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Military 101: The Dassault Rafale – History, Variants, Comparisons, and Export Success

Rafale French France Fighter Jet IAF Flight

The Dassault Rafale, a 4.5 generation, twin-engine, multirole , was initially procured by in a 2016 deal for 36 . These currently operate from IAF bases in Ambala (Haryana) and Hasimara (West Bengal). The Air Force is also reportedly planning to acquire another 40 Rafale jets for its land-based fleet and 26 Rafale-M variants for the Indian ‘s aircraft carriers, with a potential option to increase the Navy’s order to 62 aircraft. Image source: Capt. Jason Smith / Wikimedia

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Military 101: The F/A-18 Hornet: Agile, Lethal And Multi-Role

F/A-18 Hornet Fighter Jet RMAF Aircraft

The F/A-18 Hornet’s lineage traces back to the Northrop YF-17, a prototype developed for the U.S. Air Force’s Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program. While the YF-17 itself didn’t win the Air Force competition, its design proved highly adaptable to the U.S. ‘s requirements for a multirole fighter. The Navy’s need for a carrier-based led to significant modifications, including a strengthened airframe, folding wings, and enhanced avionics, culminating in the F/A-18 Hornet. Image source: By US Air Force – dvidshub.net, Public Domain

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Military 101: Powerful Air-to-Air Missiles: A Comparative Study of Technological Evolution

Air-to-air missiles Falcon Weapon Military

The first operational guided air-to-air missile was the Hughes AIM-4 Falcon, developed by the United States Air Force. Its development began in 1946, and it was first tested in 1949. The AIM-4 Falcon was designed during a time when the concept of air combat was rapidly changing, reflecting the technological advancements of the era. This missile marked a significant milestone in , setting the stage for the development of more advanced air-to-air missile systems used in modern warfare. Image Source: Estrella Warbirds Museum

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Military 101: India’s Super Sukhoi Project – A Possible Boost for Malaysia

Sukhoi Su-30MKM Air Force Bunker

The , initiated by the Air Force (IAF), is a significant upgrade program for their aimed to enhance the capabilities of ‘s Air Force’s fleet. Image source: Screenshot of Malaysian Sukhoi Su-30MKM in a bunker from the 2022 Malaysian movie, Air Force: The Movie.

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Military 101: Malaysian’s Sukhoi-30MKM – Agile, Beautiful & Needs Upgrades

Sukhoi Su-30MKM RMAF TUDM Russian Jet Fighter

No matter which angle you look at it, the Russian-made Su-30MKM is still one of the most beautiful fighters around and is far superior to many current Western, modern jet fighters. In addition to the earlier 16 units of Russian-made MiG-29N, deployed 18 of these multi-role fighters in 2007 to complement the 8 US-made F/A-18D multi-role fighter that was deployed in 1997. Image source: Wikipedia.

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Military 101: New Dedicated Maritime Patrol Craft, ATR-72MP Leonardo

RMAF TUDM CN-235 Transport Military Maritime Patrol

Any country that has a vast shoreline to patrol like should have a large fleet of dedicated medium and long-range that is capable of performing hours of patrolling and can perform secondary missions like search & rescue and anti- warfare. Presently this role is being taken with some modifications by the Indonesia-made plane. Image source: Wikipedia.

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Military 101: Dedicated Light Combat Helicopter: Time For Malaysian Army To Have One?

Combat Helicopter Blue Thunder Military

When it comes to combat helicopters, one of our favourites would be the fictional helicopters from TV & movie, Airwolf and Blue Thunder. Between, one can rate Blue Thunder as a light considering that it is based on -made Aérospatiale SA-341G Gazelles and has plenty of props bolted on for the movie. Image source: Harvard Film Archive.

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Military 101: F-20 Tigershark – Excellent Fighter That China Helped To Kill

F-20 Tigershark Northrop F-5E RMAF fighter jet aircraft

What if Northrop (now Northrop Grumman) brings back their next of F- 5E fighter which is known as the and update it with the latest and offer it as the next generation light combat fighter? Image source: Wikipedia.

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Military 101: HAL’s Tejas Light Fighter Jets – Reflecting On OTB’s Unfair Criticism

RMAF HAL Tejas

I have always appreciated Syed Akbar Ali’s posts in his “OutSyed The Box” (OTB) as being critical and something to ponder on when it comes to national politics and economy but when it comes to -related matters, you may want to hold back your horses. His latest post unfairly attacks ‘s HAL which is being considered by for the requirements. Image source: Twitter / Wikipedia.

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Military 101: Lining Up RMAF’s Next Deadly Light Combat Fighter

Hawk 208 LCA RMAF TUDM

For many years, the reliable and trusted Tiger II had remained at the forefront of front line interception and ground fighter before temporarily moving on to ex-US owned A-4 Skyhawk before settling down with British made light attack combat BAE Hawk 108 & 208 jet fighters.

BAE Hawk 108 & 208 jet fighters played the role of training new pilots, ground attack and providing close air support like how it was done during the Lahad Datu intrusion, with RMAF dropping Mk 82 unguided bombs and CRV7 rockets before the troops moved in. Image source: Junchuann@Wikipedia.

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Documentary 101: PBS Frontline – Boeing’s Fatal Flaw 2021

787 Dreamliner Boeing

On 14th September 2021, PBS Frontline ran an excellent documentary on ‘s series of shocking mishandling & process failure in the manufacturing of the new 737-Max passenger plane. The trigger point was the introduction of the new and the delay of Boeing’s next model, the 787 Dreamliner. Image source: PRNewsfoto/Boeing

There was tremendous pressure to bring the new plane into the market in time to counter Airbus’ A320Neo plane. In the end, a software glitch caused 2 major accidents that saw 346 passengers & crew died, Boeing & airlines suffered substantial financial losses due to glitch & grounded planes and caused the chairman & CEO, Dennis Muilenburg his job.

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Military 101: Royal Malaysian Air Force’s Reliable Transport Carriers

RMAF TUDM CN-235 Transport Military

The Royal Malaysian Air Force () even converted some of the planes into roles which says a lot about the capabilities of a modern, well-designed . Image source: Wikipedia.

When it comes to the air force’s mainstream inventory, one would often fancy their latest lineup of the latest jet fighters and perhaps their heavily armed & armoured helicopters but no one talks about the workhorse of the air force, the transport carriers.

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