BHICAS To Continue Supporting EC725s

RMAF Airbus EC725 AP flying at the opening ceremony of LIMA 17. Malaysian Defence

SHAH ALAM: Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC) announced today that its 51 per cent-owned joint venture was awarded the RM378 million in-service support and performance-based contract for RMAF’s EC725 helicopters. BHIC is the subsidiary of Boustead Holdings Bhd.

The heavy engineering firm said the JV company, BHIC AeroService Sdn Bhd (BHICAS) accepted a letter of award dated August 2 for the contract, issued by the Defence ministry. BHICAS has been the service provider for the EC725s since they were put into service in 2012.

The contract is for a period of five years from the date of acceptance and signing of the letter of award by BHICAS.

RMAF Airbus EC725/H225M helicopter dropping a Paskau team at the Kota Belud ATG range on Nov. 21, 2017. Note the sliding window with an airman looking out. That is where the 7.62mm machine gun will be firing out. Malaysian Defence

The announcement by BHIC:

RECEIPT OF LETTER OF AWARD FOR THE IN-SERVICE SUPPORT AND PERFORMANCE
BASED CONTRACT FOR THE ROYAL MALAYSIAN AIR FORCE EC725 HELICOPTERS BY BHIC
AEROSERVICES SDN BHD
The Company wishes to announce that BHIC AeroServices Sdn. Bhd. (“BHICAS”) (199401003897),
being the Company’s joint venture between BHIC Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd (51%) Prestige
Pillar Sdn Bhd (30%) and Airbus Helicopters Malaysia Sdn Bhd (19%) has today accepted the Letter
of Award (LOA) dated 2 August 2024 from the Ministry of Defence representing the Government of
Malaysia, awarding BHICAS the In-Service Support and Performance Based Contract for the Royal
Malaysian Air Force EC725 Helicopters (“Contract”) at a contract value of Ringgit Malaysia Three
Hundred and Seventy Eight Million (RM378,000,000.00) for a period of five (5) years from the date of acceptance and signing of the LOA by BHICAS.
A formal contract between the Government of Malaysia and BHICAS will be finalized and executed at
a later date.
The Contract will contribute positively to the earnings of the BHIC Group for the financial years from 2024 to 2029.
None of the directors or substantial shareholders of the Company, or persons connected with them
have any interest, direct or indirect, in the Contract.
This announcement is dated 15 August 2024.

–Malaysian Defence

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23 Comments

  1. No lah, the 12 already in service need maintenance and in-service support. That said it should help Airbus when they finally put up the tender for 12 new medium helicopters.

  2. Logically it should be a follow on from the EC725 batch and I believe TUDM are happy with it looking at the record breaking usage award from Airbus. However since when did we ever do the logical thing?

  3. There is also the school of thought, that we should be beholden to one type of aircraft. Incase some thing affects the EC725 like what had happened before. When that happened we had to rely on the Nuri.

  4. Indeed it would not have been my 1st preference (hint: blackhawk) but consider that it may be on other platforms, might as well go back to EC725, after all the high usage award does bode well for its reliability.

  5. Since the EC725s works well with the RMAF, its logical that we stick to the same aircraft for batch 2 first. As for 2nd type, maybe we can lease other helicopters or have the other branches to support the RMAF in case the whole EC725 / H225M fleet has to be grounded.

  6. @ marhalim

    IMO it is okay for 1 service to commonise on just 1 type of helicopter

    TUDM – EC725/EC225LP/H225M

    TLDM – AW139 HOM

    PUTD – Blackhawk

    If anything happens, other services could for a short period cover the other services mission needs.

    As it is, Boustead subsidiary, MHS still owns 5 idle/unused EC225LP that would be better used in TUDM fleet

    reg. type c/n history
    9M-SPE Eurocopter 225LP Super Puma Mk.II+ 2782 F-WWOP, 9M-SPE
    9M-SPF Eurocopter 225LP Super Puma Mk.II+ 2803 F-WJXL, 9M-SPF
    9M-SPG Eurocopter 225LP Super Puma Mk.II+ 2852 F-WWOY, F-WTAO, 9M-SPG
    9M-SPH Eurocopter 225LP Super Puma Mk.II+ 2870 F-WWON, 9M-SPH
    9M-SPI Eurocopter 225LP Super Puma Mk.II+ 2868 F-WWOT, F-WTAO, 9M-SPI

    Does any other military fly civilian-spec EC225LP super pumas? Yes, even the french military (below flown by French air force)
    https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49948143792_aad1e79e2e_h.jpg

  7. As for the RMN, it should be Seahawks for ASW, while the HOM is used for other duties.

    The Super Pumas, I was told, has already been transferred to Airbus. With MHS getting two smaller helicopters as part payment. They were offered for the Army leasing programme, but was not selected.

  8. @ marhalim

    ” The Super Pumas, I was told, has already been transferred to Airbus ”

    That is just a sad news. They are still m’sian registered, as of 1 Aug 2024.

  9. ”However since when did we ever do the logical thing?”

    On quite a few occasions actually. Unfortunately these are often over shadowed by things done which are ”illogical”; i.e. buying the Laksamanas, SU-30s, MiG-29s, etc.

  10. … – ”IMO it is okay for 1 service to commonise on just 1 type of helicopter”

    It’s ”ok” if nothing goes drastically wrong or if the unexpected doesn’t happen. I’m all for commonality but there is an element of risk with the proverbial placing of all one’s ages in a common basket. That being said I hope we get more Cougars; rather than another type.

  11. >mig-29
    >su-30

    >illogical

    they were logical back then. Uncle sam wanna shove subpar planes to us. Also Pakistan and Indonesia getting fked in the ass with military embargoes during the mid 90s- early 2000s. While we didn’t really do anything that would revoke such drastic actions, the old man wasn’t cool with the US either and MY/US ties were pretty frosty back then

  12. For a small underfunded force that we have, we cant really afford to have variety of spices. Yes, risks are always there when commonise which is why the key to a long term successful deployment would be to do it on matured and well proven platforms, and that is why I push for the services commonisation to Blackhawks (used Limas for TDM/PUTD, Seahawk utility & ASW for TLDM, Pavehawk for TUDM CSAR, Jayhawk for MMEA, Firehawk for BOMBA). If its reliable enough workhorse for US ever high tempo operations, it would be more than capable for our use.

    Some might say about the high cost of maint, bringing up VIPHawk, but the point is that USA stuff always had higher cost, that is the price for dependability, and we always had a higher leeway for OPEX budgeting than CAPEX (its easier to rebuild a ship to near new condition than to buy new, so a higher maint budget is less scrutinised), and a key factor for commonising is maint cost will be lowered for overall to all users (as long as we centralised the servicing & spares).

    For this to happen we need a mindset change from all, including the beancounters & politicians, to see the bigger picture where commonising works for everyone if everyone puts their egos and selfishness aside for the greater good of their arm.

  13. It was illogical really.

    Our ties with the US was not frosty lah – the US was the biggest trade investor just like now – its just the old man trying to be the old man. It was not subpar fighter planes they were offering to us it was basically the same deal like the F16s that SG bought. It is just that we wanted twin engine fighter hence the Hornet.

  14. High maintenance cost of the VIP Hawk was due to its being a VIP helicopter, and the fact they are only two Hawks in MY. If they had more Hawks of course it will be lower.

  15. dundun – ”they were logical back then.

    Nonsense. It was because Mahathir placed more emphasis on national interests. Perhaps take the effort to discover the immense difficulties we had/have in operating Russian and how it adversely impacted the end user and tax payer.

    dubdun – ”Uncle sam wanna shove subpar planes to us. ”

    What nonsense …

    dundun – ”lso Pakistan and Indonesia getting fked in the ass with military embargoes during the mid 90s- early 2000s.”

    Firstly, if we were embargoed/sanctioned by Uncle Sam the economy would be our main worry; not out military gear. Secondly, there are reasons why Pakistan and Indonesia were embargoed/sanctioned. Thirdly, it’s not only Uncle Sam which places conditions on what it sells but almost everyone else.

  16. Joe “For this to happen we need a mindset change from all, including the beancounters & politicians, to see the bigger picture where commonising works for everyone if everyone puts their egos and selfishness aside for the greater good of their arm”

    They kinda did. But with the AW helo rather than the blackhawk. Oat agencies and services just go along with it well except for PUTD who refused to play the game.

  17. dundun – ”MY/US ties were pretty frosty back then”

    This was mainly due to U.S. opposition to Mahathir’s proposed EAEC; Gore’s remarks on Reformasi and other things. How can ties really be ”frosty” when the U.S. is the largest FDI; one of our largest recipient of exports; we train with them more extensively than with any other country and we rely on them [since Merdeka] to maintain strategic stability in the region. Oh on top of that; several U.S. Fortune 500 companies are major investors here.

    On the issue of the VIP Blackhawks; first they were not popular because [for obvious reasons] their crews only has limited flight hours and because they had no standing head space. U.S. gear is expensive in the short term but in the long term it turns out to be cheaper [for reasons done to death here] and when it comes to product support there is no equivalent to FMS.

  18. ”everyone if everyone puts their egos and selfishness aside for the greater good of their arm.”

    ”Ego and selfishness” aren’t the issue but policy as it is laid from the top. Firstly we need to ask ourselves what we intend on achieving; followed by what we can realistically achieve; both profoundly different. A realistic and holistic assessment is needed. As it stands the defence policy at a strategic level – a combination of military means in line with diplomacy and engagement – is sound; based on our position as a small country/power; the neighbourhood we live in and the other overall political;/strategic dynamics at play.

    At the lower end of the spectrum do we need a revamp of the strategic outlook as we perceive it? If so and if we accept the fact that the MAF might be caught up in a conflict for which it’s unprepared and ill suited for; what changes are we willing to make? Are we willing to politically acknowledge that on various front we’ve been doing things in a very flawed and self defeating manner and seem unwilling or unable to prevent a repeat of earlier cockups? What role should the local industry continue to play and at what cost? Should procurement be more threat than capability driven?

  19. zaft – ”They kinda did.”

    I believe he was referring to a ”mindset change” at a higher level; in totality.

    This goes back to what I’ve been harping on for years now that and something some – then – cold not fully fathom. The rot is so deep that only a holistic, apolitical fundamental and insitutionalised changes will address things. Everything; from how we allocate funding to the role local outfits play to how we view defence is in need of reappraisal.

    Granted not easy to do but nonetheless is what’s needed.

    zaft – ”Oat agencies and services just go along with it well except for PUTD who refused to play the game.”

    This is pure speculation on your part and insn’t true.

  20. “How can ties really be ”frosty” when the U.S”
    Diplomatically & economically there was no change, but politically there was a huge shift when US actively started backing Opposition opposing Tun/BN. Then AFC came which US wanted to impose their will on our sovereignty. Relations with US did not get better until he left.

    “aren’t the issue but policy as it is laid from the top”
    They are if the service heads have their own preferences over the good of commonality for petty reasons, ‘that they would not want to share requirements with another service’. There are also the agendas of those making decisions which might relate to their own benefits or whatnot since MMEA, PDRM, Bomba decisions are by Home Minister while defence are by Menhan with both may not see eye to eye. If commonisation are to be effective, such decisions should be considered by both for the overall good, or else it should be taken out of their hands.

    Intention is important but we need to be realistic and face reality. If the intention to have local defence industry was to have jobs then any surface “local involvement” will do. But if we aim for self sustainability, we must acknowledge that the cost of investment will be high while the return may not be there as cost per unit will be expensive vs off the shelf and that we are catering to our own usage so to stop dreaming we can offset that cost by exporting (reference to SG own industry). And if we do go down this path, we must ensure we have the budget to fully carry out such local projects until completion, not like LCS or OPV, dreaming to buy 3 ships for the price of 2. For that we must accept that doing it locally wont actually make it cheaper but really its more expensive so our beancounters & politicians should stop pushing this buatan Msia mesti murah assumption. If we had from onset budget 20-40% more for LCS, it might not have been this bad today.

    “a ”mindset change” at a higher level; in totality.”
    Yes, from our chiefs, our beancounters, our politicians & mentris, the decision makers, and even down to the rakyat. Can we expect this to happen?

  21. There were downturns in relations over the years but things never reached the point where relations were really affected; due to reasons I laid out. We know which side our bread is buttered on.

    The service chiefs rarely push for stuff which will cause issues. ADF all they’re the ones who have to pick up the pieces when the shire hits the fan and they know fully well the consequences. They’ve been the ones pushing for more commonality over the years.

    On the local defence scene; as I’ve said here and elsewhere: we need a realistic appraisal of what we intend to achieve and what we can realistically achieve; based on our resources and other factors.

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