The government’s decision to obtain 28 helicopters for the country’s security forces via a leasing arrangement with Italian defence firm Leonardo under a 15-year contract valued at RM16.8 bil (or average RM1.07 billion a year) is under question.
Some pointed out that the maintenance contract for the Royal Malaysian Air Forces’ (TUDM) EC725 choppers was RM378 mil for five years for 12 helicopters. Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd had on Aug 15 unveiled that its 51%-owned joint venture BHIC AeroServices Sdn Bhd has secured a RM378 mil contract to provide in-service support and performance for TUDM’s EC725 helicopters. If we extrapolate for 28 helicopters for a year it is just RM176.4 mil.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org
The Finance Minister justified that the leasing arrangement helped alleviate the burden of maintenance which had become a significant issue with billions spent annually on upkeep, materials and natural wear and tear.
What about buying the helicopter outright? The BOMBA (Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia) also recently bought four AW189 (variant of AW149 for civil use) for almost RM530 mil. Extrapolate that for 28 it is RM3.7 bil.
Isn’t it better to “buy outright” and self-maintain the helicopters? So, buy outright + maintenance for 15 years is RM3.7 bil + (0.176x15) = RM6.34 bil, which is significantly lower !
As a netizen pointed out, Poland established a production line, R&D (research & development) for armed versions, overhauls, upgrades, training till end of service life (not just 15 years) for just RM8.03 bil for 32 units of AW149! That is just half of the Malaysian lease cost. So, is leasing another BS?
Reference:
“Something amiss about PMX’s defence of RM16.8b cost for 15-year maintenance-free leasing of 28 choppers”, Focus Malaysia, 1 December 2024
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