Wartawan isu ketenteraan negara Marhalim Abas yang sebelum ini menimbulkan kontroversi kapal selam negara tidak boleh menyelam, kali ini menimbulkan kontroversi dan tanda tanya apabila mendakwa kemungkiinan Malaysia membeli jet pejuang baru tetapi menggunakan enjin second hand. Enjin second hand ini adalah dari jet pejuang TUDM yang lama yang dibaik pulih atau refurbish.
Apakah ada kemungkinan tersebut ? Jika ini berlaku, tiada negara lain di dunia yang menggunakan rangka jet baru tapi menggunakan enjin lama dakwa artikel tersebut lagi. Jet pejuang yang dimaksudkan ialah jenis Aermacchi MB-339A yang telah dihantar satu ke Muzium TUDM Sg Besi. Ianya digantikan dengan Aermacchi MB-339CM. Malaysia telah membeli 8 buah jet ini pada harga 88 Juta Euro. *********************************** First Macchi MB339A at RMAF Museum Written on August 9, 2010 by Marhalim Abas SHAH ALAM (Aug 9, 2010): The first of the last remaining batch of the Aermacchi MB-339As was put on display at the RMAF Museum at the Sg Besi Airbase last week. The plane serial number M34-12 is pictured here courtesy of NST journalist Sager Ahmad, who has a long history working with the museum. Sager reported that the aircraft was transported to the museum on a low-loader with the wing taken out. The appearance of the M34-12 I believed marked the retirement of the As following the delivery of the 8 MB339CM last year. However there is no official confirmation from the RMAF just yet. But since the engines of the As had been taken out to be refurbished before they were fitted on the CMs, the argument is purely academic of course. Only in Malaysia, so claimed DHEagle to me. He said such thing has never happen anywhere else. No other airforce he claimed would put an old engine into a new plane! How did this thing happened one may asked? Well the short answer, based on conversations I had with DHEagle and confirmed by other sources, the RMAF had been planning to replace the As since 2000. But due to long negotiations plus an added requirement from the Ministry of Transport – extra landing rights to Malaysia Airlines for Rome – the deal was finally struck in 2006. However, by that time the allocation to purchase the new CMs had been fixed at around RM600. That means RMAF can only purchase 4 new CMs with new engines and eight, if they used the old engines from the As. We all know what happened next. I was told that RMAF did not pursue the option of refurbishing the As into the CM version as it was expensive as buying new airframes. I am told that the As were retired prematurely as the airframes and engines had still half of their service lives when the deal to purchase the CMs was finalised, which was a pity of course… The LOI for the 8 CMs was signed at DSA2006 while the contract was signed a few months later. The deal to refurbished the engines of the As (Viper Mk623.43) for the CMs was signed at Lima 2007. All of us (reporters) , including myself, missed out on that small print as we were always looking for bigger, newer things at such functions. Oh well, at least the museum got a new toy for display…. http://www.malaysiandefence.com/?p=1202 SELAMAT DATANG KE LAMAN RASMI TENTERA UDARA DIRAJA MALAYSIA Wednesday, 26 March 2008 SEJARAH No 15 Skuadron di tubuhkan asalnya mengambil perjawatan Pusat latihan Terbang 3 (Pulatibang 3). PULATIBANG 3 talah ditubuhkan dengan kekuatan 12 x pesawat pejuang ringan jenis Aermacchi MB 339A telah diletakkan dibawah tanggungjawab Komandan. Ianya telah beroperasi selama lebih kurang 10 tahun dan berjaya melahirkan sebilangan besar juruterbang tempur dan pejuang yang ada pada masa ini. Unit ini telah melahirkan sebilangan besar juruterbang tempur dan pejuang yang ada pada masa ini. Unit ini telah dipindahkan ke Pangkalan TUDM Butterworth pada 15 Dis 93. http://www.airforce.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=78&Itemid=94 Alenia Telah Kirimkan 8 Jet Latih MB-339CM Ke TUDM Saturday, December 5, 2009 5 Desember 2009 -- Alenia Aermacchi Italia telah mengirimkan 8 jet latih MB-339CM ke Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia (TUDM) sesuai kontrak senilai 88 juta euro pada akhir 2006. Dua pesawat pertama diterima TUDM pada Maret 2009, diterbangkan langsung dari Italia oleh pilot Alenia kepala pilot penguji Cdr. Quirino Bucci dan pilot penguji Cdr. Matteo Maurizio. Sedangkan dua pesawat terakhir juga diterbangkan langsung dari Venegono Italia 28 November. Versi MB-339CM dibuat berdasarkan versi MB-339CD yang digunakan AU Italia, berkursi tandem dan bermesin tunggal serta dilengkapi peralatan pengisian bahan bakar di udara. TUDM telah menggunakan versi MB-339A selama 20 tahun. http://beritahankam.blogspot.com/2009/12/alenia-telah-kirimkan-8-jet-latih-mb.html
