SHAH ALAM: Still waiting for you. Malaysia wants to buy Kuwaiti Air Force (KAF) Boeing F/A-18 Hornets but has yet to negotiate with the government of the Middle East country for the deal, Deputy Defence Minister DS Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz told Dewan Negara today.
He said the planned purchase would – lock, stock and barrel – involved 33 airframes, both single-seat, C, and D, twin seaters. According to him, the KAF Hornets had clocked less flight hours than the eight F/A-18Ds in RMAF service. He did not say whether RMAF will fly all the airframes if we did get to purchase them.
There is no word also whether Malaysia has gotten permission from the US to make the purchase as it was necessary to do so for all US made weapons. I was told that there was an initiative to do so, three years back but as usual it fell on the wayside.
Ikhmal Hisham said KAF Hornets will be decommissioned following the deliveries of new fighters including the Boeing Super Hornets. He said the planned procurement of the KAF Hornets was waiting negotiations between the governments of Malaysia and Kuwait. He did not say when the negotiations will take place, however.
KAF is retiring its classic Hornets as part of its modernization drive which started in 2016 with an order for 28 Eurofighter Typhoons, 22 single seaters and six twin seaters. In 2018, Kuwait ordered 28 Super Hornets of which 22 are single-seat F/A-18Es and 6 two-seat F/A-18Fs.
All of the KAF Super Hornets have been delivered to the US Navy – its an FMS deal – in September, this year, though their delivery to KAF remained unknown. Apart from the Super Hornets, KAF is also getting 28 Eurofighter Typhoons, two of which arrived on December 14 in Kuwait. The rest are expected to be delivered progressively within the next few months.
— Malaysian Defence.
If you like this post, buy me an espresso. Paypal Payment
View Comments (31)
Holy cow! All 33 Hornets? Are you sure that is what is said, not 13?
Most likely only 10 airframes will be made flyable with another four as ready reserve. The rest will be used for parts.
Nego tactic lah! They talk 33 to keep the Kuwaitis interested but they 'actually wanted the 8 D variant, and if a couple of Cs thrown in to sweeten the deal, all the better' is what they expecting. If they are sincere, just send Hadi & H2O to get it done.
As for US permission, I foresee no problems since these jets are somewhat backdated compared to ours, the real numbers won't be significant, these are only supported for the next 10 years, and our relationship with US is no way strained for them to block.
I'm more concerned if we back out without a proper explanation, what is Kuwait's response. To the Arabs, a verbal deal is as good as ones honour.
Rather use tbe money to buy full 36 lca now rather than buying the old but low hours hornet.
Marhalim, that’s a lot of spare parts!
If its cheap why not? If we fly more than 18 Hornets it will be a big strain on RMAF really unless they hike the funding for them. I am not sure we can also have that many people to operate more than three different types of fast jets at the same time
@Kamal
The 33 used Hornets have higher capabilities compared to 36 whichever LCAs. If purely on cost vs performance alone, it is a nobrainer.
Presumably we are expecting the Kuwaitis to be generous and sell them for a nominal 1 USD. Otherwise there’s no point even talking about it.
No way we in the short term have the funds to sustain a fleet of that size. Getting the pilots and support personnel will also take time. possible but it will be a huge undertaking.
As for U.S. approval; approval is not the issue but the fact that it can take years.
it also has to be a win/win situation for the Kuwaitis; the buyer takes everything or nothing. We also cannot assume that all the support equipment will be thrown in; the Kuwaitis might retain them for the Super Hornets; compatible. There's also the question of what changes/modifications [even the bare minimum] are needed plus the fact that we'll have to buy ordnance.
kamal - ''Rather use tbe money to buy full 36 lca now rather than buying the old but low hours hornet.''
Yes but 2 different issues which should not be conflated.
- The LCAs/LIFTs serve a purpose and are needed. The RMAF has zero LIFTS and the Hawks are past their prime.
- The pre owned Hornets [if we do get them - will take years] are to take some pressure off the Hornets and Flankers but will not be supportable for more than a decade. Not written in stone/holy writ that they will indeed by a stop gap measure and will be replaced on time.
It's a matter of deciding what to place priority on. I've been told that the RMAF is reluctant [for reasons which have been done to death here - not just this year] and that it's mainly a political decision but even that has no actual firm commitment yet. Viewed objectively and in totality the LCA/LIFT requirement is actually more pressing.
Just as vital; something people tend to overlook - for a air arm with a limited number of pilots; a limited number being inducted annually and no LIFT; getting the needed pilots will take time - not as easy or fast as some would believe. There is also the operating costs; as it is we barely have enough for the little we have.
Azlan "No way we in the short term have the funds to sustain a fleet of that size. Getting the pilots and support personnel will also take time. possible but it will be a huge undertaking"
It is also going to cost much more than what we pay for the jets alone. What condition are the jets in and how much must we spend to bring them to a decent level of capability? The Kuwaitis' sunset date has been known to them with a fair level of certainty for years. They would have adjusted their funding for upkeep and upgrades accordingly. There are also personnel costs and the cost of stores and support equipment that the Kuwaitis are keeping that we will have to buy for ourselves. Not specific to the Hornets, but we will have to commit to additional base infrastructure because Butterworth and Kuantan combined won't hold them all.
If we can commit to a certain level of capex and opex funding, we can talk about sending a team to assess the jets and other items and at least have some idea of what we're talking about. Only then can we decide if the jets will provide a worthwhile level of capability for the money and the effort it takes to keep 30+ year old airframes in frontline service.