KL checks budget for arms wish list

KL checks budget for arms wish list

MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur is in the market for an airborne early warning system, surface vessels and tactical communications equipment but must determine its budget first, defense minister Najib Razak said on Tuesday.

"Our shopping list is quite extensive. No defense ministry has a small shopping list," Najib told a news conference to publicize the biennial Defense Services Asia exhibition to be held in Kuala Lumpur next week.

Other items Malaysia wants include all types of vehicles and additional firepower, Najib said, without giving more detail.

Asked on Malaysia's plan to buy 18 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets from Boeing, Najib said there had been no decision yet.

"It's still under consideration but we cannot make any statement at this stage," he said, citing the cost involved and constraints imposed by the wider national budget.

The New Straits Times daily reported last year that the Boeing deal, if all options were exercised, could cost as much as US$1.5 billion, although the U.S. firm might offset it with industrial collaboration programs.

Malaysia is already paying $1 billion over five years until 2008 for 18 Russian Sukoi Su-30MKM aircraft and spare parts, with 30 percent of it due by 2005. -- Reuters