New jets a welcome boost for RMAF

 

A minor milestone passed this week almost unnoticed.

While the nation remains transfixed by an oversize storm in a small sock drawer, deputy defence minister Adly Zahari informed Parliament that Malaysia’s contract to acquire 18 FA-50M light fighters from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) was 26.7% complete.

Unnoticed perhaps because this purchase is good news and good business, and, well, there’s no traction in good news, is there?

Naturally, we could pick holes in the 26.7% figure so accurately derived – despite the fact that 0% of these jets have been delivered – but then our civil service is a law unto itself and probably has legions of statisticians to argue its case.

Nevertheless, the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) has been crying out for fancy new aircraft for years.

Anyone peering through the public relations smokescreen that this branch of the armed forces is operating in tip-top condition, will see that a number of its frontline aircraft are well past their useful service life.

In 2019, then defence minister Mohamad Sabu admitted that only four of the RMAF’s Sukhoi Su-30 fighters were operational – suffering from serious reliability issues, lacking spares and requiring a very expensive refit.

Meanwhile, the BAE Systems Hawk trainer has proven itself an invaluable addition to the RMAF’s inventory but is now 50 years old. It can’t keep up.

The FA-50Ms are designed to replace the Hawks as they are steadily shuffled off to the boneyard but the new jets will also have to plug a gap left by Su-30s that can’t make it off the ground, despite the hastily organised refit.

The FA-50M is reliable, battle tested, nimble and quick for its size.

Very few fighter trainers can boast a supersonic capability, much less hit Mach 1.5. Theoretically, and in layman’s terms, a pair of FA-50Ms can blast down the runway at Butterworth and be over Kota Kinabalu in a shade less than an hour.

More important in these difficult times, the FA-50M is very cheap, which is the aspect of defence procurement the big US and European manufacturers have misjudged completely over the past 20 years or so.

As the Cold War came to an end, aircraft makers stuck to the assumption that the best technology married to cutting edge airframes would still be on every country’s shopping list, because only the best would do.

Yes, the F-35 Lightning, F-22 Raptor and Eurofighter Typhoon are the business, but these are the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the fighter jet world.

And, after a couple of global economic crises, not every nation needs them, much less can afford their price tag.

Manufacturers like KAI quickly learned that air forces were in fact shopping for lower-tech, more cost-effective fighters without all the bells and whistles, because – after all – who really is daft enough to pick a fight with the US or China?

Malaysia’s 18 jets cost the taxpayer less than US$1 billion at the time of purchase.

The original outlay for the Su-30s was US$900 million, which seems like a cheaper deal but there is a vast difference between value for money and paying for junk. Let us not forget, it cost the taxpayer an extra US$500 million to upgrade the Su-30s and get them flying again.

There are a couple of other points to consider. Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia have also bought the FA-50, which offers the advantage of interoperability with Asean partners should we ever need it.

Linked to this is the geopolitical factor. While the Americans, Russians and Chinese will fall over themselves to provide arms, their deals come at a price not measured in dollars.

These nations also reserve the right to block or delay sales over disagreements on foreign policy, or even just on a whim, and they have done just that many times over, even with supposed allies.

The last thing that Malaysia needs is its shiny new fleet of aircraft parked in a hangar in the middle of a shooting match, because the political breeze in Washington, Beijing or Moscow suddenly shifts in the wrong direction – a point magnified by Beijing’s ongoing sabre-rattling in the South China Sea.

While the world’s attention is focused elsewhere, China has been trying to press home its Nine-Dash Line policy, mostly at the expense of the Philippines and Indonesia, but Malaysia has had its back door tested more than once.

Of course, as mentioned, Malaysia cannot possibly hope to take on the Chinese air force head-to-head but – coupled with our Southeast Asian neighbours – the ability to bare our fangs could make a prowling predator think twice. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.