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[UPDATED] Cancel plan to buy Black Hawk helicopters, King tells govt

[UPDATED] Cancel plan to buy Black Hawk helicopters, King tells govt

KUALA LUMPUR: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, has ordered the Defence Ministry to scrap its plan to buy 30-year-old Black Hawk helicopters.
As the Supreme Commander of the Malaysian Armed Forces, His Majesty reminded the ministry not to repeat past mistakes.
"Do not repeat past mistakes when we bought SkyHawk aircraft second-hand.
Do we want to put our pilots in a 'flying coffin'? You think about it yourself.
"I believe all this is happening because the Defence Ministry is full of 'agents' or former generals who have become 'salesmen' — even fabric-selling companies are coming in to try to sell drones.
"If every procurement must go through middlemen's prices, then the allocation will never be enough. So don't try to bluff me.
"If you do not wish to listen to me, then after this, I shall no longer speak," His Majesty decreed, according to a post on his official Facebook account.
Sultan Ibrahim said this in his Royal Address during the parade marking the 60th Anniversary of the Special Service Regiment at Kem Iskandar, Mersing, today.
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