A400M Just Gets Costlier

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 |

KUALA LUMPUR: Based on the story below, it appears that we may end up paying up to RM700 million for each of our 4 A400M despite assurances to the contrary previously. Not a very good start to the upcoming RMK10, which according to most observers will only give around RM5 billion for defence….

A400M Cost Overrun Set at 10%

PARIS – An agreement by customer nations to provide 3.5 billion euros ($4.8 billion) of financial support for the A400M represents a 10 percent cost overrun on the airlifter program, with Britain expected to cancel two or three aircraft, French Defense Minister Hervé Morin said March 8.

–Malaysian Defence

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Posted in 1Malaysia, A400M, budget | 8 Comments »

A400M First Flight

Saturday, December 12th, 2009 |

KUALA LUMPUR: The story below is self-explainatory. While the Defence Minister is optimistic that the first Malaysian A400M will be delivered in 2015 and the price will remained around RM600 million plus, the Airbus rep at Lima was less specific. He said ever

A400M completes first test flight
Friday, December 11, 2009

The much-delayed Airbus A400M military airlifter has completed its first three-hour test flight from Seville.

A six-man crew conducted the flight, led by Airbus’ chief military test pilot Ed Strongman.

He was supported by experimental test pilot Ignacio Lombo, senior flight test engineers Jean-Philippe Cottet, Eric Isorce and Didier Ronceray, and test flight engineer Gerard Leskerpit.

Between them the multinational crew has logged more than 31,000 flight hours.

The A400M took off loaded with flight-test instrumentation to monitor its performance and systems following weeks of on-the-ground testing.

The Airbus Military test team received the A400M on 12 November. Tests began with a successful taxi on 23 November building up to high-speed rejected takeoffs before the official first flight on December 11

Over the next three years the A400M will undergo 3,700 hours of flight tests from Seville and Toulouse, as well as in specialised locations all around the world.

International partners are currently renegotiating the purchase of the aircraft, which has been subject to delays and cost overruns. The South African government cancelled its order for eight A400Ms in November.

Take-off was broadcast live from A400M.com.

–Malaysian Defence

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News From Paris

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 |

KUALA LUMPUR: As promised, here is some news from Paris.

First of all, the generous French had agree to extend the RM1.604 billion price for the 12 Eurocopter EC725 until February, next year. Initially, the deadline for the price was set to end next month but apparently they had decided to be more generous during these hard times.

There is no firm word whether the government will make the final decision on the procurement any time soon. Malaysian Defence believes that a decision, if any, would be made when the budget is announced probably after September. I am not holding my breath as the air force is already making plans to upgrade some of its Nuri helicopters to extend their service lives beyond 2015.

And as for A400M, it looks like that the status quo remains unless some extraordinary happened in Europe, which is unlikely.

Apart from those two tidbits, Malaysian Defence had a ” Huh” moment today when told that the Armed Forces chief will be soon visiting China. The visit came hard on the heels of the Dear PM visit to the country once known to Malaysians as the Bamboo Curtain.

Malaysian Defence is not suggesting any arms deals is in the offing as the PAT knows that the quality of the Chinese M4 clones are not that great but there are other things in the PRC’s arsenal’s that might interest us……

– Malaysian Defence

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Posted in 1Malaysia, A400M, Cougar, Eurocopter, budget, m4 | 1 Comment »

France Looking At C130J Hercules As A400M Is Delayed

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 |

KUALA LUMPUR: The story below (click link) is self explainatory. Yes, I know some remained rooted to the A400M deal, mostly due to the offset for CTRM but remember guys, our Hercules fleet is getting old. Unless they fund a SLEP soon or decide to lease or buy new or second hand Hercules. we may need to use Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia for our transport needs…..

With A400M Delayed, France Eyes C-130J
Unlikely To Pursue C-17

–Malaysian Defence

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Posted in 1Malaysia, A400M, Hercules, Malaysia - RMAF | 17 Comments »