RM12,000 RMAF innovation delivers nearly RM150m in potential savings

KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) has averted at least six potentially costly bird strike incidents involving its prized Su-30MKM fighter jets, saving nearly RM150 million in potential engine repair costs.

RMAF chief General Tan Sri Muhamad Norazlan Aris said the savings were made possible through a home-grown innovation developed jointly by the Aerospace Engineering Services Centre (Puspeka), No. 12 Squadron, Malaysian firms and universities, which reduced the risk of birds and other foreign objects being sucked into the Saturn AL-31FP engines during take-off and landing.

"The modest air intake screen (AIS) modification, which costs RM12,000, was designed to address one of the greatest hazards faced by fighter aircraft during take-off and landing — sucking in foreign objects, such as stones, debris or birds.

"Based on this innovation, we have saved millions of ringgit on engine repairs because whenever an engine is damaged, we have to send it back to its manufacturer and that costs a lot," he said in an exclusive interview with the New Straits Times.

In August last year, a RMAF F/A-18D Hornet fighter jet crashed in Kuantan shortly after takeoff from ingesting a bird into its left engine.

Norazlan said a fighter aircraft's engines generate tremendous suction during take-off as they draw in large volumes of air for combustion.

"When the engines spool up, they extract as much air as possible. Along with the air, they can also suck these foreign objects.

"In most cases, birds pose the biggest challenge. Because of their size, beaks and claws, if they are ingested into an engine operating at high speed, the damage can be severe."

Norazlan said the Su-30MKM was equipped with the AIS, which shielded the engines from foreign object damage while the aircraft was on the ground.

However, under the aircraft's original design, the protective screen automatically opens once the weight of the aircraft is off the wheels.

"At that point, the engines begin drawing in significantly more air, increasing the risk of bird ingestion.

"To overcome this vulnerability, RMAF engineers modified the system by installing additional relays that delay the opening of the AIS until after the aircraft has taken off and climbed to between 1,000 and 1,500 feet above ground level."

The modification also causes the screen to close earlier during landing.

Once the pilot lowers the landing gear on approach, the AIS closes automatically, protecting the engines throughout the remainder of the landing phase.

Norazlan said the effectiveness of the innovation had already been proven in service.

"There were occasions where, after landing, we found birds caught on the screen because it had remained closed. Had the screen opened earlier, those birds could have been ingested into the engines."

Norazlan said the innovation has not only reduced the risk of foreign object damage but also improved the operational availability of its frontline Su-30MKM fleet.