Latest Malaysia Military News Part 1, From Apr 06-May 09

In a Mig-29, that might be more death-defying than one would expect.

nice, once again the powerful K-36 ejection seat saves the pilot's day

so far that's the only MiG-29 that the RMAF has lost right? sorry, did a quick check online but couldn't find anything

i am of the opinion that there have been at least 2 total airframe losses.

the mig-29n crashed on the 3rd of september 1998. the plane was on a trainig sortie with another fulcrum and they took off at 0900 hours.
on 9th september 1998, findings of the investigations showed that it crashed due to technical problems.
the technical probl is battery failure leading to malfunction of other systems causing the plane to lose altitude rapidly.

when the pilot mej mohd fauzi salleh was attempting to RTB, he ejected about 4 miles from kuantan.

http://politics.sgforums.com/users/12746/posts?page=2

as it is, wikipedia's page on the RMAF orbat claims only 14 remaining Fulcrums.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircr...ysian_Air_Force

ah, i see i see...tks! i'll try to keep an eye out if there's a third...hope it just stays at these two...

Europcopter Hopes Malaysia Can Commit To Cougar EC725

SUBANG JAYA, May 12 (Bernama) -- European helicopter maker Eurocopter hopes the Malaysian government can commit to the purchase of 12 units of its Cougar EC725 before mid-August this year so as to enable faster production and delivery.

Its president and chief executive officer Lutz Bertling said today this was because the EC725 has become a fast-selling model and that any commitment after the offer period would result in delay of the helicopters as replacements for the Royal Malaysian Air Force's Nuri fleet.

"If the government signs up during the current offer period, then the first delivery will be made by 2011. We hope the Malaysian government will be able to sign the contract or at least a binding letter of agreement to start production," he said at a media briefing here.

Bertling said Eurocopter has been selective with many potential buyers favouring the EC725 which met their specifications.

"The tactical discussions are considerably finalised. We are waiting for the government to call for commercial negotiations," he said.

"This model sells well. When the offer expires, we need to see if we can have the same slot for production for Malaysia," he added.

According to Bertling, the EC725 has been proven in combat as evidenced in Lebanon and Afghanistan where the helicopter was used extensively.

Last year, the government approved the RM1.7 billion purchase of the 12 EC725 units but this was later deferred by then Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, until the economy improves.

The savings from the postponement of the contract were channelled to other public programmes which provided high trickle-down benefits to the people.

-- BERNAMA

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Latest Malaysia Military News Part 2