Malaysia takes delivery of new Sukhoi fighters
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia's air force received two Russian-made fighter planes Thursday, hailing them as a boost to its ability to deter any military threats.
The planes are the first of 18 Sukhoi-20MKM jets Malaysia ordered in 2003 in a US$900 million deal. Officials have said the purchase will make Malaysia one of Asia's largest operators of the high-tech jet after India and Vietnam. Royal Malaysian Air Force Chief Azizan Ariffin signed a certificate of receipt for the two planes Thursday in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, where he met with representatives of Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport and jet manufacturer Irkut, national news agency Bernama reported.
"This gives us the power of deterrence against any party that might think of disturbing Malaysia's sovereignty and security," Azizan was quoted as telling Malaysian journalists after witnessing a 10-minute acrobatic display of the aircraft's' capabilities.
The two jets will be delivered to Malaysia next month, while the remaining 16 will be sent in stages over the next 12 months, he said.
Moscow has agreed to allow Malaysia's purchase to partly offset a US$25 million (euro20 million) space program in which Russian officials are training Malaysia's first astronaut to join a Russian scientific mission on the International Space Station in October.
However, the purchase has also stirred political controversy after opposition leaders recently claimed that hefty commissions were paid to middlemen. Malaysia's defense ministry has rejected the allegations.
Great news! I don't know why the Malaysian Su-30MKMs cost so much ($50mil) when the superior Indian Su-30MKI is $35mil a piece
Either great news as a new country welcomes the Su-30MKx family with open arms
Here she is landing:
Source
Last edited by KingoftheHill; 05-24-2007 at 08:56 PM.
I think its because of the Electronics and Avionics systems that Malaysia specified for this batch. We dont have ties with Israel so we had to get another radar set from somewhere else I remember reading. I know this SU-30 is a hodgepodge of international electronics and stuff.
Volume? Malaysia is only buying 18, while India is planning to buy 140+. Also, it may to gain favour for future contracts, since India is also considering candidates for another acquisition program, one of which is the MiG-29.Originally Posted by KingoftheHill
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Great news! I don't know why the Malaysian Su-30MKMs cost so much ($50mil) when the superior Indian Su-30MKI is $35mil a piece
Vietnam ordered 4 for 110mil (or about $27.5mil a piece), Algeria got 28 for 1.5 bil.
I bet Venezuela's were dirt cheap
Russia was also trying to rework some signed Sukhoi contracts at a much higher cost. Much to the displeasure of India. There was a posting about it earlier in the week.
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums...d.php?t=112529
NEW DELHI, MAY 19:The decades-old defence ties between India and its strategic partner Russia have hit a new low. Moscow now wants to renegotiate the Su-30 MKI deal, virtually doubling the figure in the yearly cost escalation clause. Only 60 of the aircraft, which are India’s mainstay multi-role fighters for the future, have been delivered till now. While Russia is willing to deliver 40 more at the current cost escalation of 2.55 per cent per annum, it wants to hike that to a minimum of 5 per cent for the remaining 138.
Vietnam ordered 4 for 110mil (or about $27.5mil a piece), Algeria got 28 for 1.5 bil.
I bet Venezuela's were dirt cheap
Venezuela's SU-30MK2 cost around 40 millon per plane. The whole contract for the 24 Flankers as well as spare parts, weapons, etc was around 1600 million $.
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The MKI has a consderable ammount of Indian technology, which makes it cheaper to manufacture in India. All the Indian and Israeli tech in the MKI had to be swapped out for Russian in the MKM, which would account for the cost increase.
Though I think it was said in the original deal that Indian MKI assembly lines are to be the source for much of the spares for MKMs, which may make life-cycle costs cheaper for them versus Russian-manufactured parts.
What's going to happen with the Mig-29s and FA-18s?
The Indians are known drive a very hard bargain.
From a news article I read, those are still in service.
News video clip: http://www.alert5.com/2007/05/rmaf-s...out-video.html
Not sure if the camo has been painted..
Here is an official picture:
More articles on this:
IRKUTSK (RUSSIA), May 25 (Bernama) -- The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) will train 72 of its officers as pilots and weapons system officers (WSOs) to handle its squadron of multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA), the Sukhoi SU-30MKM.
Team leader of the RMAF Sukhoi SU-30MKM project Colonel Syed Salim Syed Abu Bakar said they would be trained at the Gong Kedak airbase in Kelantan.
"When the first delivery of two SU-30MKM aircraft arrives in Malaysia next month, we will train four pilots and two WSOs to handle them.
"After completing the training, they will be tasked with teaching other pilots and WSOs to handle all the 18 SU-30MKM bought by the RMAF," he told Malaysian journalists here.
Syed Salim, who has been stationed in Moscow since three years ago to handle the acquisition of the aircraft by the RMAF, said this when met after the handing over of the first two SU-30MKMs to Malaysia at the Irkut Corporation factory here Thursday.
The two SU-30MKM jets are the first of 18 ordered by the RMAF in May 2003 at a cost of RM3.42 billion (USD900 million).
Syed Salim said there was a possibility that some of the RMAF pilots and WSOs for the SU-30MKM would be sent to India for training.
India had agreed in principle to provide MRCA training for RMAF officers, he added. The Indian Air Force also uses the SU-30MKI manufactured by Irkut Corporation.
Syed Salim said the SU-30MKM bought by Malaysia were different as they had been integrated with the systems from several countries to coordinate their use with other RMAF aircraft.
He said the RMAF SU-30MKM team had been able to integrate the system according to schedule and he hoped that this would ensure delivery of all the 18 aircraft to Malaysia by middle of next year.
He said most of the avionics systems used in the RMAF aircraft were from France and that the SU-30MKM's laser and missile warning systems were from South Africa while the cryptography system from the United Kingdom.
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news.php?id=264031
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Malaysia might send pilots to India for training on how to fly sophisticated Russian-made fighter jets that Malaysia has purchased, a news report said Friday.
The Royal Malaysian Air Force wants to train 72 officers as pilots and weapons system personnel to handle 18 Sukhoi-20MKM jets that are being handed over to Malaysia in stages, Col. Syed Salim Syed Abu Bakar told Malaysian reporters in the Siberian city of Irkutsk.
Most of them will be trained in Malaysia, but some might be sent to India, which has agreed in principle to provide training for Malaysian officers on the use of multi-role combat aircraft, Syed Salim was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.
India's air force also uses Sukhoi jets, but Malaysia's purchases are different because they have been integrated with systems from other countries, including South African laser and missile warning systems and British cryptography systems, Syed Salim added.
Air force officials familiar with the issue in Malaysia could not immediately be contacted.
Syed Salim's comments came after Malaysian air force officials received the two Sukhoi planes Thursday from jet manufacturer Irkut. Both jets will be delivered to Malaysia next month, while the remaining 16 will be sent in stages over the next year.
Malaysia ordered the planes in 2003 in a US$900 million deal that officials have said will make Malaysia one of Asia's largest operators of the high-tech jet after India and Vietnam.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/latestnews/46387.htm
Congrats to Malaysia on the arrival!
A very good choice on this aircraft.It will do Malaysia very good in defence.
In terms of high profile jets Malaysia does well in matching Singapore.
A bigger problem is maritime patrol. Between the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea, Malaysia will continue to be challenged in monitoring shipping and priacy. P-3C Orions or similar would be an ideal platform.
congradulations for malaysia..perfect choice..
Turkey bought 30 f16 block 52 .Total coast is about 1,7 billion dollars...
this is purely wasting of money...
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