KINIBIZ For clarity’s sake, Tiger is going to start off with this: the Mistral class is not an aircraft carrier, at least, not in the traditional sense of the term; it is actually an amphibious assault ship. The Mistral has the ability to serve as a mobile base of operations for helicopters, rather than the great ships with two or four catapults that launch fighter jets that cost a bomb or two to maintain.

And no, the Mistral has no way of launching the Rafale fighter jet. Yes, the Rafale has a variant that is meant for operating from an aircraft carrier, but the Mistral class is unable to support fixed-wing aircraft.

All right, now that Tiger is done being a military geek, Tiger will reiterate a key point: Why does Malaysia need one of these warships?

Of course, it is all well and good to declare that it is “for the defence of the nation!” and all that, but still, there is also the matter of compatibility, is there not?

As far as Tiger knows, the Mistral does not fulfil any specific role in the Malaysian defence forces. In the short term, the most Tiger can see it being used for is as a mobile helicopter base off the coast of Sabah to deter incursions. However, this is, to Tiger, the equivalent of using a high-calibre rifle to shoot the cheat opposite you at the poker table.

Even looking towards the long term, the funds used to procure, maintain, and train up the people to man the Mistral would be better served by building up a presence of defence over in Sabah and Sarawak.

For the full story go to KINIBIZ .

This article was written by Xavier Kong.