Note: The following is a repository of a post published on July 11, 2011 in malfly.blogspot.com with similar title as above. The Eurofighter Taufan was just a suggestion if the MRCA is to be selected by the RMAF to replace the Mig-29N/NUB. Nevertheless, this article was written based on the development which occured in 2011. This article, though will serve only as a reference..

It seems that the British is trying very hard for a go ahead on possible Eurofighter Taufan’s sales to Malaysia. As being reported by Berita Harian, one of Malaysia’s local daily, BAe Systems is offering an interesting and hard to resist technological transfer and offset program to local Malaysian company should the RMAF choose to select the Typhoon as their Mig-29N replacement.

BAe Avro RJ/RJX Regional Jet

Avro RJ’s component made by SME Aerospace 

Other parts on the Avro RJ made by SME Aerospace

BAe Hawk’s weapon pylon

Besides SME Aerospace, other company such as CTRM is also benefiting from ToT programs offered by the British. It has a RM 1 billion worth of contract for manufacturing composite component structures for the A-400M wing, nacelle and empennage. The Eagle ARV program was part of the company’s smart partnership with BAe System. Its subsidiary, Excelnet, was the leading design consultant for the now abandoned Nimrod MRA 4 program whereby the company is designing floor panel, APU battery box, ordnance workstation, flight control, sunobuoy rack as well as the airplane’s staircase.

Airbus A-400M 

A-400M components being made by CTRM 

Nimrod MRA 4

Components designed by Excelnet for Nimrod MRA4 program 

Eagle ARV during LIMA 2003

With more than 20 hours of endurance, the unmanned aerial system was mobilised to Labuan AFB where it was used for MAF’s Ops PASIR to monitor and conduct surveillance on Sabah’s coast near the border of the Philippines.

Nevertheless, the system was not being utilised for a very long time, all three vehicle were withdrawn from service and one of it was donated to RMAF Museum for static display. Eagle ARV’s short stint in MAF service has sparked questions among local defence observer as to the main reason why such potential platform has a very short service period. Some speculate that serviceability issue was the main reason as Eagle ARV utilise foreign system for its control and navigation. Perhaps this is true as MAF next Tactical UAV, the UST Aludra Mk I and II uses Ikramatic develop IMRAN UAV control system.

After the Eagle ARV episode, the RMAF did not operate any UAS in its inventory but lend its personnel in the UAV Troop organised under Joint Forces Command’s ATB 2 located in Tawau. Question remains though, does this really the end of Eagle ARV?

The recent Farnborough Airshow has seen Diamond Aircraft, the Austrian manufacturer of DA-42 Twin Star introducing the DA-42 Guardian, optionally manned vehicle similar to Eagle ARV.  A few years before the Guardian set into center stage, the similar DA-42 platform was modified by an Isreali company as the Dominator UAV. It was used by Turkey to monitor border area. With 28 hours of endurance and 410 kg of payload, the Dominator is a suitable platform for long endurance border surveillance role.

Dominator UAV. If OPV really is an obsolete concept, why does it still attract interest abroad?

Diamond Guardian OPV. RTAF bought another variant called DA-42MPP to patrol its border close to Malaysia

Nevertheless, since Malaysia’s UAV technology has significantly evolved, wouldn’t it be a good time to revive the Eagle ARV program? There is a potential for such aircraft in this country though, such as border surveillance (in the Thai-Malaysian border, South China Sea etc.) as well as in maritime enforcement. Only this time, why not fully converted them into a pure unmanned aerial vehicle. The additional space meant for the pilot could be used to house more sensors and payload.

Once we have mastered the technology of long endurance UAV, perhaps we could venture into designing and building other types of UAV similar to TAI Anka, IAI Heron, the MQ-1 Predator and many more.

TAI Anka MALE UAV. Why not use the New Generation Eagle ARV as incubator platform to develop similar UAS such as this?

DRDO Golden Hawk UAV

DRDO Golden Hawk will be the first UAV to be operated by the police and shall be followed by DRDO Netra .

DRDO Netra VTOL UAV

All over the world, police force is slowly embracing the UAV as important tool to enhance law enforcement. Police force in UK is set to operate VTOL UAV to help their law enforcer to do their job.

UK’s police VTOL UAV

In the US, UAV were used not only by the military but also by border patrol authority as well as the state police force. The highly capable Predator, Reaper and Hermes 450 HALE UAV have been used by the Custom and Border Patrol (CBP) to monitor its long and far stretched border which has seen daily crossing by illegal immigrant as well as drug trafficer.

The Reaper UAV operated by CBP

CBP Predator UAV

CBP’s Hermes 450

On the other hand, the LAPD is also using a special UAV called the SkySeer. It’s light, durable and could easily be deployed by a single operator.

LAPD’s Skyseer mini UAV

A police drone armed with taser gun

Chinese police with speaker equipped VTOL UAV

In Malaysia, while UAVs are making significant progresses in military, film, agriculture, aerial mapping and wildlife protection, the RMP was seen to be very slow of adopting such new technology. In early 2000′s for example,the Royal Custom Department (formerly Royal Malaysian Custom and Excise) has revealed its plan to cooperate with a local company, Excelnet, to produce mini UAV which could be used for border patrol to curb cross border smuggling.

Sometime in 2010, the MMEA has also announced that the coast gurad agency is looking into possibiliities of operating UAVs from its ship to further enhance maritime surveillance and patrol within the Malaysian waters.

While several types of VTOL UAV such as the Sapura QuadEye and Rodiaq TinjauKopter have been demonstrating their respective UAVs to RMP official, it seems that operating a UAV platform by the police force could be seen as something that will be realised in a very long future.

Nevertheless, the UAV demonstrator evolved into the 15 kg SR-1 prototype which could be launched from catapult ramp and retrieved via parachute. Unfortunately, one of the prototype was lost during flight test.

CTRM Eagle SR-1

Realising that both CTRM and SCS (which was developing the Nyamok UAV at that time) were pursuing the same initiative and effort towards Malaysia’s first tactical UAV, the Government has urged that both companies collaborated together to come up with a single national UAV design. Thus came the Aludra Mk I Tactical UAV prototype which was mostly based from data and experience gained from the SR-1 and Nyamok projects.

The ALUDRA Mk I prototype

The new joint venture, now known as Unmanned System Technologies (UST), has set a strategic development plan for the Aludra platform. Aludra had made its first flight in 2007. It was inducted into the Joint Forces Command (MAB) in 2008 and was deployed to Northern Sabah to enhance ISR capabilitiesfor Ops PASIR.

Alurdra Mk II

In 2009, based on operational experience gained from operating the Mk I in Ops PASIR, further development of  the Aludra known as the Mk II was rolled out. With longer wingspan and endurance, Aludra Mk II was also deployed as part of Ops PASIR’s UAV Force in Northern Sabah. While some reports indicate that the Aludra were operated by 165th Military Intelligence Battalion (Bn 165 MIB), generally they were controlled by the tri-service Joint Task Force 2 Command ( Mk ATB 2).

According to the strategic plan, UCAV version of Aludra Mk IV will be developed between 2011 and 2012 for the use of the Malaysian Army. By 2012, the Navy will also operated the Mk IV, presumably from its Layang-layang Island offshore station. No news were heard of the current state of the Mk IV. Nevertheless, it is assume that development may take longer time as to solve the problem with weapon payload and control system.

Unlike Indonesia, Malaysia does not have an industrial capability for the time being to manufacture FFAR rockets ( a typical weapon payload for UCAV) locally.  While significant research has been conducted for laser guided artillery shell known as the Taming Sari XK98, no known airborne weapon had ever been developed locally except for the Mk 82 dumb bombs manufactured by SME Ordnance (SMEO).

Although Indonesia’s venture into the UAV sectors is considered as a little late compared to Malaysia and Singapore, it has strive ahead with testings on its BBPT Alalp-alap PUNA (UAV) vehicles which was fitted with flares to study the possibilities of developing an all Indonesian UCAV systems. Indonesia is aiming on the maturity of its locally developed UAV technology by 2014 which is 2 years from now.

The Alap-alap UAV with flares

TAI Anka MALE UAV. Will Aludra ever being developed into such in the future?