According to Defense Studies, the procurement process involving several new Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) will be decided by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) after the proposal is submitted to the Procurement Board of the Ministry of Defense.

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Leonardo ATR-72MP-600, one of the MPA aircraft contestants (photo: Jet Photos/Andrea Ferino)

Air Force Chief General Datuk Seri Mohd Asghar Khan Goriman Khan when explaining the matter said, the technical assessment on the purchase of the aircraft has also been fully completed: “Now it is still at the MoF level for them to make any decision on this matter. The Procurement Board is complete and we are waiting for the decision of the MoF," he explained at a press conference on March 23. However, he added, the RMAF will not disclose the number of companies that have been listed so far. “The next process (after MoF approval) is to do a physical assessment. So to all those who have been shortlisted, we will send a team to do a technical evaluation and a full evaluation later," he said.

Meanwhile, he said, the process of purchasing helicopters to be used by the RMAF in the future is still ongoing.