Malaysia cancels acquisition of ex-Kuwaiti F/A-18C/D Hornet fighters

Kuwait Air Force F/A-18C Hornet. Photo c/o The Defense Post

A Malaysian news site reported that the planned acquisition of ex-Kuwait Air Force F/A-18C/D Hornet fighter aircraft by the Malaysian Government has been cancelled.

Malaysian News page Twentytwo13 reported based on its own sources that the decision to cancel the acquisition was due to several reasons that made the acquisition complicated and unfeasible.

Among those factors include the availability of the aircraft, as Kuwait can only release the aircraft to Malaysia once it transition to the newer F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which has been pushed back to a delivery date of 2026 and expected operationalization by 2027 or 2028.

The delays in transitioning to a new aircraft, which has moved from 2021 to 2026, was due to several factors including COVID-19 pandemic and prioritization of orders by the US Navy.

Another factor are logistical and financial concerns involving the existing condition of the aircraft, possible challenges in integrating them into Malaysia’s existing systems, and lack of commitment of support from the United States Government.

According to the report, the Kuwaiti F/A-18s are more outdated than Malaysia’s own fleet of upgraded F/A-18D Hornets. The Kuwaiti F/A-18s operate a different software, the SCS25XK compared to more modern SCS29C used by Malaysian F/A-18Ds. The same issue is true for hardware, with the Kuwaiti F/A-18s using the original AN/APG-65 radars compared to the Malaysian F/A-18Ds using the newer AN/APG-73 radars with Link 16 data links.

Standaridizing to the newer software and hardware would require Malaysia to spend a significant amount for upgrading the aircraft, while also absorbing downtime during the upgrade works.

Also, while the aircraft have low flying hours, the aircraft are expected to be structurally fatigued and may require work to reach acceptable conditions.

Other reasons for cancelling the deal include the low budget of the Royal Malaysian Air Force, fearing that bringing in more aircraft would divert funds for more urgent requirements including financing its long term modernization efforts.

Analysts believe that acquiring stop-gap aircraft that are already considered obsolete would not provide Malaysia a sufficient “return of investment”, and would probably retire from service early.

They believe Malaysia would be better off purchasing new, more modern and future-proof platforms.

[1] Twentytwo 13

[2] Scoop Malaysia