flee 5 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 MOSCOW, November 15 (RIA Novosti)- The Malaysian defense ministry plans to buy 18 Russian Su-30MKM fighters fit to carry Russian-Indian BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, the Izvestia daily said on Tuesday. The paper said, citing military sources, that Malaysian Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi plans on Tuesday to visit the Irkut aviation plant, producing Su-30MKI fighters for India. According to Izvestia, one such aircraft would cost Malaysia about $50 million, future maintenance included. During the visit, the minister "may sign a contract to buy 18 Su-30MKM multirole fighters," the paper said. The defense minister also plans to discuss installing new missiles, including BrahMos, on the 18 Su-30MKM fighters that Malaysia received in August 2009 under the $900-million contract signed in 2003. Malaysia's mixed fighter fleet also includes Russian MiG-29N Fulcrum and the U.S.-made F/A-18D Hornet and F-5 Tiger in service. The Su-30MKM is a multi-role Flanker version based on the Su-30MKI model and features a customized avionics package built to Malaysian specifications. Su-family fighters constitute the bulk of Russia's arms exports. Source Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kwek 0 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Make the Russians come to LIMA...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flee 5 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Nah, our Defence Minister needs to go for his free holiday! Remember he also needs to cut some deals... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Waiping 12 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Here we go again... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob 0 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Malaysia's proclivity towards Russian jets baffles me. Why? Why not European ones? Would be interested in knowing how the defense ministry draw up their specs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Loh Wilson 0 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Here we go again... Teh Tarik in space !!!!! What happen to the talk to buy Eurofighter Typhoon? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Keith Ng 0 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Here we go again... Either another jet engine missing or this time...a supersonic cruise missile missing! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fitri Shukri 0 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 The Su-30MKM is an obvious choice to replace the Mig29N since RMAF already operate 18 Su-30MKM. However, as someone has pointed out previously, any major defence purchase should be postponed until after the 13th General Election Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BC Tam 2 Report post Posted November 17, 2011 ..... any major defence purchase should be postponed until after the 13th General Election If the country is run properly, should not make any difference Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Teoh Z Yao 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2011 If the country is run properly, should not make any difference Indeed. I think Russian fighters are good looking. European fighter jets are hmm... US fighters are nice looking as well... Well, I'm just talking about nice looking-ness, so Russian jets are good options. :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flee 5 Report post Posted November 17, 2011 Russians have a history of poor after sales support. The MiG-29's have proven that beyond doubt. No spare parts, expensive spare parts. On the other hand, look at the F-5E and BAe Hawks. They are old but still flying due to good availability of spare parts and after sales service. The F/A-18s were bought at roughly the same time as the MiG-29s and there are no maintenance issues either. The verdict on the Su-30 MKMs is still pending since the aircraft are still very new. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leon t 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2011 trouble is the RMAF or govt's decision to buy fighter aircrafts like these russian ones are based on their or someone's agenda. The russian planes have a long history of maintenance issues, and spares and the main thing being "russian" which is still not very familiar esp in maintenance and the russian fighters' operational readiness have been at 50% or even less! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xtemujin 0 Report post Posted November 18, 2011 Zahid not in Russia to sign arms deal Posted on 18 November 2011 - 05:28am Last updated on 18 November 2011 - 10:21am PETALING JAYA (Nov 18, 2011): An aide to Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has denied claims that he was in Russia to sign a deal to purchase fighter jets. His media director Kol Fadzlette Othman Merican told theSun in a text message yesterday that Zahid was invited to visit Russia by its government. "It's a long overdue visit. He was not there to sign any deal," she said. Fadzlette declined to state if any negotiations took place during the visit. It is believed that this was Zahid's first visit to Russia since being defence minister. The Russian state news agency Ria Novosti had created a stir when it reported that Zahid might sign a contract to buy 18 Sukhoi Su-30MKM fighters during the visit. Zahid had recently been reported as saying that plans to purchase 18 new multi-role combat aircraft for the Royal Malaysian Air Force had been postponed due to the lack of funds. The Russian news agency cited a report in the Izvestia daily which said that Malaysian had plans to buy 18 fighters fit to carry the Russian-Indian Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles. The paper, citing miitary sources, reported that Zahid would visit the Irkut aviation plant, producing Su-30MKI fighters. Izvestia reported one such aircraft would cost Malaysia about US$50 million (RM150 million). The minister "may sign a contract to buy 18 Su-30MKM multirole fighters," the paper said. The paper had said that Zahid also plans to discuss installing new missiles, including the BrahMos, on the 18 MKM fighters that Malaysia received under the US$900 million (RM270 million) contract signed in 2003. http://www.thesundaily.my/news/212319 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GeO 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 American made fighter jets have proven capability. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JuliusWong 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 Malaysia 'should' purchase another batch of Russian jets, so that we can send another 'can-or-not' aka astronaut up to Moon this time~~~~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leon t 0 Report post Posted November 30, 2011 total waste of public money sigh........... not based on real operational needs as its history of russian planes' operational availiability is 50% or less! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flee 5 Report post Posted November 30, 2011 We are all very naive. At the end of the day, the winner will be the one who best meets the Defence Minister's needs. Remember, he is still new to the cabinet and still hungry! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mushrif A 3 Report post Posted November 30, 2011 We are all very naive. At the end of the day, the winner will be the one who best meets the Defence Minister's needs. Remember, he is still new to the cabinet and still hungry! You need to be explicit who is actually the Defence Minister, and be clear on the gender too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites