Despite an approaching Defence White Paper, fiscal frugality looks set to dominate near-to mid-term defence acquisition projects.
Despite a change of ruling party for Malaysia’s government in May 2018, there have been no significant developments in regard to Malaysia’s defence or the Malaysian Armed Forces. To a large extent, this is not surprising considering the Prime Minister is Mahathir Mohamad. While his first tenure saw a number of major defence purchases, many of these were made on the basis of economic benefits, political relations, technology transfers and offsets rather than pure defence or strategic requirements and to a large extent, Mahathir’s pacifist nature also meant that defence capabilities were never seen as a priority or essential to the nation.
To a certain degree, a number of the problems in Malaysia’s defence status are the result of decisions undertaken during his time as Prime Minister, though both his successors as Prime Ministers also contributed by postponing defence programmes while not addressing funding issues for defence.
Prime Minister Mahathir is now governing with a largely inexperience cabinet and his coalition government is grappling with effectively managing a government while addressing issues pertaining to corruption by the previous government, including the trial of former Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on corruption charges. Given that, it is unlikely that Prime Minister Mahathir will push for new defence developments or increased defence spending as the main priorities will focus on governance.
Denne historien er fra March/April 2019-utgaven av Asian Military Review.
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Denne historien er fra March/April 2019-utgaven av Asian Military Review.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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SMART MUNITIONS INCREASE MARKET SHARE
Top attack munitions are now widely developed for different artillery calibers with varied ranges.
NEXT GEN NVGS - A CLEAR IMPROVEMENT
Fused and enhanced night-vision technology will make the difference to soldiers fighting at night.
MILITARY ROTORCRAFT DEVELOPMENT - NO MORE ‘STOVEPIPES'
New rotorcraft are going to come with new abilities founded on open systems that provide easier upgrade paths and cheaper through life costs.
INDO PACIFIC UAV DIRECTORY 2021
The development of unmanned aerial vehicles is growing apace, especially in China. New longer range ISR platforms are also on the procurement list of several nations.
TIME TO RESET TRILATERAL RELATIONS
United States President Joe Biden has made it a top priority of his Administration to repair and re-energize global alliances during its first year in power. This is a necessary strategic and political calculus made in light of growing global security, public health, and environmental challenges that will require cooperation and multilateral contributions. President Trump’s ‘America first’ policy did much to undermine confidence in such relationships over his time in office.
SOCPAC KEEN TO SHARE JOINT DOCTRINE AND TRAINING
The return of Great Power competition means that US SOCPAC is more than ever seeking joint training opportunities with regional special forces.
MARINE ENGINE POWER - NOT JUST ABOUT KNOTS
Navies not only want more engine power, there are also coming under increasing pressure to become environmentally conscious.
AMPHIBIOUS FORCES
New amphibious concepts are re-shaping marine forces to break the A2AD defensive line.
SPACE V AIRBORNE ISR OR MIX AND MATCH
Owning satellite based ISR for military use is still an exclusive ‘club’, but airborne ISR still provides that most countries need.
SHIPBUILDING - A NUMBERS GAME
While experience grows among Indo-Pacific naval designers, order numbers remain crucial to keeping costs down and yards in business.
