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| Malaysian Air Force F/A-18D Hornet (Image: Wiki Commons) |
by Chen Chuanren and Vladimir Karnozov
The 2017 Langkawi International Marine and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) attracted 555 exhibiting companies and more than 40,000 trade visitors and witnessed deal signings worth a reported RM3.8 billion ($860 million). This enabled Malaysian defense minister Hishammudin Hussein to declare the show “a big success.” But there was no disguising the fact that most of the signing ceremonies duringLIMA were small-scale, and that none of Malaysia’s supposed requirements for new military aircraft were firmed up.
The main reason has been the national economy slowdown, lowering GDP growth to 4.2 percent in 2016, much below earlier expectations. Speaking at the show opening, Prime Minister Najib Razak repeated that a total of RM26 billion ($5.9 billion) had been allocated under the 11th national economic development plan to bolster defense, public order and enforcement. Most of that money, however, is already spent, leaving little room for follow-on acquisitions, such as the long-discussed maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA) and medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned air vehicle.
However, Malaysia might soon seek surplus jets and helicopters from Saudi Arabia according to Hishammuddin, who spoke following a visit by the Saudi monarch King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud and his entourage to Kuala Lumpur in late February.
The MRCA debate continues, with no apparent progress since 2015. Marketing teams from BAESystems, Dassault and Saab again came to LIMA to press the respective merits of the Eurofighter Typhoon, Rafale and Gripen, with the latter two also present in the form of actual hardware. Senior RMAF officers gave mixed signals about the air arm’s future fighter plans. Although the RMAFcommander Gen. Affendi told AIN that the dwindling operational fleet of MiG-29s might be upgraded, his assistant chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Kamalruzaman, told AIN that the type will be decommissioned.
Kamalruzaman further told AIN that the RMAF could streamline its future inventory as a new strategy to increase fighter availability and reduce costs.
Read the full story at AINonline