PETALING JAYA: It appears that the two upgrades for RMAF fleet are being funded despite the reduction in the budget allocation. Hopefully the second upgrade, for arms, will come through soon.
From Boeing:
Upgrades will deliver enhanced capability for Royal Malaysian Air Force fleet to remain effective, interoperable with allies and operationally relevant
15:45 GMT, December 7, 2011 LANGKAWI, Malaysia | The Boeing Company on Nov. 28 received a U.S. Navy contract under the Foreign Military Sales Program to provide the first major upgrades for the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) fleet of eight F/A-18D Hornet fighter aircraft.
The contract covers design, development and installation of retrofit kits that will provide enhanced navigation, targeting and situational awareness. The upgrade program includes:
• GPS improvements
• A color, moving-map cockpit display
• Identification Friend or Foe Interrogation capabilities
• Addition of the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System
• Maintenance and air crew training for these systems.
“These upgrades will deliver enhanced capability for the RMAF fleet to remain effective, interoperable with allies and operationally relevant for years to come,” said Julie Praiss, Boeing Global Services & Support director of Tactical Aircraft & Weapons Support. “Boeing looks forward to our continued partnership with the Royal Malaysian Air Force and the U.S. Navy to ensure that these F/A-18Ds continue to serve Malaysia’s strike and interdiction mission needs.”
The upgrades also make the RMAF’s F/A-18Ds more compatible with the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which Boeing is offering to meet Malaysia’s Multi-Role Combat Aircraft needs.
The government of Malaysia ordered eight F/A-18D Hornets in 1993. Since delivering all aircraft on schedule in 1997, Boeing has been providing sustainment support for the fleet at the RMAF base in Butterworth, Malaysia. These support programs include engineering and logistics support, pilot training and technical publications.
Boeing provides life-cycle support solutions, services and upgrades for F/A-18 Hornet fleets worldwide, including for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Finnish Air Force, the Kuwait Air Force, the Spanish Air Force, the Swiss Air Force and the RMAF.
–Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (22)
not going after you, Marhalim. But i cannot resist to mumble: "news" since 2006...
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Yes but its finally here...
This is the correct way to go.Its an effective platform.Lets make it even better should be the way forward.This is money well spent. Should also include night vision compatibility for its avionics and also more modern targetting pods too to make the aircrafts more lethal
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As part of the programme, they are buying six ATFLIR but since this is made by Raytheon I guess we have to wait until then...
Well2, our Hornets are finally will be equipped with the AIM-9X Sidewinders. Could this be a hint that the Super Hornets have been chosen as the new MRCA programme? Let's hope it is.
I just can't see why we will go for the Eurofighter Typhoon, Gripen NG, or Rafale. It will only make logistics n training complicated and the SH is just a better option. A purchase of 18-24 brand new SH can giv us two squadron of 13-16 jets that been known to be the most efficient air combat platform we had ever owned.
PS: Then mayb we can go for another 18 Su-30MKM that the Russian had been buzzing about lately, eh? That will be 4 MRCA squadrons just as targeted...
YM Lee - ''also more modern targeting pods too to make the aircrafts more lethal''.
And what ''more modern'' pods do you have in mind, do they even exist yet?
Still not enough mass. 8 airframes, regardless of how nicely they are equipped, are just not enough to cover even the west coast of the peninsula. Despite my reservations, Marhalim has converted me over to another 18 Su-30MKMs. Those plus enough additional new aircraft to fill out 2 more squadrons would give the TUDM the mass that it needs.
what i can see,the malayland always chooses things that is glittering,but it may not necessary be gold.
agreed with fareedLHS...we need mass, the critical mass of strike fixed wings is not there. 4 sqns of mrca, each to cover sarawak, sabah, east malaya, west malaya, will be just nice....
Yep with should more fighter jet because the ones we have now is not enough to defend our country. We should have at least 9 squadron of fighters. Some AEW or AWACS planes. We should also have sea surveillance planes like the P3C Orion or the likes for our sea terriotary defence.
Malaysian Defence Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was very clear: the key to the fighter tender is offset and technology transfer. Malaysia wants to invest its money to support the so called Vision 2020 program set to enhance the industrial knowledge, skills and the development of high technology capabilities of the nation.
The important question is what condition is the planes in, what refurbishments or slep to be done, what upgrades to be added.
Then if we are to have any impact on the enemy, we need to have a class or missiles,rockets and bombs that are manufactured locally under license.
Otherwise very quickly , we could be firing blanks while waiting for new deliveries.
If RMAF and the Gomen are succession, the maintenance and other works need to be done cost effectively and locally.
Then u need to buy more planes or else the fight wud be over very quickly.
The Typhoon is too expensive, life cycle costs.
Wonder where and how they are going to manage this.
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We could manufacture dumb bombs and rockets locally but for missiles and guided bombs we do not have the technology to do it nor the funds to go into such capability.
Even the dumb bombs and rockets are much cheaper to be purchased overseas due to the economic of scale.
As for the Typhoons being expensive, technically we can't afford to buy the other jets as well. Just look at our defence budget.