SHAH ALAM: 17th Squadron – the Bats – which flies the Mig-29N Fulcrums is among the four RMAF squadrons to be awarded colours on February 29th. The announcement of the squadron colours ceremony was made through RMAF official Twitter account this afternoon.
Apart from the 17th Squadron, the others to be awarded are the 16th Sqdn; 18th Sqdn and the 20th Sqdn (Hercules C-130H). The 16th flies the Beechcraft B200T MPA, 18th the F/A-18D Hornets and the 20th the Hercules.
The colours will be conferred by the Sultan of Pahang, the Colonel-in -Chief of the RMAF at the Subang airbase.
The colours award to the 17th Sqdn is interesting, as of now, the RMAF have not officially made its stand on the future of the Fulcrums. And the colours award does not necessarily mean that Fulcrums will fly beyond 2016. They could decide to retire the fleet in 2017 and have the colours as part of the Fulcrum exhibition in RMAF new museum! AFAIK, the 19th Squadron which was the senior Fulcrum was never awarded the colours.
What I wrote in the post Selamat Jalan Fulcrum remained valid as most of the local support network developed since the introduction of the aircraft in 1995 have been shut down, apart from ATSC Sdn Bhd. The colours ceremony may well be the last hurrah of the Fulcrums.
Interestingly RMAF own webpage do not list out the 17th as one of the active flying squadrons. It lists the 19th Squadron. The 16th Squadron is also not listed by the way.
=Malaysian Defence
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The tudm webpage is a disgrace to the service, poorly maintained and with no standard format for each squadrons page.
Shutting down most of the parasitic middlemen for the fulcrums could probably be the best thing that has happened. Having atsc restart overhauling the migs could extend their useful lifes probably past up to the early 2020's
It is also a clear sign that tudm's mrca programme is unattainable and out of sync with the fiscal realities of the country.
It is time for tudm to face reality, lower their expectations and get a lower spec fighter for now to replace the Migs and f-5e's. Probably in 6-10 years time, when the hawk will need to be replaced, then you plan for a high end mrca. For now, something like the fa-50 golden eagle should be adequate and affordable enough for tudm to aquire in significant numbers.
Second hand hornets are still the most viable and reasonable intermediary option. There are either 1) many low hour frames in the middle east worth getting (at a higher cost) or 2) many high hour frames from USN stock (at a lower cost) which could fill the temporary gap. Either way its a jet the RMAF is currently using. It will be supported by a maintenance infrastructure that has already been set up and running for years. It ensures interoperability with existing RMAF assets and given our national defense posture has switched to allying with the US it makes more sense to use common gear.
RMAF's FA-18 service record is a testament to its reliability. MIG-29 and F/18 bought at the same time yet the F-18s are still going strong.
Also with the US government making decisions, the middle man / gomen inflating operating costs will be much reduced.
3 ways to go about it.
1)refurbish the migs n modernise it. Make it capable by updating to smt standard
2). Get second hand f18's. Kuwait f 18's would be hard to come by. Look at alternatives n hiw fibland is approaching this subject matte
3). Get gripen. As for f50, might as well just get f 16 new. Price not much difference
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The word is that the Fuclrum will soldier as long as it is feasible, no upgrades.
Mig29 is in service for 29 countries. And most recently India has upgraded their Mig29 to the latest config. I don't understand why only Malaysia having such a high maintenance issue. If the machine itself required high cost I believe all the current users will not able to afford it because majority of the Mig29 users are 3rd countries.
The fact that the Fulcrum are not "going strong" is because from the onset the Soviets never expected their fighters to last as long as the West side theirs; hence the shorter life of almost everything on the Fulcrum - compared to the Hornet - from the engines, to the nozzles, to the radar, right down to the landing gear.
If we want to continue to operate the Fulcrums; we not only have to overhaul or buy new engines but we have to operate them using a different philosophy : not the way we operate our Hornets and Hawks.
Problems with the "middleman" were encountered initially and we're mostly resolved - the main hurdle, that of depot level maintenance is done by ATSC. A major problem is that the Fulcrum was never intended to fly as many hours as the Hornet before major components had to be replaced or overhauled.
As far as the RMAF is concerned; the Fulcrums should be retired. Buying a cheaper alternative to a current gen MRCA will only lead to the bean counters delaying - yet again - a MRCA purchase. We may disagree with decisions taken by the RMAF but contrary to what some might think; the RMAF has a very good idea as to what it needs and as to why it hasn't made certain decisions that on paper look logical and sound.
When money is tight why not go for lower end fighter jets...fa 50 is a no go...ada jewish content in the radar system...super tuscano n armachhi should be ok...tudm could buy plenty of them...no doubt SG is using armachhi as their trainer..but to think of it like some academic says malaysia would not be fighting with mighty SG so why not?kta dah miskin jgn nak lagak mcm org kaya pulak...
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Super Tucano are also fitted with Israeli avionics
pembelian KAI FA-50 FIGHTING EAGLE adalah lebih masuk akal pada waktu ini. dengan tambahan seperti spec untuk program T-X USN dan peningkatan enjin daripada F404 ke F414, external fuel tank dan penukaran daripada radar ELTA ke radar buatan eropah sudah memadai untuk mengisi runag kosong yang ditinggalkan oleh fulcrum. dengan keadaan ekonomi dunia yang tidak menentu, kejatuhan harga minyak, perang di asia tengah, ketidaktentuan politik negara selepas PRU 14, pengadaan program T-X USN dan konflik LCS, pesanan fighting eagle harus dibuat secepat mungkin. lebih baik ada daripada tiada langsung bagi memastikan ruang udara negara terjaga rapi.
A major problem is that we assumed or hoped that the Russians would be like Western companies when it came to fulfilling contractual obligations. The spares issue was at its worst during the mid to late 1990's and that was a period when the Russian industry was in disarray.
Take this scenario: there is a requirement for a small number of vital spares. A fax is sent but there is no answer. Next calls are placed but the person who answer speaks no English. The next step is to contact the Military Attache at the Russian embassy and the arms export agency rep. They solve the issue but it takes time.
Using Russian equipment, you need to stockpile fast moving service parts. Unlike western parts which is only replaced "on condition", many Russian parts have specific lifespan. If you have say, a stock of 1 years worth of fast moving service parts, then your operation will have no problems. It is only problematic when you expect western quick service from Russian companies. Takkan dah bertahun2 deal with the Russians you don't have any lessons learnt?
Kalau mau kira Jewish content, the hornets JHMCS pon ada Jewish content. I believe for the fa-50, they have already studied for the integration of Italian radars as a substitute to the current elta based radar.
To be frank, if we buy the typhoon or rafale in small numbers, say 8 aircrafts for usd 2billion, would it really be a prudent way to spend the money?
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RMAF had anticipated this problems way back then and created what is known as the Direct Purchasing Agents (DPAs) who were supposed to stock these items.