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Managing A Maintenance Mess

March 28, 2009: During a debate over defense costs in Malaysia, the government revealed that it had spent $77 million last year to maintain its force of 55 jet warplanes (19 Hawks, 16 MiG-29s, 8 F-18Ds and 12 Su-30s). That's a ten percent increase over what was spent in 2007. The air force has 153 pilots for these 55 aircraft, with some of the 74 pilots for the older Hawks being retrained to fly the new Su-30s. 

Malaysian aircraft maintenance costs are higher than normal, mainly because they have several very different models. Some of these aircraft are very old (the 1970s era Hawk) or notorious for being difficult to maintain (the MiG-29s). Each type requires special equipment and tools, and technicians with very specialized training.

 

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