Hishammuddin told a press conference here the defence ministry was waiting for the finance ministry’s green light for the procurement of the aircraft.

“I have been made to understand that the latest development on the air force’s LCA fleet is that physical assessments have been completed.

“So, now, we’ll wait for the finance ministry’s decision,” he said at the Subang Air Base after sending off the first group from the Malaysian Battalion 850-10 to Lebanon for a peacekeeping mission.

He believed that the procurement of the LCAs would not cause any problems, as long as the end-user, namely the air force, was allowed to determine the necessary assets.

In July, it was reported that a new fleet of LCAs was in contention for a place in the air force’s armada of fighter aircraft.

Earlier reports said the Indian-made Tejas was the fighter jet of choice, but subsequent reports said the South Korean FA-50 Golden Eagle was also being considered.

The Tejas is built by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). In early July, HAL chairman and managing director R Madhavan was quoted in an Indian Express report as saying that negotiations were almost in the final stages.

The FA-50 is built by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI).

‘I don’t know anywhere else other than Sembrong’

Hishammuddin also alluded that he will be defending his Sembrong seat in the general election, a parliamentary constituency he has represented for six terms since 1995.

“I don’t know any other place. And as far as I know, the (Umno division in) Sembrong has not proposed any other name. So let’s wait, anything can happen in politics. You hope for the best and expect the worst.

“In the end, the voters of Sembrong will decide if I should represent them. If they reject me, that means I won’t be defence minister much longer.”