SHAH ALAM: For those still not believing that the RMAF FLIT-LCA competition was won by Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) T/FA-50, Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari today confirmed the story. For the record, Malaysian Defence has on various posts had stated/indicated that the Golden Eagle had been selected by RMAF.
And we knew the contract story -confirmed by KAI itself through South Korean news agency, Yonhap and later published by the Malaysian news agency, Bernama, was correct as the Defence Ministry had not issued a denial.
The ministry on various occasions has denied any story immediately, if it is wrong. So why it did not confirm the story then? I have no idea, really and it is not my job to find out why.
Anyhow here is the story – sent out Bernama and published by the Star.
The purchase of 18 FA-50 light attack aircraft for RM4.08bil from South Korea takes into account various factors, including the country’s needs involving strategy and policy aspects as well as the Defence White Paper.
“So, when we have made a decision through a transparent procurement process, what matters most now is we can deliver it to the end user within the set period,” he told reporters after officiating the Alor Gajah Parliamentary service centre, here on Sunday (Feb 26).
According to Adly, based on the ministry’s assessment, the FA-50 light attack aircraft produced by Korea Aerospace Industries Co (KAI) was the best.
— Malaysian Defence
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Like how we were led to believe we will get them M109s… until we didn’t? Sorry but I will BELIEVE we gotten them, when the first T/FA-50s in TUDM livery had landed on Malaysian soil and not before that.
Bravo! Keep it up, glad to hear that the DWP is still alive and kicking. And somehow the echo of the local defence industries is still being heard, and hope, they are serious about it, not just another shattered dream.
3 questions:
1. Are all 18 going to be the FA 50 block 20 variant and not a mixture?
2. Conformal fuel tanks?
3. Is the RMAF getting the KGGB glide bomb too?
I believed it will be a mixture of FA-50 and likely TA-50s. No CFTs AFAIK and bombs too as they are going to use the ones already in service. It is not unusual for the ordnance not to be included in the procurement of the aircraft as it will reduce the cost. Ordnance could be procured using OE instead of DE.
If you are going down route, there is anotherr out in the wild post today. The FA50 deal is a contract which if we cancelled, will incur a high cancellation fees. The M109 deal as it is an EDA one just means we need to pay for the storage fees
Had we chose TA-50 in the mix then the delivery shouldve been earlier than 2026 but no…
1. I think they signed the Surat Setuju Terima (SST)/Letter of Acceptance of Tender (LOA). Under Government regulations, the LOA is contractually valid and binding. Under the same regulations, the contract must be signed within 4 months from the date of the LOA.
2. Government contracts usually have a provision that allows the Government to terminate the contract at any time by giving a 30 day notice on grounds of national interest, national security, Government policy or public policy. Of course, compensation has to be paid for any work or service rendered or material ordered up to the date of termination.
The Thais paid a huge penalty for the 8 F/A-18Ds they ordered and cancelled. We’d also would have had to pay a penalty had we cancelled the Little Birds.We actually don’t have a history of ordering stuff and later cancelling it.
Under PERISTA we planned to get
F/A-20s. Under the 1988 MOU we included Javelin and Rapier. We canceled them but then we only agreed to get them in principle. Never committed to anything.
The M-109s were an anomaly driven by political and monetery issues during that period. It happened but doesn’t mean it’ll be repeated or that KAI products are destined never to enter service here.
It’s the same with the Lekiu Batch 2, we signed the LOI but the deal was cancelled before a contract was signed. So no penalty was paid although the bad blood remained to this day
Interestingly the Lekiu Batch 2s were to have been constructed in Labuan.
It’s for that reason it was canceled
A lot of things are driven politically, sometimes gostan, sometimes sideways parking. Each change of Govt drives us to different directions, if PN does make a comeback there’s still a possibility it could be something else. Which is why I cannot fully trust them for anything unless I see concrete proof, and that is the first LCA/FLIT in TUDM livery landing on Malaysian soil.