Malaysia's Opaque Defense Procurement

Last week, Defense Minister Dato’ Sri Hishammudin Hussein announced that the Cabinet had unanimously agreed to proceed with the procurement of littoral combat ships for the Royal Malaysian Navy. This is a long outstanding project initiated back in 2011 with a price tag of RM9 billion ringgit for 6 ships, but has been beset with delays and allegations of corruption. We speak to Ridzwan Rahmat of Janes on the gaps in Malaysian defense procurement. Image credit: EPA-EFE