KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — The delay in the procurement of the UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter lease is due to constraints in the delivery process, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Defence Deputy Minister Adly Zahari said the matter was confirmed by Aerotree Defense and Services Sdn Bhd, the company responsible for the helicopter lease service procurement contract.
Its justifications included the protracted war in Ukraine, which had caused disruptions to the supply chain.
"The United States (US) regulatory approval process has also been tightened for the modernisation of technical specifications and the integration of the avionics system on the Black Hawk UH-60A aircraft.
"The second is that the timeline of the work programme and the expected delivery of the aircraft to Malaysia has been revised and updated by the Slovak Training Academy and all those involved based on the latest supply chain conditions and the expected time of approval by the US regulator," he said.
Adly was responding to Tanah Merah MP Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz's query on the reason for the failure of the company Aerotree Defense and Services to supply the UH-60A to the Malaysian Armed Forces within the stipulated time, and the ministry's (Mindef) follow-up action during the question and answer session.
The company was responsible for sending two helicopters on October 30, 2023, and two more on December 30, 2023.
Mindef takes this delay seriously because it impacts the operation of the Malaysian Army Aviation helicopter, as outlined in the contract.
"Furthermore, (if) there is any delay in the delivery of the helicopter, the government will take steps through this contract to impose a late fine on the delay caused by the company.
"Nevertheless, if the company still fails to deliver according to the set date, the ministry can also cancel this procurement and re-tender as required by the contract," he said.
Replying to a supplementary question by Ikmal as to why the government did not use the government-to-government procurement mechanism for the aircraft through the Malaysia-United States Strategic Talks platform, Adly said the matter should be seen by countries that want to cooperate.
"Because we know that if these companies have national ownership, we can do G2G. But if the companies we want to do together are not owned by the state, then we will eventually return to the private sector," he said.
— Bernama
