New Defence Minister?

Marhalim Abas
June 2, 2015

SHAH ALAM: EVEN as we contemplate the allocation for the security (defence and national security) sector for RMK11, word is out that we might just get a new Defence Minister first.

When and whom is beyond me at the moment – it could just be another rumour. My sources however insisted that Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is currently at odds with the Prime Minister. And so are the two other UMNO VPs.

And as Datuk Seri Najib Razak had apparently told his Cabinet that those who disagreed with him to resign, some are expected to do just that. Though not in his face of course.

So will this affect the RMK11 allocation? Unlikely, unless Najib decided to dissolve parliament and call for a snap general elections.

Whoever takes over Jalan Padang Tembak from the current holder (if and when he resigns) is not expected to make big changes.

He will still be bound to what had been decided by the PM and the Finance Minister. And some say….

PH, Vietnam can wipe out Chinese forces in Spratlys – ex-USPACOM chief



IT will be unfavorable to China if it would launch military action in the Spratlys (Kalayaan Island Group) in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea), as it is too far away from mainland to reinforce itself during conflict, a former chief of US Pacific Command and Director of National Intelligence said.

“The Spratlys are 900 miles away from China, for God’s sake. Those things have no ability to defend themselves in any sort of military sense,” said Adm. Dennis Blair, who is now a director at the National Bureau of Asian Research, said in an interview with Wall Street Journal recently.

As a former USPACOM chief, he used to be responsible for the American forces in the Asia-Pacific region.

“If the Chinese were ever so foolish as to try to take any sort of actual military action from those islands, they’re completely indefensible militarily. Heck, the Philippines and the Vietnamese could put them out of action, much less us,” he added.

Blair resigned in 2010 as the US intelligence director over alleged rift with the White House.

Blair was USPACOM chief in 2001 when a Chinese fighter jet clashed with a US spy plane over South China Sea. It killed the Chinese pilot and the US plane made emergency landing on Hainan.

China has made significant progress in its reclamation projects in recent months, turning islands and reefs to artificial islands believed to be military installations. But China

It has also warned US and Philippine planes on patrol over the disputed waterway recently. This was seen by some as China’s attempt to set up an Air Defense Identification Zone.

At a security summit in Singapore over the weekend, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter called for an end to all reclamation activities by all claimants in the South China Sea, including by China who has made the most developments.

The former USPACOM chief also accused the US of planning “whack-a-mole” in dealing with China over the sea dispute and suggested for diplomacy rather than military actions.

“We shouldn’t be leading with the aircraft carriers down there,” he said.

Blair said the main problem in the disputed waters would be Spratlys, where China is doing massive construction activities.

“The only thing I can think of there is you divide them up: Okay, Philippines you get 20, Malaysia gets 15, China gets 10,” he said.

Some of his proposals to the problem include a ban on military forces and agreement to jointly develop fishing and other resources, adding that US and its allies would likely agree.

China claims most parts of the disputed South China Sea, a major trade route believed to be rich in resources. AC

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/123794/ph...x-uspacom-chief

A Vietnamese sailor was transferred to the rescue boat coded SAR 412 on Monday. Photo: Nguyen Tu

Vietnamese rescuers on mission to save a fisherman near Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands were threatened by Chinese vessels and asked to change their course Monday, the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) said.

Last Friday afternoon, a Vietnamese fishing boat with 45 crew members was traveling some 410 nautical miles off the central city of sDa Nang when a sailor named Ngoc suffered chest pains.

As his condition worsened on Sunday, the recue boat coded SAR 412, belonging to MRCC Da Nang, received the distress call and headed to Hoang Sa, the Vietnamese term for the Paracel island chain in the East Sea (aka South China Sea).

Around 30 minutes after midnight, when the rescue boat was around eight nautical miles from Triton Island in Hoang Sa, a Chinese vessel appeared.

The Chinese vessel called the Vietnamese rescue boat via telecom devices and demanded that it changed its direction, claiming that the boat was in "Chinese territorial waters."

Phan Xuan Son, the captain of the rescue boat, replied that the boat was on duty and kept on going.

Engineers from the Russian Almaz-Antey corporation, manufacturer of the Buk missile system, said at a press conference Tuesday that the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which crashed in Ukraine on July 17, 2014, was downed by a guided missile.

The manufacturer's investigation and comparative analysis revealed the missile to most likely be a Buk-M1 missile, which is used by the Ukrainian military, and fired from territory controlled by the Ukrainian military at the time.

"During the first stage of our investigation, the type of system was established. It was a Buk-M1 system [NATO reporting name SA-11], a 9М38-М1 rocket and a 9М314 warhead," head engineer Mikhail Malyshevsky said.

The Russian military uses Buk 9M37 missiles.

The report showed that the missile was fired from Ukrainian military-controlled territory.

The decision is a bit of a disappointment for aircraft manufacturers like SAAB (Gripen), Lockheed Martin (F-16), Dassault (Rafale), Sukhoi (Su-30/Su-35) and Russian Aircraft Corporation (MiG-35) which were hoping to sell new jets. For now RAC might have the best cards, if the RMAF possibly decides to upgrade its 10 MiG-29N single-seat and two MiG-29NUB two-seat jets to the MiG-29SMT standard.

with mega projects around (mrt,hsr,kl118) ... Kesian MAF.

wonder what the heck happen to najib...when he's the defence minister, everything looks so well for the armed forces..getting upgrades and new toys..

when he's become PM, i thought our military will gain more benefit..how wrong i was..

with mega projects around (mrt,hsr,kl118) ... Kesian MAF.

Aiya... ayam has sadding

IF the King and army take over this country ..will effect our economy onot?

Agree but MAF take its toll ... Mega projects > national defense.

i believe it more of pushing the retirement date back rather than upgrade

the upgrade could mean an overhaul of the current mig to best condition to fly. Not a full blwon upgrade package to increase it capabilities

even the airforce does not want that

Speaking of mrca, even if the rmaf selected today, it still take 1 or 2 years before delivery. During that time the MIG would probably be active as well until the whole batch is delivered, right atreyuangel  

sad to say but i have to disagree

those mega project is to stimulate our worsening economy in particular the construction

It keeping contractors, consultant and suppliers up and running. If no such mega projects, we would be in a worse economic slumps with rising unemployment. That time our armed forces will be worse off with no budget.

the only thing i would say our PM did was launching those transportation projects. It helps the city center transport and still keeping the economy running until for the next 10 years or so i would say.

Nothing wrong with putting more budget on mega project like mrt and so on.
but the government have to ensure they need to put effort into military spending as well.
if the government really pouring much more effort in esscom/esszone we wont have much terrible state in sabah and we can ensure our tourism industry hit that badly.
We got to have balance in managing our economy, security and so on.
too bad politician always underestimate the needs of investing in security and that goes for both camp.
There is also lots of issue I dun wan to bring into these thread especially on the mismanagement of public fund.
anyway let put a break on politics stuff here.
thanks.

wonder what the heck happen to najib...when he's the defence minister, everything looks so well for the armed forces..getting upgrades and new toys..

when he's become PM, i thought our military will gain more benefit..how wrong i was..