Malta has zero missile or air defence capabilty or early warning radar in the event of some form of attack by terrorists. Army sources told this newspaper that the only line of defence would be for a Nato vessel to provide early warning systems and/or surface to air defence.
Successive governments have neglected this aspect of defence, which was critically exposed when two Libyan jets landed in Malta without notice at the height of the 2011 revolution.
In light of recent declarations that extremist terrorist groups in its propaganda outlet Dabiq, that Gaddafi era weapons could be fired towards Europe, TMI looked into the Armed Forces of Maltas’capabilities in neutralising any theoretical threat.
The results are not encouraging. Malta does not possess any operational air defence ordnance. Since the disbandment of the 2nd (Composite) Regiment of the Armed Forces of Malta, the last remaining 40mm air defence artillery guns have fallen in disrepair, and qualified personnel have long since retired. These anti-aircraft guns are known as Bofors guns and were manufactured in Sweden.
Those remaining servicemen who operated ex-North Korean ZPU-4 14.5mm quad heavy machine-guns in the light air defence support role, have seen their role fizzle to nothing with their being reconstituted into a small light machine-gun support company in an infantry shackled role.
In fact, on its website, the AFM gives a description of this company as: “The Air Defence and Support Company (ADFS) Company is tasked with providing combat support to the Force. It is responsible for generating dedicated fire support by deploying mortars, heavy machine guns or anti–tank weapons as required.
The company has the additional capability of providing point ground-based air defence. ADFS Company has an additional role as it doubles up as 1st Regiment’s training cadre, The Emergency Volunteer Reserve Force (EVRF) also falls under its command.” But even if the Bofors and ZPU guns were still operational, they could not do much in the face of a missile strike.
Sources within the AFM said that under successive governments, there was never any serious interest to acquire new modern ordnance and expertise with associated training packages, since all was deemed too expensive an investment.
“Even donated Italian army air defence artillery military radars and their guns have been neglected, while they were already absolete from a technology standpoint, and were only donated to Malta instead of having them scrapped in Italy. Early maintenance saw spare parts being scavenged from Italian army base scrap yards,” said the source.
He continued by giving a concrete example of when the two Libyan Air Force Mirage jets defected to Malta, where no one knew they were anywhere near Maltese airspace until they touched down. While the Mirages are relatively modern fighter jets, they lack any stealth capability or technology.
“With no truly effective ordnance (guns or missiles) or early warning military radar which can counter electronic jamming, Malta remains defenceless as was proven with the surprise arrival of two defecting Libyan Air Force Mirage jet-fighters at the early throes of the Libyan revolution,” the source said.
The source said that in the event that missiles were launched towards Malta, we would have to rely on Surface to Air defence missiles deployed by ships. The UK, the US and France possess vessels with such ordnance.