TUDM LCA/FLIT recent happenings October 2021 - Tender Closed!

  

tanahairdefence.blogspot.com 



Some very interesting news has came out on the TUDM LCA/FLIT tender, now that the tender is officially closed. This is my second update on this tender, the first one can be read in this link here. 


Originally the closing date for the tender is supposed to be 22nd September 2021. For unknown reasons, the closing date of the tender was extended to 6th October 2021. It is expected that the winner for this tender will be announced in around March or April 2022.


In my previous article, I have said that the front runners for the LCA/FLIT requirements for TUDM would be in my opinion the Tejas, FA/TA-50 and the JF-17. The biggest news is that the JF-17 team did not submit any bid for the LCA/FLIT tender! For the tender, a total of nine (9) companies bought the tender documents. But when the tender was closed on 6th October 2021, only six (6) bids was submitted.

The companies and aircraft types that has submitted the LCA/FLIT bids are:

1) Kemalak Systems Sdn Bhd - KAI FA-50
2) Turkish Aerospace Industries - TAI Hürjet
3) CATIC China - Hongdu L-15
4) Leonardo Malaysia Sdn Bhd - Leonardo M-346
5) Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. - HAL Tejas Mk1A
6) Aerospace Technologies Systems Corp Sdn Bhd (ATSC) - MiG-35

Missing from the tender are the PAC JF-17,  Boeing T-7 Red Hawk, Saab Gripen C/D, and Aero L-39NG.




There are also additional information of the TUDM requirements for the LCA/FLIT tender. Some of them are:

1) For the first batch, it is to be for 18 LCA, with a total approved budget of around USD1 billion, of which 50% of the payment is to be done with palm oil counter trade. A second batch of 18 would also be bought later.
2) Delivery would be on a staggered basis 36 months after contract is signed.
3) To have supersonic speed, air refueling probe, BVR air to air missile capability
4) At least 30% local content (local to the manufacturing country, or local to malaysia is not clear)
5) Setting up local overhaul facility would be very advantageous to any contender.


From the requirements, technically M-346 would be the only one that has no supersonic capability. MiG-35 is over specced for the LCA requirements, although having similar acquisition cost, it will come with a very high operating cost when compared to other LCA contenders. The MiG-35 is also a design on its way to extinction, even Russia is not buying them anymore and now looking at the Sukhoi Checkmate LTS. 

KAI FA-50 is probably the leading contender of this tender. The recent FA-50 Block 20 upgrade program would see the FA-50 installed with software updates to enable it to carry targeting pod and BVR air to air missiles. A contract with Cobham has also been signed by KAI to install air to air refueling probes to the FA-50. A big number of operational aircrafts and nations flying the FA-50 also means that there are a large pool of experience flying and operating the FA-50. The Korean Air Force themselves are operating the LCA version, the FA-50 and the LIFT/FLIT version the TA-50. There is a recent news of KAI offer of the FA-50 block 20 to the Philippines for half the price of Saab Gripen C/D. If the same price is applicable to Malaysia, it would probably see the TUDM LCA/FLIT allocated budget actually able to buy nearly 30 units of the FA-50 block 20, instead of just 18 units planned for the first batch.

tanahairdefence.blogspot.com 

The dark horse of this competition is probably the TAI Hürjet. Specification-wise, it probably fulfills all the requirements of TUDM tender. Turkey has also officially invited Malaysian aerospace industries to join the Hürjet program. The main worry about the TAI Hürjet is that this is currently a paper aeroplane, with the prototype build supposed to start now. But until now there is very little news that suggests the program is actually on track. The TAI Hürjet program is supposed to have its maiden flight in 2022, with its proper flight testing to start on 18th March 2023. The trainer version of the TAI Hürjet is planned to have its initial operational status by 2025, with the armed LCA version the TAI Hürjet-C to be developed well into 2027. As it is right now, there is no possibility for a LCA version of the TAI Hürjet to be delivered in 36 months after contract signing. There are some Turkish equipment that we really need to get now, like the operationally proven and low cost Bayraktar TB-2 MALE UAVs, but the TAI Hürjet isn't one of them.

The Hongdu L-15, from China would probably not be in the want list of the user, TUDM. But stranger things has happened, with the current MENHAN close relationships with CCP officials, anything can happen. The L-15 is derived from the Yakovlev Yak-130 design, as is the Leonardo M-346. The L-15B is the supersonic export version, equipped with two afterburning Ukranian Ivchenko AI-222-25F turbofans. Getting the Hongdu L-15 will mean our LCA fleet will be at the mercy of the chinese supply of spare parts, along with chinese intimate knowledge of the aircraft and its electronic signatures.

The HAL Tejas offer, would be seen as a good government to government deal, but the actual aircraft itself is still not mature. The Tejas as a platform is still a work in progress, with overweight issues, aircraft performance shortfalls and other issues that is to be solved with the Tejas Mk1A. The problem is that the Tejas Mk1A is still in prototype stage, and its maiden flight is only planned for March 2022. If Malaysia picks the Tejas, we will probably be the only other user of the aircraft, other than the Indian Air Force themselves. Then there is also the issue of using Tejas for FLIT, which currently has no in-built training systems designed for it.


tanahairdefence.blogspot.com 

It is good to see that one of the most important acquisition project for TUDM in this decade has progressed smoothly. Hopefully the best contender will win the tender, and provide TUDM with all the capabilities that it dearly needed.