Posted on 07/20/2007 10:13:37 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Indonesia, Thailand seek new fighters
By Siva Govindasamy
Indonesia and Thailand are making moves towards acquiring new fighter jets, although industry sources say that any procurement is unlikely to begin until the start of the next decade.
Thailand is the likelier of the two South-East Asian countries to make the first move, with its air force chief saying the service is seeking $1 billion over the next five years to buy new helicopters and aircraft. The priority, Air Chief Marshal Chalit Pukphasuk says, is to replace the kingdom's two fleets of Northrop F-5Es that have been in service since the 1970s and are due to be decommissioned around 2011.
While a competition is not officially under way, aircraft manufacturers have held informal talks with Bangkok for the initial sale of up to 12 fighters. However, Chalit rules out Russia's MiG-29, which is in service with neighbours such as Malaysia, saying: "You wouldn't want a fighter jet that your neighbours have more experience on. You would want one that is a little bit more advanced than what your neighbours have."
Saab, producer of the Gripen, is believed to be one of the frontrunners because of the growing defence ties between Sweden and Thailand. The company is seeking its first Gripen sale in Asia, and industry sources say that it is offering Thailand a competitive package that includes cheap loans. Others are not resting on their laurels. Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin's F-16 are also likely to be considered and both companies will look to capitalise on long-standing defence ties between the USA and Thailand. The Sukhoi Su-30 and Dassault Rafale could also take part in a tender.
Indonesia is also looking to refresh its air force, and the service's chief of staff says the country wants to replace the Rockwell OV-10 Bronco, BAE Systems Hawk 53, F-5 and possibly upgrade its F-16A/Bs. Among the aircraft being considered are the Aero Vodochody L-159, Chengdu K-8 and Korea Aerospace Industries KO-1B turboprop trainer.
"A team has already conducted a study and provided some input which we will submit after 2009," says Marshal Herman Prayitno. "The air force still has to consider the capability of the new aircraft. We hope they could perform various missions, especially to replace the ground attack role of the OV-10, the ambush function of the F-5, as well as the trainer function."
The problem, however, is financing. While the Indonesian economy has been growing over the past few years, poverty alleviation remains a government priority. "It might be difficult for the government to justify spending a billion dollars on new aircraft when sections of society are still struggling," says an observer.
Maybe the can buy some used Scooters and rehab them - Singapore did real will doing that.
Now what possible use have Indonesia and Thailand for jet fighters? I mean seriously is there the slightest possibility of them being attacked in a conventional way by a hostile power? Even if there were, the attacking power would obviously have such overwhelming airpower that any resistance by Indonesian and Thai forces would be nothing more than token and yet they persist in wasting billions on what can only be symbolic weaponry while Islamic insurgents who use little more than machetes and simple bombs are without doubt the biggest threat to both these nations’ security in the coming decades.
Actually come to that, outside of maybe a dozen nations around the world who do realistically expect to fight conventional battles, why do so many nations buy submarines, fighters, tanks etc? They are about as much use to them as knights in armour would have been to the British fighting the forces of the American Revolution.
Last I looked both of these are maritime Nation States.
Scooters (reengined with a -404) and a new cockpit would be about 90 of a new F16 at a fraction of the cost.
Why?
Lets see:
Prirates
Close air/COIN
Maritime recce (a Skyfox, for example, would be the better choice)
Drug interdiction
Did I mention - Prirates?
So they buy a few jets for possible interceptors .... the rest of the fleet ... I’d make sure the production lines for the P-51 and the Skyraiders were spooled up.
SPADS!
Piper made a P51 knockoff (PA48), they own the design, only it is a turoprop.
From Wiki
In 1971 Piper built two Enforcers by heavily modifying two existing P-51 Mustang aircraft and fitting them with Lycoming T55-L9A turboprop engines (along with numerous other significant modifications). Although the Enforcer performed well in Pave COIN, Piper failed to secure a United States Air Force contract.
But, a SPAD is the better choice - it can carry much more, loiter longer and so on.
Since most of the trouble currently plaguing Indonesia and Thailand stems from terrorists who operate out of bases deep in the jungle, a plane like this would be a valuable asset for hunting them down.
BTW, if you go to Wikipedia and punch in Super Tucano, they have a link at the bottom of the page to a video of a Columbian EMB 314 shooting down a drug-running aircraft last month. The video lasts 4 1/2 minutes and the first 3 minutes and 45 seconds are of the drug-runner trying to elude the control plane and of the Super Tucano making several warning passes at the plane. The last 45 seconds are rather exciting however.
Thailand is very happy with the F-16. The Thai Air Force spends a huge chunk of their budget on them. There is no way I see them switching to anything else.
F-16
Bang for the buck.
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