MALAYSIA TRULY ASIA?

Top brass from the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) line up at the DSA show in Kuala Lumpur I have been visiting Malaysia for 30 years – family reasons. It is a captivating yet frustrating country, full of potential that is never quite realised. Domestic politics has a lot to do with this. I’ll leave … Continue reading MALAYSIA TRULY ASIA? →

TEMPEST – STILL NO RATIONALE

The proponents of the Tempest future combat aircraft organized a storm of publicity as part of the virtual Farnborough Air Show this week. But I heard nothing to change my view that the project is not necessary for many years yet, and the wrong outlet for engineering skills in these extraordinary times. There was much … Continue reading TEMPEST – STILL NO RATIONALE →

WE DON’T NEED A NEW COMBAT AIRCRAFT

Airbus Defence and Space chief Dirk Hoke has called for a merger of the UK-led Tempest next-generation combat jet (left) with the Franco-German Future Combat Air System (FCAS - right). In a video lecture for the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS), he said “we cannot afford two systems of that size…the market is too small”. I’m … Continue reading WE DON’T NEED A NEW COMBAT AIRCRAFT →