Defence budget must make up for years of underinvestment, says analyst

A RM7.1 billion federal budget allocation for defence and security equipment should be used to solve years of underinvestment in the armed forces, a defence analyst says.

Izzah Khairina Ibrahim of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia said that defence spending had been kept at about 1% of the country’s GDP, despite equipment having exceeded their service life.

She said military assets might not be adequate against threats ranging from non-traditional security challenges, grey-zone coercion, asymmetric, hybrid threats and high-tech warfare.

“Despite gradual progress, modernisation remains slow, with development expenditure accounting for only 34% of the total allocation this year, compared to the 65.7% for operational expenditure,” she told FMT.

The 2027 budget allocates RM22 billion each to the defence ministry and the home ministry, a 1.2% increase from the 2026 allocations.

The large allocations to the defence and home ministries reflected a cautious and pragmatic approach to national security, as Malaysia recognised that security and public order could not be maintained by military means alone, she said.

However, sustained investment was needed in civilian and military territorial domain awareness, defence cyber and electromagnetic capabilities, and secure, integrated communication and coordination systems.

Lam Choong Wah of Universiti Malaya said the armed forces needed the funds for major modernisation plans, including those of the navy and air force.

Lam said the defence ministry should receive more than the home ministry because of the costs of operations and procurement,; however, with the government’s main focus on easing the cost of living, other sectors such as defence would have to give way.

Mizan Aslam, a senior fellow at the Global Peace Institute, welcomed the rise in the defence ministry’s allocation over the past five years. The increase was needed, given territorial claims in the South China Sea and tensions in the Middle East.

“We need more assets and a system that can accommodate the changes in our world right now,” he said.

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