Originally Posted by rock45

I assume the datalinks users would be US, England, Russia, France, Israel, and Brazil. I would guess that China might be part of this club as well or soon to be.

do you know any military warfare companies that use the rf data links? can you list some?

No I don't I'm very weak in datalink's and what they can do. The way I describe it is kind of my level on the subject really. I can imagine in the future unmanned aircraft going into a hot spot finding targets and then datalinking the info on a target to a weapons platform a hundred or two hundred away. I'm sure if you hunt around the net you'll find more information on the subject. I think it's a cool field and has a future that's for sure. Do you know about more about the subject?

Originally Posted by bulldogg

ndonesia is in bed with the US and Malaysia tends to oppose our interests owing to the political bent of their muslim population which tends towards fundamentalism more than the Indonesian variety of the religion.

sorry

but i just had to pick this bit out..... as someone who has recently travelled through both Indonesia and Malaysia....i can say with complete certanty that it is Indonesia who posses the more radical Muslim population.

Indonesia is the home of jamahl islamia, the Muslim rebels in banda arche etc etc.

whereas Malaysia is (to my eyes at least) a very modern, open and liberal Islamic state.


to this day malaysia is finding infiltration teams from indonesia on the wrong side of the border, and you're right, the bad blood does go back to the very brief time where they were part of the same coalition of countries. if my memory serves, the malaysian leader from that time has just released his memoirs from that extremely tense time (malayan emergency onwards), but for the life of me i can find it now.,


if it does come to a shooting war it will be an EXTREMELY messy one, tight naval straits, major airpower tussles, and jungle warfare island hopping....and in that, the side that shuts down the shipping, wins.

Rather than derail this thread...

Radical Muslim Tangos in SE Asia

First question:
I’m looking for any information on an air force training exercise involving Malaysia or Indonesia and Australia. Basically I want to learn more about there air force overall and I’m interested in reading about opinions on there air force and / or aircraft.

Second question:
I notice Malaysia and Indonesia using mainly US and Russian types with some England made Hawks mixed in. I wanted to know did France ever try to push the Mirage F1 or Mirage 2000 series in this region.

Thanks in advance

I though two of these fighters were already delivered?



KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Malaysian Air Force’s latest squadron got its first aircraft on Tuesday when two Sukhoi Su-30MKM Flanker fighter jets were delivered.
The Russian-made aircraft were onboard an Antonov An-124-100 cargo aircraft, which landed at the Gong Kedak air base in Kelantan at 6.30pm.

An RMAF spokesman said two more aircraft were scheduled to arrive later this year.

The four will be on display at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition in December.

The full squadron of 18 aircraft, procured in a deal estimated at US$900 million (RM3.08 billion), would be in operation by the end of next year.
The aircraft will form the RMAF’s 11th Squadron, to be based in Gong Kedak, the air force’s newest base.

The delivery of the two aircraft came while Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was in Moscow meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, on his first official visit to that country since becoming prime minister.

The aircraft were made at the Irkutsk aviation plant of the Irkut Corporation and are currently being assembled and inspected.

The two aircraft were formally handed over to RMAF chief Gen Tan Sri Azizan Ariffin in a roll-out ceremony at the plant earlier this year.

The Su-30MKM (an abbreviation which stands for modernised, commercial, Malaysia) is an advanced modification of the widely known multifunctional fighter jet, Su-30MKK.

However, the Malaysian version of the fighter jet significantly differs from the prototype in various systems.

Highly-manoeuvrable, the Su-30MKI version of the jet was also ordered by the Indian Air Force.

The aircraft will significantly beef up the RMAF’s air defence capabilities as the squadron joins the existing fleet of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29N Fulcrum, Boeing F/A-18D Hornet and BAE Systems Hawk 108 and 208 fighters.

The Fulcrums, like the Flankers, are made in Russia, while the Hornets and Hawks are American and British.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/N...cle/index_html

First of the products arrived finally? Does any one know what kind of weapon systems they will employ? Will they employ direct shipments of Russian made air to air ordinance? Or like western contracts, less sophisticated versions of the ordinance?

The Su 30MK, is designed for strikes against naval targets, like U.S. carrier strike force. (Not calling Malaysia a enemy) They carry the traditional when flying in under the Red Star. A 30mm cannon, which would require highly trained crews to pilot them. Cause, those aren't many rounds, but, they are big, and will pack a punch.

Along with a wide array of air to air ordinance. Which, some may be viewed as, a little behind in the air to air weapons arena. But, they still are lethal in the hands of a skilled crew.


Armaments

1. Guns On board 30mm gun with 150 rds

2. Guided air-to-air missiles
R-27R1(ER1) R-27T1(ET1) R-27P(EP) R-73E RVV-AYe

3. Guided air-to-surface missiles
Kh-59ME Kh-31A, Kh-31P Kh-29T(TYe), Kh-29L

4. Guided bomb units
KAB-500KR, KAB-500OD KAB-1500KR, KAB-1500L

5. Air bombsFAB-500T BETAB-500ShP ODAB-500PM OFAB-250-270 OFAB-100-120 P-50T Incendiary bombs(napalm filled)

6. Cluster bombs RBK-500 SPBE-D

7. Unguided missiles
S-8KOM, S-8OM, S-8BM S-13T, S-13OF S-25OFM-PU

8. External fuel tanks
N/a

9. Suspension points12 (hard pionts)

http://www.sukhoi.org/eng/planes/military/su30mk/arms/

I wonder if the air to air ordinance will employ the same semi active radar tracking systems as the Russian used ordinance?

Hi Sukio
I don't think it would be fair to say the Su-30MKM was designed to strike naval targets but has the capabilities to do so. It's a exceptional maneuverability fighter with tons of power and good range. Reading about radar guided missiles on different sites I do rate American missile better or at least battle proven but Russia AA-11 (IR type) seems to have a good rep from what I've read about it. India been flying Flankers for many years and must have highly trained crews. I personnel believe if you put American trained pilots or western based trained pilots in this aircraft many would change there views on Flankers. Flankers are like other fighter too in a sense that no fighter (leaving out the F-22) does everything the best. Put an AESA radar in it and give it radar missiles with a little better range and/or ie work better and in certain types of air combat Flankers would be nasty. I wish a F-15 pilot could explain better but like an F-15 I assume it could use it's brute power to get into good positions to take shots and force the fight. Another thing I see with Flankers and larger fighters like F-14s is the amount of fuel they carry. It must be an advantage because you could pick when to enter or leave a fight, not every fighter has that option. Flankers like all fighters must have there weaknesses too and I'm sure US F-15 pilots and others are highly trained to take advantage of this as well. I think good training is the key without it even lesser missed match aircraft can beat for more advance aircraft.

I'm not calling the Su 30 Flanker variant a bad design, no. But, it is very well equipped, almost to the point of a Su 35. And, will the ability to updated easily. They do rival F 15s in many aspects. They are also fitted for air superiorly. But, U.S. pilots may have some trouble flying it, since it is but from a nation that uses entirely the metric system. But, this can be disproved a little, since the U.S. uses a captured Mig 29 for training of new pilot's, having U.S. pilot flying as the "bad guys".

Flankers, are some best fighters in the 4Th generation of military fighter/strike aircraft. And I'm pretty sure that Malaysia will get her money's worth. They hold ordinance for any occasion. Even though some of the original ordinance, is only daylight TV guided, they can be updated. The Su 30 of any model, holds low speed maneuverability that only the F/A 22A can match from the U.S.

Hi Sukio
Unless the Su-35 receives funding and finds a buyer it might turn into vapor wear like many Russian projects. On paper its looks great but the Su-30 is very real thus the reason the Indians haven't went down the Su-35 path I think. The reason I mention US pilots or western trained pilots is the level of training received. The training equipment used like Sims and other resources aren't always available Russian or other Flanker personnel in other countries. Training is so important like if you compare the US, Israel, England, and say France, you could put pilots in Russian or even Chinese made aircraft and they would do well. Its the level of training and learning to get the most out of the aircraft and equipment that makes certain pilots better then others, and that's works the same way with different air forces too. Hope I made sense in trying to explain myself.