SHAH ALAM: RMAF is sending one of its A400M air-lifters to South Korea next week, to take part in the Seoul air show, scheduled from Oct 17 to 22, Airbus says in a statement issued today .
The air-lifter will be on the static display at Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition 2017 (ADEX 2017 or Seoul air show) and promises to be a highlight of the show. Airbus says this all-new aircraft offers a unique combination of strategic and tactical capabilities, and is the ideal replacement for older generation air-lifters.
Airbus will also be highlighting its entire commercial aircraft product line, ranging from 100 to over 600 seats. A scale model of the A330neo, the latest variant of this highly versatile and popular wide-body aircraft, will be on display at the company’s chalet. The company has been especially successful in Korea’s airline market, where over 100 Airbus passenger aircraft from across the company’s product line (the A320 Family, A330, A350 XWB, and A380) are in service, and another 90 are on order for future delivery.
At ADEX 2017, other scale models will also be on display at the company’s chalet. These
include the C295 mission aircraft, which is suitable for the region’s maritime patrol and anti-
submarine requirements, and the NH90 multi-role naval helicopter which can be configured
to launch anti-ship missiles, torpedoes and sonobuoys.
Airbus did not identify the A400M taking part in the airshow but RMAF Air Operations Commander Lt Gen Mutalib Ab Wahab says it will be the second aircraft delivered, meaning that it will be M54-02. This will be the second time the 02 will be taking part in a foreign airshow.
The same aircraft was put on static display at the Singapore airshow in 2016. Mutalib also says that 02 is expected to fly to Seville, Spain to undergo the same upgrades conducted on RMAF’s first A400M, M54-01.
It is likely 02 will return to Malaysia first before flying off to Spain later in the month. M55-01 returned home in the last week of August, just in time to take part in the National Day flypasts, the first during the final rehearsals on Aug. 30 and of course, on Aug. 31.
The two flypasts were the first time, RMAF’s four A400Ms had flown together in a single formation.
— Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (19)
It would be a hard sell for new build A400M as even the current users (spain, germany, UK) are tying to sell off their current commitments.
What we and anyone interested in A400M can do is to wait for all the current users receive most of their allocations, and offer to buy some of the used ones at lower price than brand new.
These mammoths are surprisingly quiet for they're size. Very agile too. To think that the first plane was a kite that had a prop strapped on the back of it. Amazing what human ingenuity can do.
PS @marhalim the commenting system has been buggy for the past couple of weeks. (not letting you post even though you checked everything)(etc)
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On the comments yes I know
Airbus pay us for the show on behalf of their product, and TUDM got the chance to show off our tactical airlifter capabilities.
Win win situation.
The question is whether we actually have a need for additional A400Ms, even if we could afford it or were offered pre owned examples at bargain prices.
My guess is that given that our Charlies will be operational for quite a few more years and that in most cases we won't need the cargo or lift capacity offered by the A400M; we don't have a requirement for additional A400Ms at present and won't for the foreseeable future. It's not as if we have numerous global or local commitments that routinely call for the airlifting of huge loads.
TUDM should get 2 more A400M..... than can retire all C130 in 2022-2025, so future only use A400M+CN235 better for logistics
@ savvykl
2 more A400M would be nice. But i dont think in the 2022-25 timeframe.
Our 5 oldest C-130 is 41 years old this year, so probably good for 15 more years. The youngest is around 26 years old. So replacement (and even the A400M buy) is not an urgent priority for TUDM. As of now we still have 14 C-130s in various configurations. TUDM will still be a hercules operator probably 20-30 years from now.
savvykl "TUDM should get 2 more A400M….. than can retire all C130 in 2022-2025, so future only use A400M+CN235 better for logistics"
Most of our loads cannot even fill up a Charlie, what good would that do? We would be the only air force in the world do to that, most users are cutting their orders because they find they seldom need so much capacity.
We use the Charlies as MPA or maritime SAR aircraft. Using the A400M in this role would be even more wasteful.
It also won't do to replace ten aircraft with six. An aircraft can only be in one place at a time, which is often the maintenance hangar.
An air force with a cash crunch and fighter numbers crunch like ours has no business owning any A400M at all.
@ AM
" An air force with a cash crunch and fighter numbers crunch like ours has no business owning any A400M at all. "
Sad but that is the reality right now. Usd 1.8 billion (according to janes) for the privillege of owning those a400m's. But even sadder is the airforces top brass ignoring the reality of the government having spent your allocation (spread out for a few RMKs and last payment surely in RMK11 2016-2020) for those a400m's and still living in dream land hoping for billions now for a new MRCA. I forsee no other big ticket items for the airforce before 2020.
Big ticket items RMK11 2016-2020
Army - gempita, starstreak
Navy - Gowinds, sub refit
Airforce - A400M, MADGE, Groundmaster 400 radar.
Big ticket items RMK12 2021-2025
Army - gempita, gempita batch 2?
Navy - Gowinds, MRSS, LMS
Airforce - MPA? AEWACs? MRCAs? Hawk/mb339 replacements? Additional EC735s? Which one would be the priority?
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It must be said that the A400Ms were a national interest project that was out of sync with the air force own plans.
Off topic
Uk's royal air force has started selling off their C-130J Hercules.
Confirmed are 2x for Bahrain
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DMQ84JrXcAEzMpn.jpg
Others have stated their interest includes Bangladesh.
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With the air force already operating four transport types, these Js are nice to look at only.
Actually there is a need for transports especially for bulk cargoes. Currently such cargoes for non urgent basis are sent by the navy. But dince the withdrawal of the second hand US ship the two remsinning ships have bern taxed to the max.
The air force can help to cut some slack for navy