OUR air force, Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia (TUDM) received the first Russian-made Sukhoi-20MKM jet fighter in May 2007 as part of a plan to beef up our defense capability.
Altogether we bought 18 such jets for a whopping US$900 million (about RM3.1 billion) under a 2003 purchase agreement. Apart from that, we also signed a US$100 million maintenance agreement with the manufacturer in April this year.
Moscow had agreed to allow Malaysia's purchase to partly offset a US$25 million space program in which Russian officials trained Malaysia's first astronaut to join a Russian scientific mission on the International Space Station.
Okay. I dont wanna brag about it although some defense analysts said Indian Air Force bought the same model a year later, cheaper. They got five for the price of one unit we paid. Wow!
The issue here is (after talking to some senior TUDM officers), we are 'losing' 17 of the multirole jet fighters. Only one is deemed safe to fly, the one that took part in Ops Daulat in Lahad Datu in March.
I was told that each time we need a Sukhoi to go for maintenance work, we have to refer to the purchase agreement pages, and also the technical aircraft maintenance contract.
And is it true that Mindef already has plan to buy a new fleet of aircraft to replace the Sukhois? Wish I am wrong...
During Merdeka Day celebration this Saturday, lets look up and count how many Sukhoi take to the air!
If we cant fly the Sukhoi, what else could we fly?
Altogether we bought 18 such jets for a whopping US$900 million (about RM3.1 billion) under a 2003 purchase agreement. Apart from that, we also signed a US$100 million maintenance agreement with the manufacturer in April this year.
Moscow had agreed to allow Malaysia's purchase to partly offset a US$25 million space program in which Russian officials trained Malaysia's first astronaut to join a Russian scientific mission on the International Space Station.
Okay. I dont wanna brag about it although some defense analysts said Indian Air Force bought the same model a year later, cheaper. They got five for the price of one unit we paid. Wow!
The issue here is (after talking to some senior TUDM officers), we are 'losing' 17 of the multirole jet fighters. Only one is deemed safe to fly, the one that took part in Ops Daulat in Lahad Datu in March.
I was told that each time we need a Sukhoi to go for maintenance work, we have to refer to the purchase agreement pages, and also the technical aircraft maintenance contract.
And is it true that Mindef already has plan to buy a new fleet of aircraft to replace the Sukhois? Wish I am wrong...
During Merdeka Day celebration this Saturday, lets look up and count how many Sukhoi take to the air!
If we cant fly the Sukhoi, what else could we fly?
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