A few days back I wrote an article that Malaysia gave the fighter-jet acquisition to Korea in which LCA Tejas had to be bought by the country in a million-dollar deal, but it was unclear why Malaysia yielded towards Korea. In this article, we shall learn the same.
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) was awarded a contract by the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) last month to supply 18 FA-50 Golden Eagle Trainer/Combat aircraft, despite India’s own LCA-Tejas Mk1A jet finishing a distant second in the final selection process, according to Malaysian media reports.
FA-50 Over LCA Tejas
Malaysian then-defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein praised the FA-50 Golden Eagle last year as a reliable platform with a good reputation,’ which was most likely one of the reasons it was chosen. This Week Present Defense Minister Mohamad Hasan said in parliament that the FA-50 decision was based on the platform’s ‘service record’, adding that Malaysia does not want its military personnel to be involved in a ‘laboratory test’. FA-50 and JF-17 both had higher production rates and export success, which could have harmed India’s LCA-Tejas.
Also read: Korea Pips India To Clinch 18 Malaysian Fighter Jet Deal Worth $920 Mn
India has only inducted 40 Tejas Mk1 fighter jets, but the IAF has placed additional orders for 83 more jets, with 50 more units in the pipeline, but it appears that it was not impressive for Malaysian Military Planners, as KAI has manufactured nearly 200 units of T-50/FA-50 variants in the last 15 years, and the jet is flown by air forces in Indonesia, Iraq, the Philippines, Poland, Thailand, and host country South Korea.
Malaysia acknowledged that Tejas could have been a much cheaper and more capable option than FA-50. Still, the RMAF had several issues with its now-retired Russian-supplied Mig-29 fleet and continues to have service and spare issues with its Su-30MKM fleet. Clearly, they didn’t want to bet on LCA-Tejas due to several delays in the induction of these jets in IAF and the low rate of production. The IAF’s Tejas fleet will grow and production will increase in the coming years as the IAF prepares to receive the first batch of upgraded Tejas Mk1A fighter jets in 2024.
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