By Chief Journalist Melinda Larson, CARAT Task Group Public Affairs
Released: July 16, 2004
KUANTAN, Malaysia -- High in the Malaysian skies, U.S. Navy and Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) fighter pilots went nose-to-nose during a 10-day series of air-to-air combat scenarios that ended July 15.
“Every pilot benefited from seeing how a dissimilar aircraft performs. There’s only so much you can learn from a book. You have to see how the other aircraft perform,” said Lt. Chris Hubbard who flies the F/A-18F Super Hornet for Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 102.
The Navy pilots from VFA 102, 192 and 195 flew F/A-18Cs and F/A-18F Super Hornets against the RMAFÂ’s MiG-29s and Hawks. The air-to-air combat training, along with a fighter symposium, was part of the Malaysia phase of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise. CARAT is a series of bilateral exercises with several Southeast Asia nations designed to enhance the interoperability of the respective sea services, and as was the case in Malaysia, other services as well.
“It was a great opportunity for us to fight against the type of threat we may face from other countries,” said Lt. Jason Naidyhorski, an F/A-18C pilot with VFA 195. “It’s a good feeling to learn how to fight against a potential threat and be more prepared.”
While the pilots received briefs on the performance and capabilities of each otherÂ’s aircraft, in the air the pilots were able to see for themselves what to expect from a possible enemy aircraft.
In addition to learning about each otherÂ’s aircraft, the pilots learned from each other.
“We see this as a chance to interact with a force that has gone through real-time combat,” noted RMAG MiG-29 pilot Maj. Sebastian Williams. “We can gain a lot of knowledge and experience working with the U.S. Navy pilots. We shared openly about our aircraft and our experiences.”
In the end, how did the aircraft stack up against each other?
“It was a good fight. We had to struggle to compete,” said MiG-29 pilot Cpt. Roshaidi Bin “G-Mon” Kamaruddin who earned his call sign by pushing the limit on his “nine-G” capable aircraft. Each aircraft has a “G” or gravitational pull limit. One “G” is equal to gravity at sea level.
The RMAF pilots were impressed by the capabilities of the Super Hornet. “It almost matches or surpasses what a MiG is designed to do,” Williams said. “I know we've not seen all that it can do. I hope they can come back again.”
When they weren’t “fighting,” friendships between the pilots and crews developed during the 10-day training series that began with the squadrons’ arrival on July 6 prior to the official start of CARAT Malaysia on July 12.
“The Malaysians were great hosts. We had fun. They were very kind,” said Hubbard.
It seems the Malaysian pilots felt similarly about their U.S. counterparts.
“The U.S. pilots are cool,” said Kamaruddin.
In all, nearly 120 U.S. Navy pilots and crew took part in CARAT Malaysia. VFA 102, 192 and 195 are forward deployed to Atsugi, Japan.
Fighting against a Mig-29 which is being used by many of US's adversaries.
Yeap Mig-29 vs F/A-18...
both is their aircraft so no matter which aircraft win..
we jialat lol..
Our AWACs must be monitoring the air to air combat during that time ^^