SHAH ALAM: In the post yesterday, we know that Indonesia has bought twelve ex-Qatari Air Force Mirage 2000-5 for US$745 million (RM3.44 billion). The figure is about RM800 million short of our own buy of 18 brand new Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50 FLIT/LCA.
So, the question here is whether we will spend some RM3.4 billion on a dozen or so of used fighter jets? The question is relevant as Malaysia has expressed interest in buying 33 ex-Kuwaiti Air Force Boeing F/A-18 Hornets.
Will the Kuwaiti Hornets costs as much as Qatari Mirages then? I have been told it will be much cheaper, but no figures have been bandied about.
I am guessing here but if the cost of purchasing and upgrading the Kuwaiti Hornets reached more than RM500 million, I do not think it will go ahead. The bean counters at the Finance Ministry and even RMAF will balk at spending so much money on a fleet of aircraft that will be 35 years old in ten years time. And it will cost a bomb to maintain them for that period.
As an example, the ministry cancelled the chance to buy the Brunei Black Hawks when it was revealed that we had to pay for them and after that the maintenance costs. The funny thing about this is now we are paying more money to lease four Black Hawks. That said its cheaper than leasing four AW139s.
In my opinion, rather than spending so much money on the Kuwaiti Hornets, it will better for RMAF to buy the second batch of FA-50s. What say you?
— Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (47)
Yes, just buy 2nd batch of 18x FA50s along with cruise missiles, ASMs and AMRAAMs.
Theres are new update says Kuwait will maintain their F18
Personally i would prefer to bring MRCA acquisition forward. But if that's not an option then Fa50 is a fine choice.
The classic hornets is capable but the fa50 is not too far behind.
Scratch the Kuwaiti Hornet. They going to keep it. Forget it.
I understand that the FA50 block 20 is a capable aircraft and suits our needs, but I am abit concerned because it's merely an LCA and not a heavyweight air superiority fighter the likes of the SU30 or F18.
With the ongoing war in Ukraine, it seems unlikely that our flankers will soar the skies until the 2030-40 new MRCA timeline, and though it is a borderline crazy idea to even propose considering the unlikelihood of such an event, but what if Malaysia comes under attack during that time and all we have are the FA50 and small number of Hornets to defend and contest our airspace? Are the Golden Eagles capable of achieving air dominance in our own airspace? And let's not drag our friends within the FPDA just yet, obviously if such an event did take place they will have to do the most work. Of course this is a hypothetical and fictitious situation but still, what if?
Better get second batch of FA-50 and get few more additional missile like BrimStone and ASSRAM as MDBA to offer them to us during LIMA23.
Assembling the F-50 locally is a very bad idea, it is going to be LCS air force version, and will ensure there will be no second batch for the F-50.
If the MRCA will be delivered before 2040, yes, if a reasonable amount of Kuwait F-18s can be had for RM500m (e.g. 8 to 12). It will be a decent stop-gap measure if it allows for the retirement (partial or full) of the SU-30 - just to improve readiness and potentially reduce operating costs. As-is we say we have 18 SU-30, but how many are fit to fly? However, if the RMAF's MRCA is delayed into 2040s (e.g. delivery in late 2040s), then just order more FA-50s today - since there is an outstanding requirement for another 18 jets anyway. No point attempting to fly the F-18s into the 2040s. Old is still old and the F-18s will be reaching half a century by the 2040s.
Yes, getting another batch of FA-50 is a better option.
TUDM purchasing Hornets (a hardware we already operate and familiar with) will always be much more cheaper than Indonesians buying Mirages (everything from training, support, spares etc to be done from scratch)
The FA-50MY Block 20 with AESA, targeting pod and BVR missiles will still be much more capable than the old Mirages.
If you compare Qatar Mirage and Kuwaiti Hornets, the Hornets are also of more capable with targeting pods and a much more advanced radar.
Best case scenario
- 20-30x F/A-18C/D ex Kuwait before 2026, 18x FA-50 batch 2 before 2030
- 12x KF-21 batch 1 before 2035, 12x KF-21 batch 2 before 2040
Realistic scenario
- 18x FA-50 batch 2 before 2030 (USD 0.9 bil)
- 12x KF-21 batch 1 before 2035 (USD 1 bil), 12x KF-21 batch 2 before 2040 (USD 1 bil)