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Bad Moon Rising, Black Hawk Edition Part 2

PUTD AW109LOH flying over the Army 91st anniversary parade in Segamat, Johor.

SHAH ALAM: Back in January, Malaysian Defence reported there were strong head winds against the four Black Hawk helicopters being leased for the Army’s Air Wing. I reported that the strongest indication of positive news would be the appearance of the Black Hawks at the Army’s Day parade on March 1.

If you are not aware the parade was held in Segamat, Johor. This was the first time that the parade – in recent memory – was not held either in Kuala Lumpur or Port Dickson in Negri Sembilan. Officially, Segamat was chosen as it was one of the sites of battles in the Japanese invasion of Malaya in 1941.

TS General Hafizuddeain Jantan kissing the hand of an elderly lady at the Army display site which is part of the Army anniversary celebrations in Segamat. It is likely the elderly lady is his relative. BTDM

That said Segamat is also the birthplace of the current Army chief TS General Muhammad Hafizuddeain Jantan as you can read from his profile here. I am not complaining but I hope that this year’s event will set a precedent for future Army Day parade and its associated carnival will also be held at other locations as well including in Sabah and Sarawak. The Army is the only service that is capable of doing this as they have numerous units and bases in the country and the fact their parades could be held anywhere unlike their sister services which are limited to their bases.
A Segamat resident posing with a Army digital camouflage Mildef Tarantula HMAV. Segamat Community picture.

Anyhow, pictures from the parade – I was not able to make it to Segamat for reasons – indicated that the Black Hawks did not take part in the fly past. At least a single AW109 and another MD-530G LSAH took part in the fly past though.
A PUTD MD530G Light Scout Attack Helicopter conducting flypast at the Army anniversary gig on March 1 2024 in Segamat, Johor.

The non-appearance of the Black Hawk showed that the head winds remained strong. That said Aerotree managing director Halim Othman in a posting on his personal Facebook page posted on February 24 that the fourth batch of PUTD pilots had successfully completed the Black Hawk simulator training in Turkey.
Three PUTD pilots who completed the Black Hawk simulator training. The fourth person on the right is an AeroTree pilot. Abdul Halim Othman FB page.

It must be noted that Malaysian Defence is aware of the reasons for the strong head winds but is unable to say it here and in the previous post. What is the next course of action? For me I am going to wait until DSA 2024. If Covid or anything else does not gets in the way, of course.
A close up of the MD530G LSAH taking part in the Army Day parade flypast.

— Malaysian Defence

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View Comments (4)

  • Yup it is also NOT a coincidence that the newly minted Agong is from Johor. Yessiree no extra meaning behind having it at Segamat, Johor. Yup.

  • Has Tarantula officially been selected for HMAV? If not it would be strange that a private company product be displayed in a TDM event.