Pengkajian Semula Program MRCA Malaysia

"Ingatkan panas sehingga ke petang, rupanya hujan di tengah hari", pepatah Melayu yang paling tepat menjelaskan perasaan ramai pengkaji sektor pertahanan negara apabila Menteri Pertahanan, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein mengumumkan bahawa program MRCA tidak akan diteruskan semasa LIMA 2017. 

Laluan Penuh Ranjau
Program MRCA yang asalnya diumumkan sekitar 2003 - 2005 (saya tidak berapa ingat bila) bertujuan untuk menggantikan pesawat pemintas tersohor MiG29N TUDM.

Program tersebut ditunda buat pertama kalinya semasa ekonomi dunia mengalami kemurungan yang teruk pada tahun 2008 akibat krisis subprime di Amerika Syarikat yang telah menjangkiti seluruh dunia. 

Relook into Malaysian MRCA Programme

"Ingatkan panas sehingga ke petang, rupanya hujan di tengah hari", a Malay proverb which best encapsulate the feeling of many defence watchers when the Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein announced that the MRCA programme will not go through during the LIMA 2017. 

The Programme's Hiccups

The MRCA programme which was first announced circa 2003 - 2005 (I can't really remember when) was intended to replace the venerable MiG29N Fulcrum interceptor for RMAF. 

The programme was first deferred when the global economy had went into a severe recession in 2008 due to the subprime crisis in the US which had unfortunately infected the rest of the world. 

Malaysian MRCA Programme - The Next Step

As the curtain falls over the Langkawi International Maritime and Air Show 2015 (LIMA 2015), the long anticipated announcement on RMAF MRCA programme to replace the RMAF ageing Mikoyan Gurevich MiG29N air superiority fighters were yet to be announced.  While the lack of announcement was a dampener for LIMA, it was a foregone conclusion, considering capital funding for the programme under the 10th Malaysia Plan had long since been exhausted and the budget for 11th Malaysia Plan is only expected to be tabled in April or May 2015.

However, the lack of announcement does not mean that Malaysian Government is not committed to do window shopping during the same air show.  The lack of announcement had instead resulted in an even more intense jostling and bidding behind the scene for the small pie in Malaysian defence budget.