-- The Boeing Company has a distinct
advantage over its competitors in
offering its Super Hornet jet fighter
deal to Malaysia as the aircraft
represents an "extremely affordable"
offering over the long-term.
The global aircraft manufacturer also
stands ready to assist Malaysia in
dealing with funding challenges in
acquiring the high-endurance fighter
jets, more so, due to financial
constraints brought on by the global
economic slowdown.
"No aircraft in this competition will
come close to the affordability that
the Super Hornet brings," Howard M
Berry, Boeing vice-president for F/
A18E/F international sales, global
strike, defense, space & security told
Bernama.
"When you look at the total lifecycle
cost, from acquisition to support for
the aircraft throughout its lifetime,
including training, logistics and
eventually taking the aircraft out of
service, the support typically takes up
70 per cent," he said.
He said that Boeing was aware that
every nation, including Malaysia, faced
challenges at the moment due to
falling oil prices and weaker
currencies. However, he expressed
optimism that "in an ever changing
world, oil prices will rebound."
"We have been discussing and working
with the Malaysian government. We
can do a lot of things financially and
deal with any funding challenges it may
have in the near term. "At the end of
the day, it will obviously be a political
decision and we have to see how that
plays out," Berry said.
Boeing has been negotiating since 2002
on the Super Hornet deal with the
Royal Malaysian Air Force, which
currently operates eight earlier
generation Classic Hornets, the F/
A-18Ds.
"We are prepared to stay engaged.
This is an important sale for us. We
will do everything possible to
facilitate the acquisition when the
government is ready to move ahead,"
he said.
According to Berry, the version of the
Super Hornet to be sold to Malaysia is
called the Block II, which went into
operation in 2007, and could easily
integrate into current aircraft
systems as Malaysia has already been
flying the Super Hornet.
Also, the Super Hornet has only been
flying for about seven to eight years,
making it arguably the newest aircraft
in service with the US military.
Berry said so far the aircraft has 1.4
million plus flight hours, thus it is a
mature aircraft and operationally
relevant. Berry said the benefit that
RMAF would get is that the Super
Hornet is of a low-risk design.
"When you buy from my competitors,
their aircraft are relatively immature
and have immature key systems, most
notably the radar. They are still
developing the active electronically
scanned array (AESA) radar," he
added.
He said the Super Hornet is flying the
most advanced AESA radar, the APG-79
by Raytheon, which is without doubt
at the forefront of AESA technology
and combat-proven. Berry also noted
that the Super Hornet F/A-18E/Fs is
extremely well suited for its roles.
However, he said that Malaysia has
some issues to deal with, such as very
long coastlines, Sabah's invasion,
maritime patrol as well as air
superiority challenges.
"To deal with, you need to have patrol
capability. Super Hornet aircraft, for
an example, brings the range, the
persistent. It brings the two-seat
cockpit and twin engines. Twin engines
are key, any pilot who spends a lot of
time over water will tell you that they
like having twin engines.
"The F/A18F is certainly well suited
for maritime operations. The two-
seat cockpit is key (and) when you are
out there over water, looking to
exercise sea line control and maritime
surveillance, having those second pair
of eyes in the jet is important," he
said.
At the Langkawi Maritime and
Aerospace Exhibition 2001, Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak,
who was defence minister then, flew
on the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet
fighter, making him the first defence
minister to fly on the two-seater
fighter jet piloted by Boeing chief
test pilot Dave Desmond.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing
Defense, Space & Security is one of
the world's largest defence, space and
security businesses specialising in
innovative and capabilities-driven
customer solutions, and the world's
largest and most versatile
manufacturer of military aircraft.
-- BERNAMA

sumber
aviation.bernama.com/news.php?id=1108523&lang=en&cat=b

semakin saja superhornet malaysia kalo jadi deal.