Malaysia's bid to acquire F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets from Kuwait has moved a step closer to reality following approval from the United States.

Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) chief General Tan Sri Asghar Khan Goriman Khan confirmed today that Washington had granted the necessary clearance for the deal.

"There is positive progress (on the deal)... we have set up a committee comprising the Defence Ministry, Boeing and the Kuwaiti Air Force, and the US has granted approval for us to proceed with further discussions.

"The process will be carried out in the near future, but we also need to wait for Kuwait to receive the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets they purchased from the US. That's a key factor.

"Once they receive the Super Hornets, then, God willing, the transfer from Kuwait to Malaysia will proceed positively. Discussions have already begun," he said at a press conference at the RMAF 67th Anniversary celebrations at the Kuantan air base.

Under the US Arms Export Control Act, all deals involving American-made arms must have the approval of the country's Congress.

This includes assets which had already been purchased by one country and is being sold to another nation.

The long-anticipated deal involves around 30 Hornets — a mix of single-seat F/A-18Cs and twin-seat F/A-18Ds — currently in service with the Kuwaiti Air Force.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled had previously said the aircraft, originally acquired by Kuwait in the 1990s, are generally in good condition.

During his visit to Kuwait last October, he had said the Gulf nation expressed no objections to Malaysia's request to procure its Hornet jets.

Malaysia currently operates eight F/A-18D Hornets and 18 Sukhoi Su-30MKMs in its combat aircraft arsenal.

The RMAF had recently purchased 18 South Korean-made FA-50Ms to replace the RMAF's fleet of BAE Hawk 208/108 light combat aircraft and lead-in fighter trainers.

However, the FA-50M aircraft are only expected to be delivered next year.

This has also left a gap in the Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) fleet following the retirement of its 16 Russian-made Mikoyan MiG-29N Fulcrums, seven years ago.

Plans to replace the MiG-29Ns, optimised for their air defence role, were reportedly delayed due to budgetary constraints.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2025/06/...i-fa-18-hornets

banyak duit nampak

See trump, we buy murican product.

Don't tariff us so much pls pls pls

actually is we buy from KUWAIT

money doesnt go into US pocket

Maintenance fee, spare part, all come from Murica still right?

Who do you think we need to engage to service the planes?

Mean kuwait need to replace it with China fighter??

how much is maintenance spare part cost?

dunno

wumaos care to comment?
becoz this moves us closer to the AMDK sphere...
otherwise no spare parts no maintenance.. and kill switch

unless we wanna be like iran.. with their f14s

US got kill switch in the planes?

also, US will have leverage over MY; be obedient, or no parts

This post has been edited by ycs: Jun 16 2025, 03:10 PM

ATSC la banggang

what does this have to do with wumaos? Malaysia prefers and already using F18, its the most sensible choice of procurement for long term to current fleet

our neighbours already have , or in the midst of acquiring. F35s. What's the use of F18s in this situation?

Very old planes

Why we go buy 30 year old planes?

I thought our gov no money... still buy old stuff? Maintenance kelaut...

meanwhile Indonesia is getting Turkish fighter jets

hypocrites , boycott

F/A 18 are good planes.

Do we already have these in our assets? If no please don't buy

finally buying the correct type of fighter jets

We have one team of FA18

Malaysia ke arah kuasa besar dunia

Nice! Maintenance for Hornets are easy.

missiles I think all need to come from big brother... if dont listen to them they dun sell it to you

Like Pakistan cannot use F16 to fight with India

Danger zone

Old but good plane ...almost like Toyota Hilux. If not why our f18 is flying so long and yet we extend their life .

But all comes down to budget ,lu budget tak ada how to have new toys ?.

This post has been edited by TRAZE99: Jun 16 2025, 03:38 PM

Malaysia has eight two-seat F/A-18D Hornets.


Malaysia is looking to buy the Kuwaiti fighters as a “stop-gap measure” as the RMAF waits for the conclusion of its long-overdue MRCA programme. The air force is reportedly looking to establish a second Hornet squadron with some 12 single-seat fighters, increase the 18th Squadron’s existing fleet from eight to 12 airframes, and have several airframes for spares. The final number of Hornets sought will be determined in deliberations between the Malaysian and Kuwaiti governments.

The key question here is whether the acquisition of the ageing Kuwaiti jets is prudent. Expanding its fleet of Hornets on the cheap may be tempting, but it comes with the additional maintenance and servicing burden associated with a larger fleet of ageing aircraft. The Hornet represents ageing technology, which is increasingly difficult to keep relevant. Moreover, the Kuwaiti Hornets are of an earlier block, whereas the Malaysian fighters are among the last Hornets manufactured. This may cause incompatibility issues when it pertains to spare parts. In addition, the aircraft have received differing upgrades to their systems. This will compound maintenance complexity.

even F22 raptor is almost 30 years ago

are you losing the plot?

military equipment doesnt age the same way cars age

actually it does

especially PLANE

u cant expect f18 is as good as f35

Meanwhile.....

In 2017 Malaysia retired its MiG-29 fighter aircraft due to significant maintenance challenges and high operational costs

RMAF had 18 MiG-29 aircraft in its inventory. However, two were lost in separate crashes, and the remaining ten were retired in 2017 due to high maintenance costs. The RMAF has now grounded its MiG-29s and is evaluating options for a light combat aircraft (LCA) to replace them.

In 2018, the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Sukhoi Su-30MKM fleet was significantly reduced due to maintenance and spare parts problems. Reports indicated that out of the 18 aircraft, only 4 were operational, with the rest grounded for repairs and maintenance. This reduction was revealed by the Malaysian Defense Minister, who cited engine issues and a lack of spare parts as the primary reasons for the grounding

I think you r the one missing the plot. 30 years old used planes. And not from America directly. Hmmmmm.

f 18 is the most used and most reliable fighter jets in the world surpassing even the newer su30 in our inventory, i dont know why you guys equate old = bad when in reality its logistic that is king in term of aviation

Kuwait is replacing it with new super hornets

We have eight two-seat F/A-18Ds that has been in operation since the 90s. Kuwait only has a few of the same type of plane, which we will get, but we will also get some (all?) of their F/A-18C single-seat plane, which will be somewhat new for us.

What a waste of funds. Better to spend on drones and missiles.

Meanwhile, Taiwan bought F16.

You really think it’s like car can service sendiri without paying anything to the manufacturer?

ATSC is to service the Russian jets lah

you think ATSC can only service the russian?

"The process will be carried out in the near future, but we also need to wait for Kuwait to receive the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets they purchased from the US. That's a key factor.

wow, need to wait kuwait buy new plane first ?

This one not those planes that kept falling into ocean when fighting houthis until Trump beh tahan make peace deal with Houthis?

You really think service military jets is like you go mechanic bawah pokok?

Without official support, you think we can make our own parts, upgrade systems, etc.

US Navy already got rid of theirs. US Marines are the only users and end date already set. Almost every other user already in process of getting replacement planes.

Kuwait Hornets were built from 1991-1993 ie 32-34 years old.

How many more years RMAF want to use? Old planes will crash more often.

u bukan from this field mau ching chong apa lan

by the time we get it...entahlah

no choice bah, i see more like our air force buying this to bridge the gap until we can afford/arrive newer air figther?

Until mid-to-late 2030s, or until we get MRCA to replace all the Hornets and Sukhois.

Those who say why dont get F35 are probably the same bunch who will complain why spend so much on F35

FUU..mat salleh talking about this

By then 40-50 year old fighter. Good luck to the pilots. They'd need it.

This post has been edited by takbodoh722: Jun 16 2025, 04:10 PM

Thank the lord, at least it's a superior chassis/ platform.

Gila
So old planes
Better get euro jets
Muricans not dependable

no mileage no problem...
meanwhile negara jiran is getting a brand new f35 in a year or two.

Sekenhen

maintenance is the keyword ma...if no old how to songlap

Now we can play top gun

Buy for putting up in muzium negara

Why need Kuwait middle man?

all good until bmx mulut celupar go kacau middle east punya hal...
all hell break lose...

Cancel meh?

I don't know much about weapon tech, but 30 to 35 years old tech is like getting the best Jap zero fighter of ww2 planes in 1980 (vs 1945) and expect these fighters to be effective.

Some more tech advancement has been accelerating right?

Ops... Incidentally the first version F18 came out in 1970s. If zeroes can be effective vs F18, who knows....

Then again, there are still firms that uses Windows 95 today.
So, I guess tech can last for quite some time.

This post has been edited by Wedchar2912: Jun 16 2025, 05:00 PM

Feels like hands me down, but still need to buy?, lol.

The advances in tech between 1945 to 1980 is bigger than 1980 to 2025

Really? Until there is not much Diff when comparing latest of 2025 vs 1980s?

No wonder USA don't need to develop new fighter jets and allowing others to lead.

And why F14 can beat all fighter jets. LOL.

Either way, I don't know any better since I don't follow weaponry news.
I hope Madani didn't throw money into a hole or into his cronies pocket only. All these will be paid by us the taxpayers.

This post has been edited by Wedchar2912: Jun 16 2025, 05:12 PM

What kok you all talking about? I’ve seen F16s defeating 5th gen fighter planes in a film. Even F14s can beat 5th gens so no prob for F18s. Sensible purchase.

Owai…

First reply already got 1 guy saying "banyak duit nampak"

F18 also complain already.

It's a stop gap measure until we can afford latest planes as our military got a lot more priorities

The Mig29 really tak boleh pakai anymore while the SU30 are probably our the best we got

Then we have the Hawks which are being replaced with the Korean FA-50, a multi role jets similar to F16

Even with buying these second hand jets, a lot of people are complaining we waste money

don't need a genius to predict the outcome if in conflict.

FoC ..

Both country buy for air shows only ..

Why malaysia no buy J planes from PRC ?

Any quote saying buying from kuwaitis ? No mention of budget for buying these planes, the kuwaitis handing them down foc ..

Bottom right side is a former TUDM fighter pilot , from US Navy, he was assigned by Boeing to train our pilots ..

Haha 35 yr old plane.. goodness

F16 and F18 are from same era ..designed during the cold war period ..in term of durability F18 wins handsdown because the air craft is design for carrier operation and exposed to sea water ..

These would be the planes that get completely bombed to smithereens before the war starts. Buying 2nd hand seems like good strategy.

Also get more unmanned vtol drones that we can hide in submarines. Those would be the one to take out the opposing Alien forces mothership.

We are not fighting our neighbours

All ia tom cruise air pilot yea.

Donasi dari Kuwait, maybe? Pay with palm oil, cocoa, vanilla, sandalwood, kayu balak? We rich in natural resources.

Malaysia historically only buys US jets from F5E to Skyhawks. It was only when we need to replace them, Tun M went to Russia and brought MIGS29 but we faced problems with maintenance and the SU30s also will face the problem due to sanctions on Russia. We already made decision to buy the Koreans jets to replace our Hawks. The Koreans jets are based on US tech. If we buy China jets, we will face problems integration again like how we faced in the past with F18, Mig29 and SU30.

Ok 👍

If madani cut all of petrol subsidy ,sure can afford new jet. But are you willing to bare with it? ,please do note that our military is almost become a joke compared to neighboring countries. This is just a stop gap purchase.

judging from geological map, China is nearer to us and pose a military threat, if PLA initiate war on us, all the J plane confirm kena lock

Ok make sense too! 👍

yeah, make sense us want to arm us to the teeth

Will be breakfast for J-10Cs. Would be great against the sulus and their ilks I guess.

Beggars can't be choosers as the saying goes.

well, I guess it will have to depend on the costing... seems like the plan is to get like 30 of such planes... if we can get them for the cheap, like 10 bucks each, sure makes sense....

But if it is at full price of like 80 million, now that is silly especially as stop-gap. May as well aim for latest and greatest and order like 15 from USA and 20 from China... even things out and long term may be cheaper and more effective. (more from china cos I would guess China's cheaper and better get a few more for parts too)

if PLA initiate war , all the US made jets can not survive for long . stealth or not. it makes no difference.

Of course cheap or foc ....if not we also won't be muka tebal go ask for it .with our military budget allocation, you see also will laugh what to buy with it. At most give you buy few attack heli and few amored car and light weapons. Want say rm80 million a pop fighter jet is out of questions.

Can fight or not is different story, military procurement often associate with nation alliance.

For Malaysia to stay neutral, military procurement better side with US/EU, if not Malaysia will be perceive as siding China in obvious way

In b4 we bought 90s tech, confirmed AI feature not included lol...

Kito hanya mampu beli 2nd hand

PLA is peaceful they will never attack small countries

Only usa and Israel bully small countries



This post has been edited by Raddus: Jun 16 2025, 08:53 PM

If malaysia can softmod these f18 with advanced radars and missiles then maybe can stand up

Use these as bait and switch spamm BVR missiles

Whole swarm of f18 while at the back more advanced fighter will do the job

This may turn out to be a positive....

Modern fighter jets, are just too overwhelming when launched in the air. Any Alien forces, will just spam cruise missile to kill any or all runways.

After that, they are just sitting ducks.

I believe we can fly.