Page 20 - Australian Defence Magazine May 2019

DEFENCE BUSINESS
LIMA
Awaiting the White Paper LIMA 2019
General Seri Affendi Buang, said at LIMA that, while the RMAF’s priorities were tai- lored to the requirements of the budget, deliveries of the new aircraft would begin “two or three years” after a decision is made.
The program is reportedly valued at be- tween 6-7 billion Ringgit (US$1.4-1.7 billion). Two of the main contenders for the LCA program – India’s Tejas LCA, manufac- tured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and Russia’s YAK-130, built by the Irkut Corporation, were prominent in the daily flying display at LIMA 19. Other con- tenders include the Leonardo M-346FA, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50 Golden Eagle and Pakistan Aeronautical
Complex (PAC) JF-17 Thunder.
Although not in the LCA category,
Saab confirmed to ADM at LIMA 19 that it has responded to the RFI with the JAS- 39C/D Gripen, which it says can fulfil both the RMAF’s LCA and (currently dormant) Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) requirements.
The Gripen was previously a contender for the stalled MRCA requirement, which the Malaysian Government says will now follow the LCA program by around a de- cade. Saab says the Gripen offer, a mix of new-build single-seat JAS-39Cs and twin- seat JAS-39Ds will satisfy both require- ments and allow the MRCA program to move back to the left.
MPA and UAVs
An RFI for a maritime surveillance capabil- ity was also released to industry in February, although several industry representatives told ADM at the show that the Malaysian
THE recently elected Malaysian Govern- ment, led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is promising to draft a new Defence White Paper in July for public release in the Sep- tember timeframe, but in the meantime, there appears to be very little money avail- able for defence spending and no major con- tracts were announced at the show.
However, there are several significant Malaysian defence requirements, some emerging and others on the backburner, and LIMA 19 was well attended by an ever- optimistic global industry.
Overview
Reflecting the ongoing budgetary malaise, the number of companies was down from 555 (from 36 countries) in 2019, to 406 (from 32 countries) at the 2019 event. Fur- thermore, the proportion of defence busi- ness fell from 70 per cent to 60 per cent of total participation between the two shows.
From a display point of view however, the numbers of ships and aircraft on dis- play showed a significant increase over the 2017 event, with show organisers claim- ing a presence of 61 ships and maritime assets (including HMAS Diamantina) and 133 aircraft.
From a display perspective, the highlights of the show included the Russian Knights aero- batic team, flying the Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter and Indonesia’s Team Jupiter, using the Ko- rean KT-1B Wong Bee turboprop trainer.
Light Combat Aircraft
The major focus at LIMA 19 was around a Royal Malaysian Air Force requirement for up to 36 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), to be delivered in two tranches, under the Ca- pability 2055 (CAP55) plan to modernise Malaysia’s defence capabilities.
A Request For Information (RFI) was leased to eastern and western aircraft man- ufacturers in January and RMAF Chief
Two Sukhoi Su-30SM fighters of the Russian AF 'Russian Knights' demonstration team taking off for their display.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | LANGKAWI
The 2019 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition (LIMA 19) was held on the Malaysian resort island on March 26-28.
20 | May 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
NIGEL PITTAWAY