Posted on 05/23/2007 6:04:42 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
RMAF Takes Delivery Of Sukhoi SU-30MKM Fighter Aircraft
From Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa
IRKUTSK (Russia), May 23 (Bernama) -- After a four-year wait, the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) will take delivery of two Sukhoi SU-30MKM multi-role fighter aircraft Thursday.
They will be the first two of 18 aircraft ordered by Malaysia in May 2003, being the most sophisticated aircraft of its kind in Southeast Asia.
Chief of Air Force Jen Datuk Seri Azizan Ariffin and Defence Ministry Secretary-General Tan Sri Ahmad Latffi Hashim will receive the aircraft on behalf of the Malaysian government at the Irkut Aircraft Corporation manufacturing plant here.
Malaysia and the Russian government agency, Rosoboronexport, signed a US$900 million (RM3.4 billion) contract for 18 Sukhoi Su-30MKM (Modernizirovannyi Kommercheskiy Malaysia or Modernised Commercial Malaysia) aircraft.
In return for the purchase, Russia agreed to train and send a Malaysian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS).
The 16 other Su-30MKM aircraft will be delivered to Malaysia in stages up to the middle of next year.
Other than Malaysia, the Indonesian Air Force has two Su-27 and eight Su-30MK2 aircraft while Vietnam has four Su-30 and 12 Su-27 aircraft.
Defence analysts believe, however, that the Su-30MKM and a similar version, the Su-30 MKI, used by the Indian Air Force are the most modern Su-30 aircraft in the market.
Although the Su-30 aircraft of the RMAF and the Indian Air Force are the same, the electronic equipment and avionics used by the aircraft are different, for political reasons.
India's aircraft are equipped with systems produced by Israel while Malaysia, which does not have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, uses electronic and avionics systems from France, India and South Africa for the Su-30MKM.
RMAF's two-seater Su-30MKM aircraft are equipped with the thrust vectoring control (TVC) engine system and two small wings by the side of the pilot's seat called "canard" for maximum air movement.
The TVC engine system relates to the control of the nozzle movement and vectoring for determining movement in the air.
Maximum movement in the air is a factor that determines whether the aircraft can defeat the enemy during aerial combats or dogfights.
The Su-30MKMs can fly for 4.5 hours covering 3,000 km with a normal fuel tank but with inflight refuelling, the time and distance can be extended to 10 hours and 8,000 km.
The ability to operate over long distances is important to RMAF as Malaysia is vast with undulating landscape and the peninsula is separated from Sabah and Sarawak by the South China Sea.
In addition, Malaysia also has oil platforms owned by Petronas and its production-sharing contract partners, not only close to shore but also in deep-sea areas.
The ability to safeguard oil resources is important not only to check external threats but also ensure that the nation's sovereignty is not questioned by other countries.
Defence analysts believe that the delivery to RMAF of the Su-30MKM aircraft that can cover long distances has shifted the balance of power in Southeast Asia.
The fighter aircraft can fly at Mach 2 and can carry about eight tonnes of weapons in 12 storage centres or "hardpoints" in the lower portion of the aircraft.
The Su-30MKM aircraft will be equipped with air-to-air, air-to-land and anti-radiation missiles, for destruction of electronic equipment like radar, and laser-guided bombs.
They are also equipped with high-powered radar of the "NO11M Bars" type that can detect up to 15 enemy targets and attack four of them simultaneously.
The "Bars" radar enable the aircraft to detect ships from 400 km away and smaller vessels from 120 km off.
The ability to detect targets from afar using high-powered radar enables the Su-30MKM jet-fighters to double up as early warning aircraft.
-- BERNAMA
I'm going to bet that it would take one F-22 about 10 minutes to destroy all 18 of these babies.
And how much air to air weaponry does a single F-22 carry??
I don’t know, I was being facetious.
Facetious or not, 10 minutes sounds about right.
Mmmmmmmmm
Raptor bait.......
It would take 2 Raptors. They only have one gun and carry a max of 8 missiles.
Looks like a bit of an arms race developing in southeast Asia, no? That’s some pretty serious hardware Malaysia is buying.
}:-)4
You’re not factoring in the pilots who would just crash their planes at the mere sight of an F-22. I’m hyperventilating just thinking about it.
That is impossible.!!!
Pronunciation: f&-'sE-sh&s
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle French facetieux, from facetie jest, from Latin facetia -snip-
2 : meant to be humorous or funny : not serious
synonym see WITTY - fa·ce·tious·ly adverb - fa·ce·tious·ness noun
Good point. It would probably take two F22s five minutes to down all eighteen of these babies.
Try more like 3 or 4 F-22s.
You're right LM Guy. I just reread the armament specs on the F22. Three would probably be enough. Four would be like shooting fish in a barrel. That's assuming that they were relying on all internal armaments.
Umm,if the enemy sees the F-22,he has a fair chance with his heat seeking weapons!!!The Raptor’s strength is at beyond visual range with it’s stealth & advanced radar(which cannot be easily intercepted).
Everyone around there is arming up one way or the other-Australia,Singapore,Vietnam,Indonesia & ofcourse, the Big daddy-China.
You must be fun at parties.
Thus the AIM120 Air to Air missiles coupled with target sharing acquisition and designation computer systems.
A few deals after this also passed right through US hands ~ I spoke to one of the attaches at the embassy a while back, a they just shrugged their shoulders. I was kinda taken aback when on one specific deal the Americans didn't even know who was actually signing off on the deal.
Americans are extreemly arrogant overseas ~ prefering to deal with the "top man" - they always have all the contacts and know everything five minutes after they arrive in the country. Often times they shrug off the wrong people ~ other influencial individuals who are indirectly linked to the purchase.
I saw the same thing happen with a bank here a while back who was dealing with a US IT-related firm and the CEO of the American firm pissed of one of major shareholder's sons no knowing who the son was or how he was connected to the bank. They lost out the deal to NEC and never knew why ~ to make matters worse, they tried to allege that they lost the deal because of unsavory business practices on the Malaysian side - oh well bad news for them... they lose out.
Well,often commercial US sales get stuck over specifics on allowing certain weaponry,source codes etc.The Malaysians got F-18s about a decade ago,but these had minimal offensivestrike capability & no AMRAAMs-leaving the Malaysians unhappy.The Russians have no qualms in selling top-end stuff like the AA-12(equivalent to the AMRAAM) & long-range cruise missiles.
I must add that Malaysia still seems interested in the SuperHornet.
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