F35 and EC135
F35 with external weapons.
PETALING JAYA: Yes, I know, we are not getting the most expensive US programme on record. But since I am always partial to these kind of things, I guess its not wrong to feature them here. Anyways, we are more likely to get the bird below soon. Word on the tarmac is that the EC135s would be used for flight training by the air force under a PFI agreement with Aerotree Defense and Services Sdn Bhd. They bought three EC135s at last year’s Paris Air Show as confirmed in this release. The contract could be signed at the DSA 2012 show scheduled in April.
—Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (32)
Its ok to get the EC 135 for training as the current trainers are getting long in the tooth. These choppers can also be upgraded to an armed status too.
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Unlikely to be armed for the role they are supposed to be run
They can't be armed as they don't belong to the RMAF and even if they were to belong to the RMAF, should not be armed as these are training platforms and are not built to take even small arms fire.
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Sdr Lee is taking a positive view of the helos...
My apology for being ignorant. How many are they getting and will they be in AF or Army color? OR does this mean that the army is considering the military version EC635 which can be armed to the teeth, for their upcoming attack helicopter fleet.
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It will be in RMAF colours though it will be contractor owned and managed. I am told the numbers could be as many as 10.
EC635 for the Army attack helicopter programme? Perish the thought man. It must be either the Apache or Tiger!
Of course the powers that be will disagree, but I'm convinced that buying ex-army Cobras and reworking them, as Pakistan, Thailand, Jordan, etc, have done, will be a better alternative [much cheaper!] than the Tiger. These birds will have airframes that are as good as new and will have very capable sensors for night ops. Then again, until we have sufficient Cougars and have upgraded the Nuris, we should totally forgot about gunships....
Can anyone here confirm that prior to moving to Subang, 4 Squadron and the 3 C-130 MPAs was based at Kuantan?
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Ex-US Army Cobras? Perish the thought! Its the Army that wants the AH, so whether or not we have enough medium utility helos is not a concern.
As for your question, yes
What I was meant was rather than allocate cash to the army to get gunships, perhaps the cash would be better spent in getting more Cougars for the RMAF.
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The Army chief says today that the Army got Rm7.5 billion for procurement for the 10th Malaysian Plan. If there is money for the AH programme, my guess is that they wont sent it to the RMAF to buy more Cougars. Two pilots from PUTD are already certified to fly the Tiger....
IMO, we should also take a look at the T129 in development for the Turkish Army.
Another reason to never count your chickens before they are hatched! Nothing is set in stone until the aircraft are delivered and in service.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/29/lockheed-fighter-japan-idUSL4E8DT5XN20120229
I just wonder, why RMN n Mindef are not intrested on 3 Ex-RBN Nakhoda Ragam class corvette for add on our navy inventories cos the pricing is already more than less, beside the system n weapons in this boats are similar with our jebat class, some rumors that the indonesian are trying to geting this boats.
First of all, this posting works on the assumption that there would be sufficient money to even purchase the attack helicopters that we need. The first question would be who would be in control of these heli? The RMAF or the newly formed Army Air Corp?. Then the second question would be the type of heli. The army may want the very best-the Apache.Yes its the very best and out neighbour down south also has it.Would it cause confusion and recognition issues?. If our soldiers are attacked by a Sing Apache and they have learned to fire on an Apache , can there be fraticide?(i.e blue on blue) when they fire by accident on our own apache?.One Apache looks just like another Apache.Apache's must be bought new unless we go straight to the Netherlands to buy up their Apaches.Germany and France are using the Tiger and the Germans are experiencing problems bringing them into active service due to various technical issues. The French may have a little bit more luck but then there are too many versions of the Tiger unlike the Aapache where one type fits all the roles. The Tiger has an anti tank version, an attack version and an escort version. Otherwise the only alternative worth mentioning would be the latest version of the Cobra-the venom version . But they are less capable, can carry less. Just for discussions
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I have been trying to land the story for months now. Will post it once I got it. It will be PUTD
Of concern...
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/china-requests-sukhoi-su-35-fighter-buy-368838/