Of Missing Engines and Missing Logics

Apparently today (29 Sept 2016), the court had announced the ruling on the theft of the F5EII engine.  The suspect were unfortunately declared not guilty, despite overwhelming evidence (which include money into the account, purchase of property).

Before the jokers begin to claim another conspiracy by drawing jets without engines, let's have a look first what was actually stolen.

The Engine The engine concerned is used to power our super ageing Northrop Grumman F5EII Fighting Tigers, bought in the 70's to replace Canadian-made Tebuan.  The jet is so old that we only have 2 jets operational as at 2015.

The Weight The jet is powered by 2 General Electric J-85xx series engines. The engines being one of General Electric most successful products weighs only between 140kg to 230kg. 

General Electric J-85 engine.  Source: Wikipedia

As compared to a Klimov RD-33 turbofan used to power MIG29N which weigh 1,055kg, the J-85xx can be considered very light weight. Two, maybe 3 person only is required to carry it, if there's no crane or forklift available.

Klimov RD-33 - Source: Wikipedia

For the sake of better comparison, I'm throwing in another engine; Pratt & Whitney F100 turbofan engine used for F16. It weighs 1,467kg to 1,700kg.

Pratt & Whitney F-100 engine - Source: Wikipedia

The Size The engine has a diameter of 46cm and is 110cm in length. As compared to RD-33 engine which has a diameter of 104cm and 422.9cm in length. While P&W F100 has a diameter of 88cm and measures 118cm.

Significance of the Number

So what is the significance of the above numbers?

At maximum of 230kg, it is equivalent to 2 very heavy and obese persons. It doesn't need a truck to be transported. In fact, you can chuck it in a Perodua Kancil or even better, a Myvi and no one is one step smarter.

And at the dimension, just take out a ruler, it can be hidden in the boot compartment of any cars. Well, most cars.

I threw in the MiG29 engine (SU30MKM would have been a better example as the opposition always thought it was the one which lost the engine) as it is of a bigger size.  Screw it!  Here's the data for SU30 type engine.  

SU30 uses Saturn AL-31 engine, weighing 1,570kg, has a diameter of 128cm and measures 499cm.

Saturn AL-31 engine.  Source: Wikipedia

I threw in F16 as they had suffered loss of at least 5 units of engines since deployment world wide.  3 belonged to USAF while the rest belonged to IAF.

In fact, I was reliably told that a certain multistage centrifugal pump which is around 2m in height and roughly 4m in length, and requires a truck to be transported around was even found missing in a certain oil and gas refinery belonging to a certain oil and gas company in a certain part of Malaysia.

Action Must Be Taken 

That being said, punitive actions must be taken against those responsible for the incident as it had nearly caused a diplomatic incident. My assumption and conjecture, the engine was targeted by a certain country which is under sanctions by the US. Had the engine not recovered and found its way to the country, the diplomatic blowback would be very serious.

As mentioned earlier, the suspect in this case had been acquitted from the charges. But that still does not explain how the money came into his account when he drew a sergeant's pay. And what I don't understand is why a lawyer from the opposition party fought for the person in the court of law. If he was really a victim as he claimed to be, then this is the time for him to spill the beans.

And assuming if the recently acquitted suspects decide to spill their beans, would the opposition be ready to assist the government to prosecute the traitor?