Helicopters acquisition: Leasing system more transparent, helps avoid financial burden - PM

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the leasing arrangement also allows the government to save on maintenance and repair costs, which are currently a major issue.

"Even though it might be cheaper if we just buy it, but in the end, we find that the maintenance costs of the helicopters are higher than the initial purchase price," he said during the Minister's Question Time.

Anwar said this in reply to Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz (PN-Tanah Merah) who wanted to know the reasons the lease contract for helicopters for the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) was not offered via an international open tender or executed on a government-to-government (G2G) basis.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin had previously said that the government would lease 28 helicopters from Italian defence firm Leonardo through a contract worth RM16 billion for a period of 15 years, for several agencies, including the MAF.

Anwar said that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had given assurance of full cooperation in fulfilling the Leonardo helicopter leasing contract, as Italy holds a 30 per cent stake in the company.

He said this was conveyed by Meloni during their meeting at the recent G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"Under this leasing arrangement, the manufacturing company must ensure that the availability and readiness of the supplied helicopters is maintained at 85 per cent," he said.

The Prime Minister also said that the government has also set a condition for Melaka International Airport in Batu Berendam to be used as a training centre for Leonardo helicopters and that technology transfer would be carried out in the country, taking into account Malaysia's preparations to become a hub for Leonardo.

"Currently, such hubs exist in Italy and Miami (USA), and Melaka in Malaysia may be chosen for its Batu Berendam Airport," he said.

To a supplementary question from Onn Abu Bakar (PH-Batu Pahat) on whether a similar leasing arrangement would be used in the acquisition of other assets such as fighter jets, Anwar said that not all acquisitions of assets are suitable to be done through the leasing system.

"The MAF has also said that there are urgent requirements (of assets) that the country must acquire promptly without waiting for leasing (arrangement), that is through direct purchase," he said.

In reply to another supplementary question from Ikmal Hisham on whether the Parliamentary Special Committee could verify that Leonardo could meet the specifications required for helicopters by each agency, Anwar said that this matter could not be discussed openly for security purposes.

"No country in the world discusses technical security requirements in public...I don't think it is appropriate for us to go into detail about the specifications, needs, and strength of our military equipment," he said.

-- BERNAMA