[quote="gulmargjones"]Gee - and I thought I'd put it all in simple language so that all could understand. Guess some people's powers of comprehension must be limited, or maybe they think that Malaysians can't express themselves in good English.
Anyway, read my posts carefully. The 1st lot of F/A-18s that Malaysia acquired some years back were a mix of -C and -D variants, 8 aircraft in total plus spares. There was never any intention that the RMAF would deploy a full squadron of F/A-18 C/Ds as front-line air defence and air superiority were tasked to the MiG-29s. Which seem to have done well by the way, if the frequent interceptions of straying RSAF aircraft are any indication.
The 2nd (yes 2nd) lot of F/A-18s that Boeing and the US government are trying to get Malaysia to acquire are the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets, maybe 18 aircraft, maybe more. Get the picture? I am not confused. I wonder why you people are?
With regard to avionics and armaments, the 1st lot of F/A-18s came equipped with top-of-the-line stuff, except AMRAAMs which the US had embargoed for the region (both Thailand and Singapore wanted the AMRAAMs for their F-16s). Which was no biggie because the Russians had agreed to provide their AMRAAMs for Malaysia's MiG-29s, plus state-of-the-art radar upgrades.
The new Sukhois that Malaysia will be getting will also be equipped with AMRAAMs and other good stuff.
So, from Malaysia's viewpoint, it really doesn't matter if it gets a 2nd lot of Super Hornets, unless it wants to develop a forward interdiction capability and/or go into naval aviation. That would push a lot of buttons in the region.
But who knows what deep and devious games the US government is playing in the region?
Capische?[/quote]
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