KUALA LUMPUR: The Defence Ministry’s plan to acquire fighter aircraft from the Kuwait Air Force (KAF) is a stop-gap measure as the Royal Malaysian Air Force’s current Hawk fighter jets will be decommissioned in two years, says Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
The Defence Minister explained that purchasing new aircraft is a tedious process that could take up to 10 years.
“Buying new fighter jets is not like walking into a car showroom to buy a vehicle. Negotiations and discussions alone would take about three or four years.
“Another five years will be required to build the fighter jets, as their parts come from various manufacturers and suppliers.
“The new aircraft would also need to be customised according to our needs. We will only be able to take delivery in 2035.
“In the meantime, our BAE Hawk fighter jets based in Labuan will be phased out in 2027 and we will have nothing.
“Acquiring KAF’s F/A-18C/D Legacy Hornet is a stop-gap measure that would fill the void when the Hawk fighter jets are decommissioned in two years,” he said at a press conference at the ministry’s headquarters in Jalan Padang Tembak here yesterday.
He said this after a memorandum of understanding handover ceremony during the launch of the Military Broadband Initiative between the Defence Ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
Asked if the current KAF’s Legacy Hornet, which Malaysia plans to purchase, is fit for flight, he said the aircraft is airworthy as it had only been flown for 2,000 hours and has another 5,000 hours of flight time.
However, he said the deal will only be realised after the KAF takes delivery of its new jets and gets consent from the United States to sell the Legacy Hornet to Malaysia because they were built and sold by the US.
Mohamed Khaled explained that KAF’s order for new US-built F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets to replace its current fleet of Legacy Hornets was placed in 2018 but the country is still waiting to take delivery of the aircraft.
On another matter, Mohamed Khaled said the ministry is constantly monitoring the situation in south Lebanon, where Malaysian peacekeepers are based.
This follows recent reports of attacks by the Israeli Defence Forces on the base of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil).
He said the ministry is constantly in touch with the military’s joint forces command and receives up to four updates daily on the situation of Unifil peacekeepers.
“What we know is that they have been advised not to carry out any more patrolling and remain in their bunkers for 12 to 13 hours at a time.
“Unifil has yet to decide when to move out our forces but they will have to remain there.
“We are monitoring the situation. Our priority is the safety of our personnel,” the minister said.
