Procurement: Malaysia's Warplane Tradeoff

Archives

April 27, 2006: Malaysia is buying two more MiG-29 fighters from Russia. Malaysia originally bought 18 of these aircraft in the 1990s, but have since lost two of them due to accidents. Malaysia has also ordered Su-30 fighters. The Russian aircraft have provided satisfactory service. Malaysia also has eight U.S. F-18s, so they have been able to compare Russian and American warplanes. The Russian aircraft cost less than half as much as their American counterparts. The Malaysians find that an acceptable situation, even though they face better trained pilots flying F-16s in neighboring Singapore.