DOWN LIKE A LEAD BALLOON

Re: “Military finally dumps B350m airship”, ( BP, Sept 15).

Something about our military procurement is badly awry — yet the military hasn’t fixed the problems. For example, look at our airship, decommissioned after “eight years of service” during which time the blimp crashed once, while it was mostly grounded the rest of the time as it was plagued by various defects.

The airship couldn’t even fly its maiden flight as scheduled due to technical problems, and reportedly could fly only one-third of the height claimed in its specifications — yet the army, under the leadership of now-Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda, accepted the craft. In February 2012, it could fly up to 500 metres above the ground — but only for a few hours, and in September 2012 it had to be repaired, costing 50 million baht — yet in July 2013 it had to be repaired again.

Nor is the blimp the only case of our soldiers not getting the equipment they need. As a small example, our army paid 1 million baht each for G200 bomb detectors — yet our government proved it to be accurate only 20% of the time. In other words, our soldiers more than doubled their chances of survival by flipping a coin.

Or how about our aircraft carrier Chakri Naruebet, which hasn’t been combat-ready for years because it has no aircraft that can fly? Now we’ve committed more than 30 billion baht for submarines — while our soldiers in the deep South get bombed in their pickup trucks, rather than being protected in armoured personnel carriers. What kind of planning and procurement is that?

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha should use this opportunity to show that under his watch those responsible for the above fiascos will be held accountable — even his brother generals, if need be.

Also, the whole equipment planning and procurement process should be reformed and made transparent from top to bottom so that our soldiers have all the equipment they need to protect us — and nothing more. Burin Kantabutra