Wira Azmi

...its politically incorrect and dangerous to blame someone without facts at hand.For your info, AMS for one has one of the tightest spot to park (other than LHR) and has been snowed in for days (so has most part of continental europe)and coupled with enveloping mist during the said period..it is the duty of the ground crew (of the Dutch kind) to ensure the docking path is clear of 'obstacles' ,and bluntly put the carts were not within their borders and thats a fact..having the apron covered in snow wasn't a good enuf reason for the ground crew the assure where the 'protected areas' were before parking their equipment...there were FOUR guys looking out in the cockpit and none saw the 'conflict' ,and you can quote that to ur pilot friend.

...spot on assessment ,final part of orders to come..

...it was a con job literally ,long story cut short ...they were conned by one of their own people ...former management pilot

...boss ,it only has to be US made..others around here fly US made aircraft too.. ...boss ,it only has to be US made..others around here fly US made aircraft too.. ...agree with u bout the money bit and wat the government should do but lets not give that same cold shoulder treatment to our men n women in the military..they're like u and me except they put their lives on the line on the job for you..we can do better than that. ...our mission computers are Indian DRDO not Russian so its not an issue..

..sorry for the double post above. ..in the case of the FA18D's ,it's not about arming codes but source codes which allows the end user to modify weapons attack alghorithm suited to the mission..mind you ,not even the Yanks closest allies i.e Aussies (tho' they've tried to hack it over the years) ,Israelis have the full codes thus always ensuring the Yanks having the upper hand when needed.Nevertheless ,RMAF FA18D's are still able to deliver all its weapons inc the 20+ AMRAAM's which is stored locally..the question arises whether they're able to engage another U.S made aircraft ,hence the need for the Russian made fighters..i.e SU30 ,MIG's to be acquired..this the Indonesians out found the hard way when encountering the U.S Navy FA18's a few years back.

..with regards to the SU30 MKM ,the key word here is contractual agreement or in this case 'disagreement'..the issue of the mostly western avionics intergration with the Russian software have apparently been sorted out with the final 6 and are ready for delivery , however RMAF has refused to accept the final package until the Russians implemented the updates on the first dozen..hence the year end target by RMAF ,feeling that by then the Russians wud have come to terms to the whole issue by then. This basically has nothing to do with quality of the avionics being incoperated as it one of the best strike package seen on a similar airframe..its about the Russian trying to squeeze more money from it. However , i believe common sense wud prevail on the part of the Russians.. if they wanna see the SU30 being considered for 2nd MRCA squadron.. ..with regards to the SU30 MKM ,the key word here is contractual agreement or in this case 'disagreement'..the issue of the mostly western avionics intergration with the Russian software have apparently been sorted out with the final 6 and are ready for delivery , however RMAF has refused to accept the final package until the Russians implemented the updates on the first dozen..hence the year end target by RMAF ,feeling that by then the Russians wud have come to terms to the whole issue by then. This basically has nothing to do with quality of the avionics being incoperated as it one of the best strike package seen on a similar airframe..its about the Russian trying to squeeze more money from it. However , i believe common sense wud prevail on the part of the Russians.. if they wanna see the SU30 being considered for 2nd MRCA squadron..

...the scoop was ,someone in the flt deck was 'cycling' the reverse thrust levers prior to engine start causing the reverser sleeves (2 of 4) to not properly stow..thus late during the takeoff roll the reverse unlock warn came on (why it came out so late is still a mystery even to Boeing ...also system logic wud prohibit normal forward thrust movement with reverse thrust). Like during any landing with reversers in use ,the krueger leading edge inboard n mid flaps retract causing loss of lift and coupled with the unlocked rev sleeves ..they were indeed lucky to get off the ground at all , the take was ..the plane got to 600' only at 4 miles..

"RSAF is luckier, they get to participate in Red Flag Exercise in the US. Of course, that is exclusively for totally pro-US country only." ..indeed ,however the next Red Flag has officially been extended to the RMAF to participate .On our part this is subject to the never ending budget availabilty and approval of the 'loud mouth but know nuts bout defence' politicians.

...Hi ,the right way to make this so called political 'elites' to have some understanding national defence (which is at the moment next to nothing) is to give some measure of exposure of it ,rather than them shooting down every proposal that comes thru (who needs foreign espionage if our no brainer politicians can do it for free) ..indirectly the gomen too will also have to clean their act in conducting business. For our neighbour down south it has been a yearly affair. Hence i simply cannot comprehend what our PM aka Defence Minister is talking about..then again maybe he is one of those not so bright politicians..

...a very good observation indeed ..your looking at a possible cause here, high and fast thus unable to extend flaps in the process..it should be the evac checklist they should be running , and that calls for flaps down i think

..i doubt total cancellation is possible.. though pushing delivery date further back wud be the most likely scenario as too much tech /trade transfers or benefits have been taken in by us already...eg industrial setup in Malacca n Kedah on wing component manufacturing...n much more