SHAH ALAM: KUWAIT = which had announced it was getting the Eurofighter Typhoons late last year – finally signed the deal for 28 aircraft yesterday. According to the release the Kuwaitis will be getting the latest variant of the Typhoons complete with the E-Scan (AESA) radar.
Apart from the Typhoons, Kuwait according to industry sources will also signed for a similar number of Super Hornets from Boeing. The contract is on hold pending approval of the US Government. The Kuwaiti deal for the Typhoons is significant to us because it means that it air force could off-load its legacy Hornets within the next 36 months.
Will we do it? That is the one million dollar question.
From Finmeccanica. Rome 05/04/2016
Finmeccanica signs a contract to supply 28 Eurofighter Typhoon to Kuwait
“The Kuwait Ministry of Defence and Finmeccanica, which leads commercial activities in Kuwait on behalf of the Eurofighter consortium, today signed a contract for the supply of 28 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, to be produced in Italy. The contract, part of an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries, was signed in the presence of the Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti and her Kuwaiti counterpart, H.E. SHAIKH Gen. Khaled Al Jarrah Al Sabah.
The contract signed by Finmeccanica includes logistics, operational support and the training of flight crews and ground personnel, which will be carried out in cooperation with the Italian Air Force. The contract also provides for the upgrade of ground-based infrastructure in Kuwait which will be used for Typhoon operations.
The Eurofighter Typhoon for Kuwait, which will be provided in its most advanced configuration, will be equipped with the cutting-edge new E-Scan radar (Electronically Scanned array radar). The radar is developed by the European EuroRADAR consortium which is led by Finmeccanica.
The contract with Kuwait was signed following a thorough flight and technical evaluation of a number of competing aircraft in the same category. It is part of a wide-ranging partnership between the Italian Ministry of Defence and the Kuwait Ministry of Defence, which will continue to strengthen cooperation between the two nations and other European members of the Eurofighter consortium (the UK, Germany and Spain).
“This is Finmeccanica’s largest ever commercial achievement”, said Mauro Moretti, Finmeccanica CEO and General Manager. “It is an outstanding industrial success with significant benefits, not only for our company and the other Eurofighter consortium partners, but also for the entire Italian aerospace industry. The contract will support expertise and skilled jobs at Italian small and medium-sized security and defence companies.”
From Eurofighter:
Kuwait Signs Contract for the Delivery of 28 Eurofighter Typhoons
“The contract signature for 22 single-seat and six twin-seat follows the announcement of an agreement between the State of Kuwait and the Italian Government for the procurement of the aircraft on 11th September 2015. The aircraft will be of Tranche 3 standard and will be equipped with the E-Scan radar.
The contract confirms the State of Kuwait as the eighth customer in the programme and as the third customer in the Gulf Region next to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman.
Speaking on behalf of the consortium and its Eurofighter Partner Companies (EPC) the CEO of Eurofighter, Volker Paltzo, said: “We are delighted to officially welcome the State of Kuwait as a new member of the Eurofighter family.
“The confirmation of this order is further testament of the growing interest in the Eurofighter Typhoon in the Gulf Region. It will enable Kuwait to benefit from the critical mass being developed in the Gulf and the many advantages that it brings to an Air Force in terms of interoperability, training and in-service support.”
Since entry into service of the first Eurofighter Typhoon at the end of 2003, more than 470 aircraft have been delivered to six nations: Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Austria and Saudi Arabia. The Kuwait order follows an order by Oman in December 2012 for twelve aircraft. Eurofighter Typhoon is currently in service at 22 operational units and up to now, the whole fleet has completed more than 330,000 flying hours worldwide.”
— Malaysian Defence
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Congratulations to Italy and Kuwait for the signing of the typhoon contract. This would see the typhoon entering the kuwaiti airforce fleet starting in 2019.
The contract is for 28 typhoons (no € numbers officially released though) and before the official release there is a rumour of additional 18 aircraft options in the contract too.
This would probably mean that it is likely that super hornets wouldn’t be featuring in kuwaiti airforces fleet in the future.
As for malaysia, I really hope that we could take Kuwait’s legacy hornets. If we don’t, probably the us marines would as they are planning to use their legacy hornets past 2030.
Btw why are they still calling themselves Finmeccanica? I thought they has renamed themselves as Leonardo? Dodgy name choice though and I don’t blame them if they decide to backtrack on the decision LoL!
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I have no idea really. Perhaps its too soon?
Yaa sheikh…give us your legacy hornet, please. FOC will do..
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We cannot just pray and hope. Some one must go there to negotiate with the Kuwaitis and of course the Saudis to pay for the planes and upgrade. Of course I am willing to allow the Saudis to bank in the money into my personal account for the deal. The standard 3 per cent commission applies however.
Even if we buy a second hand item, jangan sampai kita gadaikan maruah kita sebagai sebuah negara yang berdaulat. Ask them nicely, and if they would pass it on for free then we should be thankful. If they want to sell them, use our own money to buy and upgrade them, no need to beg saudi for money, takkan kita tak ada duit nak beli barang terpakai, bukannya macam nak beli rafale baru pon.
Transfers of used US made aircraft to third country requires US Congress approvals right ?
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Yes likely
From known sources, the kuwaiti parliament has apopriated usd 9.06billion for the typhoon buy, so that is probably the cost (including training, weapons, infrastructure, spares and support)
Those current costs of typhoon and rafale contracts is way out of whatever the supposed budget for tudm’s mrca.
Time for tudm to face reality and make a realistic plan for its future. How much longer does its top brass continuing to dream of rafales, typhoons or even gripen ng’s?
Hey Marhalim, check it out. Sputnik say the Malaysia has interest on Russian Sukhoi SU-35.
Here u go:
http://sputniknews.com/military/20160405/1037515495/su-jets-potential-buyers.html
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Of course we are. We already signed for 35 of them just on the first day of this month.
“..I am willing to allow the Saudis to bank in the money into my personal account for the deal.” Are you sure?haha a private citizen received millions USD from unknown 3rd party for the purpose to buy a SQN worth of used warplanes? LoL
Arabs are busy rearming their airforces, Iran and Israel following suit. Their lawmakers can justify the buy due to wars just next door although oil prices are that low.
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What do you mean unknown third party?
Ask Kuwaitis to “hibah” their legacy Hornet & ask Saudis for plane upgrade FOC. Then we signed for 35 of SU-35… Rather than being sarcasm, i’m hope that admin word become true…
Can we get the Russian to accept barter deal for MRCA deal, 18 SU-35 MKM for cash plus loads of palm oil ..? If Putin orders the go ahead to make up for the MH-17 tragedy we should take up the offer..
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RMAF don’t want anymore Russian aircraft. Furthermore until MH17 case is settled I doubt we will ever buy new things from Russia
As long as Malaysian soldiers are not drag into their conflict, we could ask for favours from Kuwait n Saudi. But then, we participated before eg. Bosnia or Somalia
Well…beggars can’t be too choosy.We’ll buy if they’re selling the Legacy Hornets at a good price or with what we still have in the pocket but honestly I don’t think they will be giving it for free. With the depressing oil price,I guess every rials counts!
“From known sources, the kuwaiti parliament has apopriated usd 9.06billion for the typhoon buy, so that is probably the cost (including training, weapons, infrastructure, spares and support)”
No, the weapon package will be purchased in a separate contract.
Even if the 9.06 billion USD includes the full life cycle cost and weapons (assuming for 30 years), it would still be too expensive for us. At the end the only option i see (cost wise) would be the Gripen (for a brand new) or the legacy hornet. The likes of FA50 or JF17 maybe cheaper but may not fulfill TUDM specs.
Something interesting in relation to the classic hornets
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/australian-algorithm-extends-life-of-classic-horn-423803/
Australian airforce, with a new formula of calculating fatigue life, has now said fatigue life is no longer a major concern for its phase out date for the classic hornets. This would also applicable to other classic hornets, like those used by malaysia.