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You are here : Home | | Hercules upgrade due
Hercules upgrade due
Submitted by pekwan on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
* C-130 HERCULES
* Local
* Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF)
... but millions needed to keep RMAF’s transport fleet in use
MARHALIM ABAS
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 06:46:00
C-130 HERCULES
C-130 HERCULES: RMAF thinks it can serve beyond 2016 Pic:www.176wg.ang
THE government may have to fork out more money to keep the ageing Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) C-130 Hercules transport fleet flying beyond 2016 as it waits for the delivery of the much-delayed Airbus Military A400M air-lifter.
The millions of ringgit needed to upgrade the Hercules fleet is an addition to the RM2.6 billion needed to purchase the A400M air-lifter.
The contract for the four A400M air-lifters was signed at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (Lima) 2005, with delivery expected to begin in 2013. Now it appears that the first aircraft will only reach our shores in 2016, hence the need to fund an upgrade programme for the Hercules fleet.
At the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was then Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, said the new aircraft would supplement the fleet of 15 C-130 Hercules RMAF was operating. The Hercules, he said, would continue its role until it is no longer economical to operate.
As part of the offset package, Composites Technology Research Malaysia Sdn Bhd (CTRM) received work packages worth some RM1 billion for the design and manufacture of A400M airframe components to be delivered worldwide.
On this, Najib said, “the procurement must be seen as a package, not only to fulfil the armed forces’ needs
but also as an effort to expand the nation’s aerospace industry”.
The Malaysian decision brings the number of firm orders for the A400M to 192 aircraft. CTRM has worked with Airbus Military’s parent company, EADS Airbus, in thefield of composite materials, starting with themanufacturing of fixed trailing edge for the A300 passenger jet and followed by A320 leading and trailing edge lower panels.
CTRM is also designing and building the A380 fixed leading edge lower panels. The fate of the Malaysian order
for the A400M came to a head on Nov 5 when South Africa, the only other country to purchase the aircraft outside Europe, announced it was terminating the deal due to delays and a huge rise in cost.
Last Friday, AFP quoted an unnamed senior Malaysian defence official as saying that the order of the A400M will proceed but the delivery will be delayed by at least three years.
“There is no cancellation, the deal is still on but delivery will be delayed by three or four years,” the senior Defence Ministry official said.
“The delay is due to the delivery issue, it is not our problem. It is our commitment to boost our existing fleet,” added the official, who declined to be named.
The A400M has been bedeviled by cost overruns and delivery delays over its massive turbo-prop engines.
The entire RM94.7 billion project was put in doubt at one point. The first planes were to have been delivered at the end of this year, but the programme is running at least three years late.
In cancelling the order, South African government spokesman Themba Maseko said: “The costescalation would have placed an unaffordable burden on the taxpayer in an economic downturn”.
He said the cost skyrocketed from US$1.2 billion (RM4 billion) when the contract for the A400M was agreed five years agoto US$6.1 billion (RM20.6 billion) now. Apart from South Africa, Italy also decided to withdraw from the project last year.
A total of 180 of the aircraft have been ordered by seven Nato nations: 60 for Germany, 50 for France, 27 for Spain, 25 for Britain, 10 for Turkey, seven for Belgium and one for Luxembourg. In July, seven European countries agreed to renegotiate their contract to buy the aircraft by the end of the year, thereby providing a lifeline.
Meanwhile, defence analyst Dzirhan Mahadzir, in an email response to Malay Mail, said the Defence Ministry will have to look into the original contract to determine whether it will be beneficial for Malaysia to cancel the contract.
“Probably, it will depend on the penalty clauses for a cancellation and if there were any benefits from cancelling the order. South Africa cancelled on the basis of rising costs, Malaysia would have to calculate on the basis as to whether we can do with a delay, will the cost increase or would cancelling and getting another plane becheaper overall?” he said.
Asked whether the off-set contract was the main reason for Malaysia to proceed with the delivery, Dzirhan
said: “The agreement includes transfer of technology which would enable Malaysian companies to gain experience in manufacture and design of aircraft components, strategically it might be because the Defence Ministry wants the local industry to be able to manufacture aircraft spare parts in order to avoid the problems like Indonesia had when it faced an arms embargo.”
On whether or not the RMAF fleet of Hercules would be able to serve beyond 2016, especially the 10 aircraft which were delivered in the late 70s and early 80s, Dzirhan said the RMAF thinks that it can.
“RMAF senior officers I’ve spoken to said the bulk of the Hercules fleet is good for another decade or so, though naturally a Service Life Service Extension Programme may have to be done on the older models.
“And the consensus is also that RMAF can still carry out its mission critical tasks even without the A400M. The A400M enhances the capability of the RMAF but the delay would not significantly affect RMAF’s current operational tasks.”
The A400M was designed to offer an increase in range and air-lift capacity compared with the Hercules.
Hercules upgrade due... but millions needed to keep RMAF’s transport fleet in use
MARHALIM ABAS
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 06:46:00
C-130 HERCULES
C-130 HERCULES: RMAF thinks it can serve beyond 2016 Pic:www.176wg.ang
THE government may have to fork out more money to keep the ageing Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) C-130 Hercules transport fleet flying beyond 2016 as it waits for the delivery of the much-delayed Airbus Military A400M air-lifter.
The millions of ringgit needed to upgrade the Hercules fleet is an addition to the RM2.6 billion needed to purchase the A400M air-lifter.
The contract for the four A400M air-lifters was signed at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (Lima) 2005, with delivery expected to begin in 2013. Now it appears that the first aircraft will only reach our shores in 2016, hence the need to fund an upgrade programme for the Hercules fleet.
At the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was then Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, said the new aircraft would supplement the fleet of 15 C-130 Hercules RMAF was operating. The Hercules, he said, would continue its role until it is no longer economical to operate.
As part of the offset package, Composites Technology Research Malaysia Sdn Bhd (CTRM) received work packages worth some RM1 billion for the design and manufacture of A400M airframe components to be delivered worldwide.
On this, Najib said, “the procurement must be seen as a package, not only to fulfil the armed forces’ needs
but also as an effort to expand the nation’s aerospace industry”.
The Malaysian decision brings the number of firm orders for the A400M to 192 aircraft. CTRM has worked with Airbus Military’s parent company, EADS Airbus, in thefield of composite materials, starting with themanufacturing of fixed trailing edge for the A300 passenger jet and followed by A320 leading and trailing edge lower panels.
CTRM is also designing and building the A380 fixed leading edge lower panels. The fate of the Malaysian order
for the A400M came to a head on Nov 5 when South Africa, the only other country to purchase the aircraft outside Europe, announced it was terminating the deal due to delays and a huge rise in cost.
Last Friday, AFP quoted an unnamed senior Malaysian defence official as saying that the order of the A400M will proceed but the delivery will be delayed by at least three years.
“There is no cancellation, the deal is still on but delivery will be delayed by three or four years,” the senior Defence Ministry official said.
“The delay is due to the delivery issue, it is not our problem. It is our commitment to boost our existing fleet,” added the official, who declined to be named.
The A400M has been bedeviled by cost overruns and delivery delays over its massive turbo-prop engines.
The entire RM94.7 billion project was put in doubt at one point. The first planes were to have been delivered at the end of this year, but the programme is running at least three years late.
In cancelling the order, South African government spokesman Themba Maseko said: “The costescalation would have placed an unaffordable burden on the taxpayer in an economic downturn”.
He said the cost skyrocketed from US$1.2 billion (RM4 billion) when the contract for the A400M was agreed five years agoto US$6.1 billion (RM20.6 billion) now. Apart from South Africa, Italy also decided to withdraw from the project last year.
A total of 180 of the aircraft have been ordered by seven Nato nations: 60 for Germany, 50 for France, 27 for Spain, 25 for Britain, 10 for Turkey, seven for Belgium and one for Luxembourg. In July, seven European countries agreed to renegotiate their contract to buy the aircraft by the end of the year, thereby providing a lifeline.
Meanwhile, defence analyst Dzirhan Mahadzir, in an email response to Malay Mail, said the Defence Ministry will have to look into the original contract to determine whether it will be beneficial for Malaysia to cancel the contract.
“Probably, it will depend on the penalty clauses for a cancellation and if there were any benefits from cancelling the order. South Africa cancelled on the basis of rising costs, Malaysia would have to calculate on the basis as to whether we can do with a delay, will the cost increase or would cancelling and getting another plane becheaper overall?” he said.
Asked whether the off-set contract was the main reason for Malaysia to proceed with the delivery, Dzirhan
said: “The agreement includes transfer of technology which would enable Malaysian companies to gain experience in manufacture and design of aircraft components, strategically it might be because the Defence Ministry wants the local industry to be able to manufacture aircraft spare parts in order to avoid the problems like Indonesia had when it faced an arms embargo.”
On whether or not the RMAF fleet of Hercules would be able to serve beyond 2016, especially the 10 aircraft which were delivered in the late 70s and early 80s, Dzirhan said the RMAF thinks that it can.
“RMAF senior officers I’ve spoken to said the bulk of the Hercules fleet is good for another decade or so, though naturally a Service Life Service Extension Programme may have to be done on the older models.
“And the consensus is also that RMAF can still carry out its mission critical tasks even without the A400M. The A400M enhances the capability of the RMAF but the delay would not significantly affect RMAF’s current operational tasks.”
The A400M was designed to offer an increase in range and air-lift capacity compared with the Hercules.
Ada sapa2 boleh jawab? apa beza kalau order sekarang, dan order lepas production line dah jalan?
^Aku rasa sbb Malaysia ordertime development, CTRM dpt projek baik pnye dr Airbus.
Aku rasa South Afrika ni tarik balik sbb masalah kewangan. Mereka tengah belanja US$90 billion(baca balik US$ untuk airport,stadium,rail line etc.!!!!) untuk World Cup nanti. So aku rasa delay ni jadi alasan baik utk South Afrika saving skit duit.
63# pcboss
que pendek sikit, lagi lambat order, lagi lambat dapat...
join research n development of the aircraft (dapat jugak buat sikit2 airframe kapai tuh, kemungkinan avionics dari goodrich mesia pon tak dapat diketepikan)
herga pon lari sikit la kot... ttg herga south africa punya yg naik 5-6 kali ganda tuh... aku pon tak tau nak jawab daa...
adakah kita punya pon naik herga lagu tuh jugak?
65# windof
betui..adik ipar wa kat goodrich m'sia..ctrm dah start dpt banyak projek dari airbus...
C-130 akan digunakan sehingga akhir hayat. kalo semua kasik upgrade jadik H-30 punya version kan best? pastuh taruk enjin dgn prop J.
Elok jugak fleet Hercules kita diupgrade. Nak tunggu Airbus ntah bila nak dapat
Susah2 sangat, kensel je beli. Baru2 ni, France & UK pun dah mintak technical details C-130J, hinting that diaorang sendiri dah mcm tak berminat lagi dgn Airbus nih.
Kalau kita perlukan pesawat kargo yg besar, elok gak tgk the possibilities in acquiring C-17 Globemaster III yang dengan hensemnya datang ke Subang dgn team Thunderbirds arituh. Pastu upgrade our Hercules atau replace the old ones with C-130J.
Kalau nak batal pun, kena juga pertimbangkan kesannya kepada supply chain yang telah diwujudkan dengan pembelian ini. Sudah tentu CTRM, Goodrich Malaysia dan banyak lagi perjanjian yang telah dimeterai turut sama terjejas lantas, mungkin ribuan orang bakal kehilangan pekerjaan. Dalam kegawatan ekonomi seperti sekarang, tindakan sebegini bakal menjerat diri sendiri. Bak kata orang dari mulut rimau ke mulut buaya.
Kita acah2 la minta Boeing punya catalog plak, kasi EADS goyang sket~ :P
Aper kater boeing yg amik alih projek nie ... rasernyer kalau boeing yang handle projek nie susah nak delay gerenti cepat jer ..
gomen takkan batalkan. in fact, kalo kita lalui krisis nih sesama, Airbus will appreciate it and we will have additional bargaining leverage/ preferred status.
upgrade jer itu charlie. go for latest H standard with some of J modifications. kalo mau upgrade jadi J terus pon boleh tapi kena make sure airfarame boleh tahan lama lagi dan dipanjangkan jadi H-30H punya standard.
C-17 tu mmg tempting tapi wa rasa tableh la. unless they can be modified to serve as KCs. only then they are truly worth to be acquired.
Timbal balik hasil drp pakej pembelian Airbus tu yg penting skali. Industri penerbangan ngan lojistik pastinya mendapat byk hasil projek & ToT drp Airbus. Long term benefit yg nak kita cari, bukan short term.
Besides, kita punya Hercules fleet adalah admirable workhorses. A-400M utk supplement current fleet, bukannya replace terus Hercs yg kita ada.
Kita acah2 la minta Boeing punya catalog plak, kasi EADS goyang sket~ :P
rastablank Post at 11-11-2009 17:45 http://mforum3.cari.com.my/images/common/back.gif
Boeing pun pernah tidak menepati janji dalam penghantaran pesawat. Bukan Airbus sahaja bermasalah. Tengok sahaja program dreamliner depa. Tak silap lambat juga dari tempoh yang ditetapkan.
bukan senang nak buat kapai baru yg makin lama makin canggih nih, be it airbus or boeing, sama jer kemelutnya, maintain jer apa yg dah sain tuh, tak lari gunung dikejar.
banyak manfaatnya beli airbus nih, selain dari atm dan industri aerospace negara, mas n air asia pon dapat tempias sama... banyak airbus dlm consideration utk dibeli....sabar dan tungguuuuu saja lah...
76# windof
sabar itu separuh daripada iman.. ;P
molek denda penghantaran lewat airbus tu contra ngn mistral sebijik... hua3x :lol:
77# thenone
mungkin jugak dlm negotiation... mana tau...
78# windof
tapi apa pon bang win Airbus tu tersangat laa penting untuk TUDM dalam menguruskan logistik ATM, so nak tak nak kena dapatkan juga airbus 4 butir tu untuk TUDM.
wa rasela memandangkan sekarang gomen pun main offset je..ada kemungkinan denda lewat tu jadik sebahagian dari deposit kapal kot...macam mana pendapat kengkawan semua...