AgustaWestland A109LOH Enters Service with the Malaysian Army

[wzhtg]

AgustaWestland A109LOH Enters Service with the Malaysian Army

http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/article_004981.php

Following the delivery of the first AgustaWestland A109 LOH to the Malaysian Army on 8th December 2005, three aircraft have now entered service with the Army Aviation unit at Kluang. The entry into service followed a period of intensive flying training for Malaysian Army pilots which was conducted both in Italy and Malaysia and included conversion to type training and IFR flight training, as well as training for maintenance personnel. Deliveries of the remaining A109 LOH aircraft to the Malaysian Army will continue through 2006.

Spares and logistic support is being provided by AgustaWestland and DRB-HICOM subsidiary Deftech (DRB-Hicom Defense Technologies Sdn Bhd) with facilities now established in Kuala Lumpur and Kluang.

AgustaWestland was awarded a contract by the Malaysian Ministry of Defence for the supply of eleven A109 Light Observation Helicopters (LOHs), a variant of the A109 LUH, together with an initial product support and training package, in late 2003. The A109 LOH, a version of the well known A109 LUH, was selected as the best and most cost effective helicopter following a rigorous process of evaluation run by the Malaysian Ministry of Defence against several competitors. The primary purpose of the LOH is to serve as a cost efficient system for observation, reconnaissance, tactical transport and area suppression missions.

The Malaysian Army Aviation is the first operator of the A109 LOH in Asia and the third customer to start operations worldwide. A109 LUHs are already in service with the South African and Swedish Armed Forces. The A109 LUH, with 61 units ordered so far, is the foremost light twin engine helicopter for military utility and advanced training purposes.


AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is one of the largest helicopter companies in the world. The company offers an unrivalled range of helicopters, training and support solutions to satisfy the requirements of civil and military customers. AgustaWestland has its primary operations in Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

 

[Aussie Digger]

I've always kind of liked the A109 helo. I reckon it'd be a decent bird for Australia or NZ in the training/light utility roles. Any info on the armament package it will use for it's area suppression role?

 

[wzhtg]

re

haha yes, it certaintly seems quite popular. I'm not sure what Malaysia's A109M would be configured with but this is what i got from Army Technology.

"
The helicopter can carry externally: 2.75in or 81mm rocket pods with seven or 12 tubes; a rocket machine gun pod (RMP) with three 70mm rockets and a 12.7mm machine gun with 200 rounds; machine gun pods with a 12.7mm machine gun with 250 rounds of ammunition.
The internal armament of the helicopter comprises a pintle mounted 7.62mm machine gun and a door gunner post for a 12.7mm general purpose machine gun."

I guess in general the helicoptor would be armed with this.

 

[f2000]

from what i know,they still didn't equipped with anti tank missiles.
maybe in future they will.
this platform actually used for our army aviation unit to to replace old french
allouete 3 that crash recently during training n to train before get attack helo
because it's a new unit

 

[wzhtg]

re

i thought so too but the number is too small right? We got like 50 or so of those helicoptors and we purchased only 11 A109Ms. I hope they get more soon.

 

[f2000]

i think better replace nuri first before adding any a109.
we desperately need that.we didn't want our soldier die because of it.
maybe better buy tiger after this because a109 only for observation and light
attack/support.not fullfil our combine armed forces need in conventional warfare

 

[wzhtg]

re

haha yes that's another old helicoptor which we have to replace. Actually we got a lot of old things to replace eh. For the Nuris i was thinking of a combo of Mi-171 and Eh101 for it. We had a deal before for 10 Mi-171 but was cancelled for some reason. I hope they get it back on, we desprately need to replace those Nuris before they become known as flying coffins or are they already so.

I'm looking forward to the defense exibition in April. Hope to hear new deals soon, we got a lot of things to replace and many new things to add. Some deals i hope to hear about inlcude the new IFV, artillery, MLRS.

Also does anyone knows what happened to our AWACS deal? It's taking forever to get done. Oh course if we get another batch of Su-30MKMs, i don't mind either and some more Hawks.

For navy, the deal for new frigates would most interesting. I seriously hope we get something more hheavily armed.

 

[f2000]

hmmmmm...
about nuri's replacement that combination eh-101 n mi-17 is nice.
mi-17 with western avionic is good platform to operate.
to buy awacs we need to wait for budget because its very expensive.
so we need to emphasize on other priorities.
the new frigate wiil be f2000 batch 2 which more sophisticated than
previous one.
we also need 18 more astross 2 ,ifv to replace our sibmas n self-propelled
howitzer........

 

[wzhtg]

re

Yah i realise our budget is rather limited and tight so we have to choose which is more needed. But i feel that for the frigates, i think the Lekiu II might still be too lightly armed. Although BAE hasn;t layed out, but my hunch right now is that it won't exactly be sufficently armed. What i am hoping for Malaysia to get is something between a medium to heavy frigate. SOmething between the meko and krivak that the indians are getting.

For the AWACS deal, i was hoping we would go swedish and perhaps make it a combo deal getting the AWACS and perhaps the CV90 as our IFV together. This way we might be able to push down the price and also i hope we can establish some sort of joint research program with them. The swedish have really made some good stuff and i think our defence industry can really benefit from working with them.

About the MLRS, i heard that there was an Astros III, not sure of what it's specs are though but what do you think if the smerch MLRS the Indians are getting? For artillery we got a few candidates, the G6 from south africa, Ceasar from france, k9 from south korea. Any others which you think should be included?

 

[f2000]

as you told that our budget is limited,we need to buy lekiu batch2 becoz
to prevent logistical problem.maybe we will have tot on lekiu batch2.
with maybe exocetmm40mk3 and aster 15/seawolf mk2/vl mica it is enough
for our need now.
we already operate these ffg so its not so hard to train our officers.

smerch i think only have 80-100 km (dunno if have upgraded version)
so better stick to astross also to prevent logistic nightmare.
if we want we can go with torgos rocket which have 300km.

about self-propelled howitzer, i think k-9 is good stuff rather than others.
one other thing that extremely important to our national defend is medium
range sam.from aster-30,hawk-amraam,ks-1a and buk-m1-2 ,only two that
i feel good to operates.ks-1a because of fn-6 tot and buk because its reliable and cheaper than aster and hawk-amraam...
so what do u think.....

 

[wzhtg]

re

I suppose you are right in some parts. Just hope that the Lekiu II would be properly armed. Hopefully we can even assemble one of the frigates in malaysia. And yah do you have any news on the OPVs? I hope they armed it and change them to OFCs

I heard the K-9 is good but i also heard that it was too heavy for the terrain in Malaysia. I agree with the medium sams choices. I actually would also like to see the MOD spend some more money on less glamorous but essential stuff like communications and perhaps night vision goggles for all the entire army.

 

[wzhtg]

re

Army to have its own airbase

KUALA LUMPUR: The army will soon have its own airbase to accommodate all its helicopters, including two A109 LOH helicopters which were delivered during the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition in December.
Army Chief Jen Datuk Seri Abdul Aziz Zainal said yesterday the airbase would complement the army's strategic plan to equip the Army Air Wing with transport and attack helicopters. Its location, however, has yet to be determined.
“Currently, we are using the airbase at Kem Mahkota in Kluang for training. With the construction of our own airbase, the Air Wing can be mobilised simultaneously during operations,” he told reporters after a parade in conjunction with the 73rd anniversary of Army Day at Sungai Besi, here.
The airbase in Kluang belongs to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).
Currently, the role of the Air Wing is to carry out aerial reconnaissance, act as aerial observation posts, and provide aerial escort and additional firepower.
To further strengthen the Air Wing, Jen Abdul Aziz said 27 qualified army personnel would be trained to become pilots and the number would be increased from time to time.
On the Steyr guns which have been in use for quite some time, he said: “We are still considering replacing them. We have been using them for the past 15 years, so replacing these guns will boost the soldiers' confidence.” At the function, Jen Abdul Aziz presented medals and certificates to 20 recipients including five civilians. – Bernama.

 

[f2000]

well about ngpv,the construction of the first 2 have finished n crews are
in training process.they will enter service this year.another 4 is in construction.

i agree that styers need to be replaced. i heard that a local company held
cooperation with styer company to produce styer AUGA3 but had be cancelled
due to no new order by our goverment.