Got this email being circulated by some one that I thought would be good reading, since it is quite related to what the RAMF has in store i.e. the intended acquisition of new generation fighter aircrafts as a possible replacement for the Russian made MIG 29N purchased in the 90’s.
RAF STRIP JETS FOR SPARE PARTS: TYPHOONS TORN UP FOR LIBYA AIR FLEET.
The RAF is tearing apart state-of-the-art fighter jet for spare parts to keep warplanes flying over Libya. Three Typhoons, costing 125 million (pound sterling) each are cannibalized at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire to cover a desperate shortage of parts. This means three jets had to be grounded in March so RAF technicians could raid them to keep the maximum number of Typhoons in the air (in Libya).
Commander Nigel “Sharkey” Ward, decorated for flying Harrier jump jets during the Falklands war said, “The Typhoon is an astronomically expensive aircraft that is ill suited to any role outside UK airspace. It is essentially a very expensive RAF sacred cow”. End.
I read too that the Indian Air Force (IAF) is also acquiring the latest generation of fighter aircrafts, dubbed the most expensive acquisition in the history of the IAF by acquiring 126 aircrafts at an expected costs of USD 12 billion.
The IAF has short listed two aircrafts after a thorough evaluation i.e. the Eurpoean Eurofighter Typhoon and the French Dassault Rafale, and a final decision is expected in September.
In the case of the RMAF, speculations are rife that the choice for its latest acquisition is also the Eurofighter Typhoon, and being the more expensive (as reported by Commander Nigel) the final choice could easily be the Typhoon. In the case of the IAF, costs per aircraft is taken into serious consideration and whichever manufacturer offers the best in terms of pricing (lowest bid) without compromising performance wins the contract.
The IAF too has the MIG 29 and in much superior numbers than the RMAF. But the IAF does not easily discard the aircraft for a new one (like we normally do). Rather they go for refurbishment and up-grades. This is what we are bad at because we have not prepared nor developed expertise to such levels where we can perform extensive refurbishments and up-grade on our fighter aircrafts. So, the easy way out is to buy, and we will keep on buying if nothing is done to develop our own expertise, and this goes for the entire Armed Forces.
CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION
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11 comments:
We do not need Jet fighters. What we need are more sophisticate Helicopters of various capacity.
In the event of a war all our aircrafts would be destroyed within minutes. At least the Helicopters could be use to ferry troops and ordinary folks and other uses during Peace time.
That is my two sens.
Comensurate to the threat, a credible fleet of fighters, pakka pilots, maintenance crew and systems is a must. Costs, aircraft type and mode of purchase etc. should be the business of the Air Force professionals.Let us not be arm chair experts, but, rather the closely observent, concerned citizens.
Pak Idrus, your assumption is true in a scenario of disproportionate war ala Iraq verses rest of the world. In other scenario, fighters are needed to thwart the intent of similar or besar sikit sized countries.
Heli, yes they are also very important. The same goes to body amour, C4, MPSS and a lot more.
Thats the point. Malaysia has only so much money. We need to keep reminding our politician so that no-one dares to inflate the purchase price.
Dear Zulkhairi,
The sad thing is that our political masters does not know how to reduce cost. It is usually the higher the better.....some for me and some for you. Just look at all the previous acquisition. Is there anything cheap that they bought. Sadly, some high-up military guys work in cohort with the principals. Get rich quick is all they know. Dah banyak saya bercakap mengenai hal ini.
Dato'
Another disaster if and when the gomen decides to buy Eurofighter Typhoon.
What happen to all the fighter jets in the inventory? Caca merba, mengabiskan beras je!
Cakap pun tak guna la tok! and the RMAF and the defense organization is in zombie!
Let them buy anything but tell those in power be accountable and be prepared to answer when there is a change of government, so be it.
Dono who are the enemies or tak habis dengan syok sendiri- sort out the asset in the inventory and get them operational.
They can't even deliver with the current assets.
Doubtful whether they understand their roles! Tak caya tanya la mereka?
Pak Idrus, if there is war it will be the fight among the people or the uprising of the population demanding justice and restoring the peoples' rights.
So chill mate! If any one be it the politicians or the Generals talking about war, just utter to them crap and rubbish!
Eurofighter Typhoon! nak jaga injin jet pun tak bolih camno?
Ramadan Alkareem.
Dear Datuk,
I think we have being spending wasteful money in the defence ministry. Remember the HK rifles, the Panhard personnel carriers and the Scorpian battle tanks to name a few. And now the Harpoon fighter jets! Datuk, would you please tell Generalissimo Zahid Hamidi to fuck off with the idea. Datuk, I am a pensioner, if he is going on with this crazy plan, I don't think I get the bonus the years to come.
Thank you.
Rahim Rashid (Retired PSTD)
Dear Rahim Rashid,
I think keeping abreast with the latest in military hardware is a must for any Armed Forces. But the issue here is one of afforability. More often than not, the government seemed not to be too concern with costs. As I have said in some previous writings, the costlier the better, and I do not know why this is so. You can make your own assumption.
I am no aviation expert but the plane that impresses me the most was the Harrier Jump Jet that was used by the RAF.
It would have been very suitable in a place like Malaysia.
We could have asked the UK government for a cheap liquidation sale and that would have kept us covered for another 15(?) years.
But not sure if our flyers could adapt to the quirks of this unique plane.
The sale will go to the company that give the most commission. That would typically be European, especially French. That goes for MAS / Air Asia too.
Salam...
stumbled upon this blog & i find myself impressed with it..
It makes good reading, keep up the good work sir.
BTW: SAM's are much more cost effective than fighter jets - my 2cents!!
Salam,
stumbled upon this blog & i find myself impressed with it...
Keep up the good work sir...
BTW: SAM's are more cost effective than fighter jets - remember the yom-kippur war!
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