If it is not on the ship, then just its lattice frame of the footwork without the missile container will be visible. Mm38 has squarish and ribbed container. Mm40 has a cylindrical container.

    If the mm38 container is on the handalans, probably a few of the mm38 ‘s has been life-extended. If its expired, there is no reason to carry the deadweight on the ship.

    Reply
    Wow must be a world record, 32 year-old missiles on board a 38 year old boat .

  12. The MM-40s on the Kasturis were fitted in the early 2000’s, the same period the Kasturis and the FACs were fitted with the DRS-300 ESM.

  13. I really doubt if there are MM-40s on the FACs. Anyhow, before we ask about MM-40s, first ask if the radar and fire director on the Handalans are still operable….. (hint, the Bofors MK1 can be fired manually from inside with fire direction provided from the bridge. No A/C inside but there is a blower).

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