Rmaf S 50 Light Weight Jets For Rm36 Billion Are You Insane

---

Here is some shocking news.   I am commenting on this because it was carried in Free Malaysia Today. The original story appeared in the Straits Times in Singapore.





Politics deciding factor in RM36b  light combat aircraft (LCA) deal
for RMAF over 10 years, according to Singapore news 

aircraft believed to be : 
F-50 by Korea Aerospace Industries  Tejas by Hindustan Aeronautics (India), YAK-130 by Irkut Aerospace (Russia), JF-17 Thunder (Pakistan) and Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master (Italy).According to Straits Times Singapore
RMAF brass partial towards South Korea’s FA-50 
single-engine aircraft does not have air-to-air refuelling 

decision expected in coming months
suppliers with strong ties to previous govt face new suppliers

tussle being waged by local agents 
typically little-known private entities 
connected shareholders hide behind proxies 

politics will decide what Malaysia buys

strong lobby from Pakistan
Imran Khan enjoys close ties with Dr M 

India offered to acquire M'sia’s retired MiG-29s 

RMAF currently operates 
13 MiG-29s (now retired) 
18 Sukhoi SU-30MKM “Flanker”
8 F/A-18D Hornet 
13 Hawk light attack aircraft.
5 Hawk 108 and 7 Aermacchi MB-339 jet trainers

My comments :  

RM36 BILLION ??  The government is in debt for over ONE TRILLION RINGGIT. 
And they want to spend RM36 Billion ?? On Light Combat Aircraft ??

What is a Light Combat Aircraft or LCA?

"A Light combat aircraft is a light multirole jet military aircraft most coming from advanced trainers that have been modified or designed for engaging in light combat missions, either in light strike or attack missions, reconnaissance or interdiction roles while some keeping its trainer role. - Wikipedia"

In my definition an LCA is a training aircraft with some combat capabilities built into it to train new pilots. It also makes the countries that buy such trainers feel good that just in case the need arises, they can send these LCAs into battle.  Two birds with one stone. 

In reality LCAs carry much less weapons, cannot fight as well as "full fledged" jet fighter aircraft.  They are primarily for training purposes.  Sending them into battle against full fledged jet fighters will be quite a mismatch. Maybe even suicidal.

But this is Malaysia. 
Keep an eye on how much money is being talked about.

RM36 Billion for 50 aircraft ??  
That works out to RM720 MILLION per light aircraft !!

Nauzubillah. 


1.   Please drop the Indian Tejas ok. 

First of all please do not buy aircraft from countries that DO NOT HAVE a strong aircraft industry. Meaning they have little or no design and manufacturing capacity.

India has an atrocious track record of being unable to build their own airplanes, ships, tanks, submarines etc.

This Tejas LCA has been in development in India since the 1980s - over 30 years.

The Indian Arjun Main Battle Tank took 35 years to develop.  It is a suicide coffin.

The home built Indian aircraft carrier Vikrant was first mooted 26 years ago in 1993. 
They began construction 10 years ago in 2009. 
The hull was completed in 2013.  

Until today the aircraft carrier has not been  commissioned. Still incomplete. 
The Indians say it will be commissioned by 2021 - ELEVEN years after starting construction. But it is not certain.

Moral of the story : India is not a country that can develop (and upgrade) major weapons systems quickly or efficiently. 

Here is some info on the Tejas :

Tejas single-engine, delta wing, multirole light fighter designed for IAF and Navy. 



'Tejas' is the smallest and lightest Aircraft of its class.
Program began in 1980s to replace MiG-21 fighters

Unit cost: US$31,000,000 (2009)Number built: 32 (including 16 prototypes as of March 2019)
Only 32 have been built so far?? Including 16 prototypes?

The unit cost is about US31 million per piece. 
That is  RM124 million each.

So 50 planes x RM124 million = RM6.2 BILLION only.

You do not need RM36 BILLION.  

For RM36 Billion you can buy 300 Tejas. 

Someone is trying to take us for a ride - again.

Here is some unflattering news about the shortcomings of the Tejas :




2. The Pakistani JF-17





My comments :  
The unit cost of the Pakistani JF-17 is US25 million or RM100 million. 
So 50 planes x RM100 million = RM5.0 Billion.
Why do you need RM36 Billion?
For RM36 Billion you can buy 360 of these JF17s.
Pakistan is not a country with a strong jet aircraft industry. I think our local boys can do better - if only they were allowed to. 
This Pakistani JF-17 jet is based on the Chinese Xiaolong which itself  is a redesign of the 65 year old Russian MIG 21. 
No airforce in the world has bought this JF-17 other than Pakistan. Here is some news that Bulgaria "maybe"  their first international customer.
And the reason Bulgaria is interested in the JF-17 is because the Bulgarian air force still flies 65 year old MIG 21s. 
So their pilot training, maintenance crew training costs etc will be minimised.  




3. The Russian Yak-130





This is a subsonic aircraft. Meaning it flies slower than Mach 1 (the speed of sound.) Given the right conditions the Abu Sayyaf's RPG7 rockets can catch up with this plane. Just kidding but subsonic is zaman Tebuan (Sabre jet) of the 1960s.


The unit cost of the Yak 130 is US15 million or RM60 million. 
So 50 planes x RM60 million = RM3.0 Billion.
Why do you need RM36 Billion?
For RM36 Billion you can buy 600 of these Yak-130s. 

4.  South Korean F-50  "Golden Eagle".





This is American technology, hence licensing and US government issues may be involved.  

Recall our FA-18 jets. We could not use them as we wished because the Americans still control the "source codes" for the FA-18.  And before we could "upgrade" the FA18s we must get the approval of the US government :

"The Government of Malaysia has requested the procurement and integration of a Mid Life Upgrade to existing F/A-18D aircraft including six (6) AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR Pods. Also included are software development, system integration and testing, test sets, aircrew and maintenance training, support equipment, spares and repair parts, publications, technical documentation, U.S. Government and contractor technical, logistics, engineering support services, and other related elements of program support."
The unit cost of the F50 is US30 million or RM120 million. 
So 50 planes x RM120 million = RM6.0 Billion.
Why do you need RM36 Billion?
For RM36 Billion you can buy 300 of these Korean F-50s. 

Conclusion :
My 1st suggestion is that we repair and upgrade our 18 (?) MIG 29s and also our 18 Sukhoi SU-30 Flankers.   These are very capable jet fighters. 
Please do not sell the MIG29s to India.
Here is a Russian tech site which suggests exactly the same thing about upgrading our  MIG29s :  
https://www.rbth.com/blogs/continental_drift/2017/04/06/malaysia-keep-migs-save-billions-736491



MiG-29 upgrade

most sensible option for Malaysia is to upgrade its existing MiG-29. 
Currently, half of the RMAF’s 18 MiGs are grounded

Malaysia may have acted in haste by calling for their replacement. 

In comparison, India – the first export customer of the MiG-29 – has been flying the same aircraft a lot longer without permanently grounding any aircraft.

the Malaysian MiGs have a lot of life left in them. current airframe life of MiG-29 is 4000 flight hourshighest number of hours logged by any Malaysian MiG is just 1800 hours in 20 years of serviceThis clearly shows RMAF trains an extremely limited number of hours

a M'sian firm launched bid to upgrade MiG-29s for a fraction of cost of new MIG29
program launched in conjunction with MiG Corporation,  RMAF in favor of it
similar to MiG-29 upgrade undertaken by India 
therefore a proven blueprint

2.  My second suggestion is that we seriously look at buying the Swedish SAAB Gripen.




At say US$50 million a piece (RM200 million)  a purchase of 30 Gripen will cost us 

30 x RM200m = RM6.0 billion.

For RM36.0 Billion we can get 180 Gripen aircraft. Which is insane.

30 aircraft = a full squadron of 24 aircraft plus 6 for training / reserve.

RM36 Billion for 50 light combat aircraft is an insanely high figure.
We are talking about 1MDB style ripoffs here.

MACC please be on the lookout. 



Link :  https://youtu.be/QyD0liioY8E

Posted by Syed Akbar Ali 

---