SHAH ALAM: Swimming in a fishbowl. IT appears that my post on Kuwaiti Hornets was overly optimistic. RMAF chief Gen. Affendi Buang downplayed the possibility in response to written questions posed to him ahead of the service’s 61st anniversary today. He said that although it welcome any offer of used aircraft, the conversations with Kuwait was only casual and not a firm commitment. He said the same thing when the question came up during an interview held for the same reason on May 29.
Anyhow what is being purchase soon after the slew of RFIs early this year? One single air defense radar, actually, from the three sought by the RFI. It is unclear when the contract to be sign though.
As for the UAV and MPA, Affendi said both programmes have been approved though funds are not yet available. Asked when they expect funding be made available, Affendi said it was unclear. It may well be in RMK12, which starts in 2021.
The LCA, has yet to be approved though. So all talk about a deal to be concluded by year end is of course, wrong. RMAF is pushing for it to be funded in RMK12 though, so much so it had decide to defer the Hawk upgrades. Affendi said if they get the funding, 12 will be purchased in RMK12 with another 24 to be purchased in subsequent procurement cycles.
When the first 12 LCA arrived, some of the Hawks and MB-339CM could be retired, said Affendi indicating a preference for a twin-seater for the new programme. A likely indication that the T-50, M346, Yak-130 and even the Hongdu L-15 would be the preferred choices ahead of the Tejas and JF-17.
As for the Hercules and Nuri upgrades, Affendi said the contracts are expected to be finalised by year end. The 11 year service for the Sukhois is expected to be funded by next year.
As for the facilities built to replace the Kuala Lumpur airbase, it is being completed and RMAF is expected to get the certificate of fitness before year end before the facilities are fully manned and operational. The new facilities are those in Sendayan, Kuantan and Subang.
— Malaysian Defence
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The optimist in me says it’s great that the new government has actually approved - in principle - the UAS and MPA requirement.
The pessimist in me says that we have a long history of the government approving funding for something, only for that funding to never materialise leaving the requirement unrealised.
My hunch says the said radar will be another ThalesRaytheon one. The interesting question is : to be used as a gap filler or as a primary one, as part of a new SOC?
To whom it may concern, If it's not much to ask, can we get a couple more of greeneries here and there at the Sendayan Airbase though? Seem kinda hot & dry with too much brightness going on. More trees can definitely freshen the surrounding area a little bit. Just a thought.
Anyway, go get them KAF Hornets like, pronto!
On paper the best compromise for our MRCA requirement is to add more legacy hornets to our current 8 units and use them up to 2030 when hopefuly the budget is available to replace the hornet with 5th gen fighters. Whether it would happen or not at least now adding more Hornets to the current fleet is a part of the official TUDM plan, unlike the outright denial of it a few years ago. The 1st choice to get additional hornets is of course from Kuwait (kuwait is no stranger to selling its retired fighters, selling its skyhawks to brazil for example. But with our snub to saudi, i dont know how this would affect kuwaiti appetite to sell to malaysia) . But we should not discount the option of getting the aussie classic hornets like what canada did, even if the planes are a bit older than those kuwaiti ones.
As for the AD radar, yes we need to replace 5 of our old radars that dates back to the 80s and early 90s, plus to add 3 additional ones as per CAP55. So replacing them is a good priority.
For UAV, MPA, LCA, lets talk about it when the DWP is out, and hopefully there will be a written budgetary commitment to TUDM for each Rancangan Malaysia to come.
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I was at the PC, the FMT took the quote completely out of context and got the story completely wrong
@Azlan
IINM, the UAS & MPA approvals had preceded the new administration. Either the prior approvals were rescinded and the Government are re-approving what was approved, or they are just affirming their own stamp of approval on the prior approval.
The Kuwaiti Hornets are gonna be retired soon in another few years and they will likely try to secure a buyer before that, yet we are still CASUALLY TALKING about it? By the time the Government actually get their acts in order and seriously consider this option, the Hornets would have long ago found buyers. The early bird gets the worm, even a kid knows that! Really shake my head.
As for LCA, if the doctrine requires them to be 1st responder to SCS incursion by China, then better not go the Chinese route. OTOH, MH17 is still unresolved so I hope the Government rejects Yak-130 and any other Russian weapons for that matter.
"Hercules and Nuri upgrades. Affendi said the contracts are expected to be finalised"
This thing have been blowing hot and cold for so long, I will believe it when I see the last unit of Hercs & Nuris have been fully upgraded. While the Hercs are nobrainer for upgrading, neither TUDM nor PUTD are keen to hang onto their Nuris.
"The 11 year service for the Sukhois is expected to be funded by next year."
This I'm quite confused. Is this referring to the stalled then restarted MKM SLEP program? Or is it a continuation of that?
What did he really say about the nuris?
Conflicting stories, some reporting that it is to be replaced, some say it is to be upgraded.
I hope there is a clear future for the nuris written in the upcoming DWP. Continue to use them? I am okay with it, but it needs the badly needed upgrades. Replace them? I am okay with that too long as proper budget is allocated for that.
On the LCA rather than buying it in batches (with high risk of future batches cancelled or another rojak bought), can all it be signed off like at 1 go, but delivery and payment staggered through 2 Rancangan Malaysias? But the value of the LCA (previously reported at up to RM7 billion) is comparatively small and should be completed in 1 Rancangan Malaysia
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He says the Nuri will be replaced but not when. As his answer were not definite I did not bother with it. Furthermore as the Nuri upgrade is supposed to be contracted it is likely no replacements until 2030
We should opt for the Russian Nebo-M radar instead. It's cheaper and has the capability to detect stealth because of it being the UHF kind, eventhough the accuracy won't be as spot on.
To be honest, I rather have the current Hawks to be converted to Advanced Hawk standard and use it for LIFT and LCA. Converting our MIG 29 to MIG 35 is not a bad idea too.
Just get the Kuwaiti Hornets General! Get 6-8 if it's not possible for a dozen or more. That's a better option. For now. We can't just dawdle away our chances at getting them unless you don't want them in the first place.
Joe,
The MPA requirement gained approval and was a priority under the last government. The UAS one hasn’t reached such an advanced stage. Of course under its original long term plan; the RMAF was supposed to get MPAs “after” the Su-30s and Cougars but “before” the MRCAs but that’s water under the bridge.
The Hornets - like I mentioned several times before, the RMAF has perfectly legitimate reasons as to why it’s not keen on pre owned airframes that are already several decades old and which will be several years older by the time they are delivered; irrespective of the fact that they are in good condition and are low houred. Many long term factors to be considered; not just how readily available they are or how “cheap” they may be.
What may seem logical or should be a priority to many; may differ greatly from what the RMAF feels should be it’s priority. At the moment it has its hands full : ensuring it has sufficient funds to maintain what it presently has, to get a number of long delayed upgrade programmes going and to seek approval to replace what it can, based on the government’s penny pinching budget and indifference towards defence.
Joe,
It’s not “doctrine” but availability and placement of assets. At some point in the future if circumstances require a LCA to perform a peace time intercept; so be it. It doesn’t make a difference if the aircraft being intercepted is Chinese and the LCA is Chinese made. There have been times when Hornets have scrambled to “greet” aircraft that unintentionally strayed - briefly - into our airspace. Those aircraft turned out to be American.
In the past someone questioned if a subsonic platform could perform QRA. It can depending on the circumstances; i.e. the direction the intruder is flying, it’s speed, how much early warning there is, etc.
The RMAF hopes that a future LCA will double as a LIFT and as a light attack platform; with some level of air to air capability. Until a time when new fighters are available those LCAs can also take some strain off the Hornets and MKMs. Not every situation requires a Hornet or a MKM and a LCA will be cheaper to fly and maintain.
A year ago .. we have 1 trillions debt... Now we still have 1 trillions + debt due to liabilities so n so....even we had come out the defense white paper i dun think we have that budget.. I really no idea how can we get mpa, uav + lca in a same period of time while we still have problem to maintain the existing. Let's just keep the hawk, nuri, Hercules fly as per now without upgrade. Modify the cn235 become mpa... If we really have $ only think about new toys. On that time, Mat Sabu can shout "once more Malaysia defense is the best in Asean and we shall have peace...."