KINIBIZ The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), which is looking to replace its fleet of 18 Russian-made Mikoyan-29N Fulcrum jet fighters, will soon be accepting tenders for multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA) from defence aviation companies.

Industry sources told KiniBiz that Malaysia is going to accept proposals soon, though Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has stated that Malaysia has not made any decision on whether or not to replace the ageing MiG-29N Fulcrums in RMAF’s fleet.

At an average cost of around US$100 million (RM322 million) per fighter with supporting equipment, maintenance, and training, the cost of 18 fighters is likely to be around RM6 billion, sources said.

In March last year, Malaysia had shortlisted five fighter jets as potential replacements for the flagging MiG-29Ns: the Eurofighter Typhoon by the European consortium of BAE Systems, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) and Finmeccanica; the French-based Dassault Aviation’s Rafale; Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet; the Russian-made Sukhoi-30 Flanker-C, and Swedish firm Saab’s JAS-39 Gripen.

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