<<i dont think it is the number of fighters that matters ,but the quality of fighters ,the aircrafts that you mentioned (t-50 and ching kuo)d have relatively limited range and payload capacity as they are light fighters and consequently would not be as capable as the su-30mkm and the f-18e/f,the second point to be noted is availability of spares and support,i dont know about the f-18e/f but the malaysians can use indian assistance for their su30mkm's>>
I certainly agree that the T-50 and Ching-Kuo is not as capable as the SU-30MKM or the F/A-18E/F. The SU-30MKM is about 2.5 times more expensive and the F/A-18E/F almost 4x more expensive than the LIFT. I also agree that quality is important. But surely numbers DO matter when it comes to wartime conditions. The more aircraft you have means that you can generate more sorties, and sorties are what wins wars. More aircraft also means that you can handle attrition better under combat conditions. I am certainly grateful for the Indian support especially when it comes to the Indian computers and software on the MKM. I certainly would not want to get rid of the SU-30MKM. My idea was to keep the SU-30 as the 'heavy fighter' and the T-50 as the 'light fighter'. Btw any info on the Indian computers on the Su-30 would be greatly appreciated.
<<conformal tanks increase the drag and hence reduce manouverability this is not advisable for an air superiority fighter(maybe advisable for a strike fighter),they also increase the rcs of the aircraft slightly>>
That's true. But the drag and manouverability increase is minimal, if the CFT's are properly fitted. To quote Maj. Timothy S. McDonald, USAF project pilot for CFT testing on the Israeli F-16I Sufa Falcons "the CFT's have very little adverse affect on the F-16's renowned performance. The aircraft retains its full 9G capability and flight envelope with the CFT's installed. The drag impact is very small, less than 1% in combat configuration and cruise conditions" (R. Weiss, F-16I Sufa in IAF service (Israel, 2005), p. 11).
<<the dsbanding of the hawks is particularly not acceptable since with their disbanding malaysian airforce will lose a potent training platform,also the hawks are the best suited of all the aircrafts discussed so far for carrying out counter insurgency operations in the hilly regions of malaysia,since they are highly stable at subsonic flight and are capable of low flight,can carry a substantial payload(of upto 3 tons) have a decent combat radius etc.>>
My idea was for the T-50's to replace the Hawks. The T-50 is designed to provide pilot training for current and next-generation fighters like advanced F-16s, F-22s and the Joint Strike Fighter. As for counter-insurgency, if I am not mistaken the airforce is planning to purchase the Aermacchi MB339C/D.