Since the old forum was taken off the forum, does anybody have news about the who and why ?
Can be found anyway via the internet archive…. just google...
The net never forgets
I heard recently from someone in the know that IBD used singapore taxpayer money to sweeten the deal for RM to buy them. Got a slightly higher price from RM then they would have gotten.
The story is that IBD was already planning to sell the company, with the likely match being RM. To make their order books look bigger and hence more profitable to potential buyers, they persuaded MINDEATH/DSTA to buy even more Leopard 2 tanks. This time, between 2016 and 2017, MINDEATH took delivery of 25 Leo 2s, on top of the 161 that they already have!! For fucks sake that we need so many 70 ton tanks, I don't know. At least 140 of these tanks have been modified to SG standard, which is where IBD gets its contracts to supply the AMAPS for them. The AMAPS work was actually winding down already, and I guess IBD had to bribe someone in MINDEATH or the PAP to order another 25 more fucking tanks, so that IBD can get the contract work for the AMAPS upgrades. Since these tanks were brought into singapore in 2017, the order book for AMAPS work on them was showing when RM did their due diligence. So, it makes their business looks good. IBD also told RM if you buy us, and give us a decent price, we can also influence the SAF to order the RM ADS system for active protection, and have this retrofitted to all the 100 plus tanks in the SAF. The SAF first choice would have been the Trophy APS from Israel's Rafael. A proven system. So, in the end, sinkie taxpayer shell out hundreds of millions $ so that RM and IBD get business, and RM is happy and buys IBD. IBD is happy because they sold a sinking business to RM. RM is happy because they got the contract for all the ADS kits for the SAF Leo 2. Diesenroth family is happy because RM was the last and final suitor and they sold to them. Sinkies are happy because we are buying more tanks, although foe what, and to defend against who, they don't know and don't ask.