KUALA LUMPUR: The Cabinet recently approved for the Army to proceed with the delivery of six light scout attack helicopters.
The acquisition of the McDonnell Douglas MD530G helicopters was initially completed in 2015.
Army chief General Tan Sri Ahmad Hasbullah Mohd Nawawi said that a technical team will proceed to the United States next week to deal with the delay.
“The team will pursue obtaining the required certification from its United States manufacturers, for use in Malaysia.
“Once that is done, we will send the pilots for conversion training, followed by the maintenance crew to equip themselves with the know-how for the helicopters’ upkeep,” he said in conjunction with the 87th Army Day to be held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah on Sunday.
Hasbullah added that the six helicopters will be based in Sabah for deployment with the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom).
He also said that the first MD530G is expected to be delivered by year’s end, with the remainder being delivered in stages through next year.
The MD530G, dubbed “Little Birds”, were initially procured for RM300 million in Nov 2015 from MD Helicopters Inc of United States aerospace giant McDonnell Douglas Corp.
The terms of the contract stipulate that the helicopters are slated to be delivered in two batches – the first two by July 2017, with the other four scheduled to arrive by Dec 2018.
The MD530G will replace the four Sikorsky S-61A-4 Nuri which have been grounded with the Army Aviation Wing.
This followed the decision last month by the Royal Malaysian Air Force to phase out its entire fleet of 38 Nuris, after five decades of service, owing to exorbitant maintenance costs.
The Nuri helicopters were grounded following a near-fatal crash at the Gubir army camp in Kedah on Aug 2 last year.
More than 80 personnel were reportedly killed in more than 20 crashes since the Nuris were first introduced in 1967.
On another note, Hasbullah said that the army, as the bedrock of the nation, faces a struggle to maintain its 133 camps nationwide, including 109 in the Peninsula, including accommodation for soldiers and their families.
“On top of that, we have to monitor the 550km land border with Thailand, and the 2,100km border with Indonesia’s Kalimantan on Borneo island.
“We are trying to beef up the force from the current 95,000, of which 25,000 are in east Malaysia, with an additional 15,000 troops,” he said.
As for Army Day, he said the programme will kick-start with a convoy of vehicles from Tawau to Semporna, Lahat Datu, Sandakan, Kudat, Kota Belud and end at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu.
Part of a gotong-royong which has been organised will involve the repainting of churches and mosques, and the sprucing up of cemeteries.
“We decided to celebrate Army Day in Sabah to further expose our activities for the local folk to familiarise themselves with us.
“We want them to be aware that maintaining security and safeguarding sovereignty is the joint responsibility of all under the total-defence concept,” said Hasbullah, adding that the army could mobilise 5,000 troops at any given time, round-the-clock.