KUALA LUMPUR — The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has not undertaken a contract with controversial defence services provider Aerotree Defence and Services Sdn Bhd, contrary to allegations on the matter making the rounds on social media.
A source confirmed with Scoop that police do not currently have a contract with Aerotree, which faced backlash last year after it was unable to deliver four Black Hawk helicopters to the Defence Ministry despite several deadline extensions.
Denying claims that Aerotree had won a tender to supply helicopters to PDRM, the source said online posts making such false allegations could be seeking to “sabotage” the local company.
The source added that approvals for such contracts would require the Home Ministry’s approval.
On January 22, X user @Marchfoward claimed that Aerotree had secured a tender to supply helicopters to the police. As of press time, the post remains accessible and has garnered upwards of 141,000 views.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain was seen visiting Aerotree’s booth at the recent Asia International Security Summit and Expo 2025 held in Putrajaya from January 20 to 22.
According to a posting uploaded on PDRM’s official portal, Razarudin was briefed by Aerotree chief executive officer Datuk Halim Othman.
Aerotree courted controversy last year over helicopter contracts for the government.
On November 6, 2024, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said Putrajaya had decided to terminate the deal with Aerotree for the delivery of four UH-60A Black Hawk helicopters after the company failed to meet the October delivery deadline.
Earlier in July last year, Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari said Aerotree, established in 1998, had cited the Russia-Ukraine war as one of the reasons behind the delay in procuring the helicopters.
The RM187 million contract to lease the helicopters, awarded to Aerotree on a direct negotiation basis, had been criticised by former deputy defence minister Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz, who questioned the government’s rationale in selecting Aerotree.
Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat, the Bersatu MP had highlighted Aerotree’s lack of prior experience in government aviation procurements, querying whether “due diligence” had been executed on Aerotree’s capabilities before the contract was awarded under a Government Operate, Own and Maintain Model.
He also questioned why such a “critical procurement” was not conducted through an open international tender, which would have allowed the Defence Ministry to select assets precisely tailored to its end-users’ requirements.
After terminationing its deal with Aerotree, the government in on Dec 23 last year signed a 15-year leasing agreement with Weststar Aviation Sdn Bhd for helicopters to be used by military and government agencies.
Under the contract, 12 helicopters would be allocated to the armed forces, seven to the police, two each to the navy and the fire and rescue department, four to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, and one to the Prime Minister’s Department.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the leasing deal, which includes helicopters from Italian defence firm Leonardo, was awarded after a request for proposal process, with the option for the government to purchase the helicopters at around RM15 million each once the lease is over. – January 24, 2025