Rentaka - Rentaka Defence Portal

Dua pesawat TUDM pulang

1/5/2014

Pesawat C-130H Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia yang menyertai operasi mencari pesawat penerbangan MH370, telah selamat pulang ke tanahair berikutan penggantungan operasi carian udara. (Foto: Wikimedia Commons)

Oleh: Bernama (www.bernama.com.my)

Dua pesawat C-130 Hercules Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia (TUDM) dijadual pulang ke Malaysia pada Selasa malam selepas pencarian udara bagi mencari pesawat Malaysia Airlines digantung berikutan pengumuman pencarian di kawasan dasar laut dijalankan secara intensif.

Dua pesawat itu akan berlepas pada 9 malam manakala sebuah lagi pesawat TUDM C-130 buat sementara waktu ini kekal di sini sehingga dimaklumkan kelak, kata Ketua Skuadron ke-20 TUDM Mejar Muhammad Jafri Suboh ketika ditemui di pangkalan Pearce, Tentera Udara Diraja Australia (RAAF) di Bullsbrook di sini.

Missing MH370: Malaysian air defence comes under scrutiny

24/3/2014

By: Shahanaaz Habib (www.thestar.com.my)

WAS the Malaysian air force sleeping on the job? How could an unidentified aircraft fly through Malaysian air space without the air force sitting up and being on high alert? Why were no jets scrambled? How secure is our air space?

Those are some of the questions many have been asking since Flight MH370 went missing.

The RMAF radar that last saw #MH370

17/3/2014

Selex Sistemi RAT-31DL long range radar employed by NATO. Malaysia is believed to employ the same radar watching its northern peninsular airspace corridor. (Photo: NSPA)

By: Alert 5 (alert5.com)

The last radar contact of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 was at 0215hrs local time, the aircraft was flying at 29500ft and was 200nm northwest of Penang island. The radar under Malaysia’s air defense umbrella that could see the Boeing 777 was a SELEX RAT-31 DL long range radar that sits on top of Penang Hill, 800m above sea level.

Three RTAF air defense radars that could have seen #MH370

17/3/2014

By: Alert 5 (alert5.com)

The radar employed by RTAF is the Northrop Grumman AN/FPS-130X long-range radar, a calculation of their coverage is done using a range of 200nm (although it can detect up to 250mn). From the graphic below, we can see that the radars in Songkhla and Phuket were within range of detecting MH370. In fact, coverage from both radars overlaps each other at the point where MH370 was last seen by Malaysian radar. (Alert 5)

Thai Air Force southern region three AN/FPS-130X long-range radar coverage estimates.

Malaysian plane saga highlights air defense gaps

16/3/2014

Investigators are baffled on how a Boeing 777 which is devoid of any stealth qualities can escape sophisticated military radar detection. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

By: Peter Apps & Frank Jack Daniel (www.reuters.com)

Whatever truly happened to missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, its apparently unchallenged wanderings through Asian skies point to major gaps in regional - and perhaps wider - air defenses.

More than a decade after al Qaeda hijackers turned airliners into weapons on September 11, 2001, a large commercial aircraft completely devoid of stealth features appeared to vanish with relative ease.

RI radar 'did not detect MH370 in Malacca Strait': Air Force

16/3/2014

TNI-AU operates a single Thomson-CSF TRS-2215 radar at Lhokseumawe, Aceh, Sumatra with a range of 510km. (Photo: bharat rakshak.com)

By: Bagus BT Saragih (The Jakarta Post)

In a development that could make the mystery surrounding the missing Malaysia Airlines plane more puzzling, the Indonesian Air Force has revealed that its radar in Sumatra, which is closest to Penang on the Malaysian Peninsula, did not detect any aircraft in the Malacca Strait area under its coverage, around the time Flight 370 was lost early last Saturday.

Missing MH370: Six things about fake passports

11/3/2014

By: The Star (www.thestar.com.my)

The two passengers who managed to board MAS flight MH370 with stolen passports have brought to light the loopholes in immigration checks as well as the booming trade in fake credentials. We look at some facts and figures behind stolen passports.

Missing MH370: Intelligence agencies helping to identify impostors

10/3/2014

By: New Straits Times (www.nst.com.my)

The photographs of the two impostors who boarded Flight MH370 that went missing on Saturday have been released to international intelligence agencies.

Malaysia air probe finds scant evidence of attack: Sources

10/3/2014

By: Eveline Danubrata and Mark Hosenball (www.reuters.com)
Investigators in Malaysia are voicing skepticism that the airliner that disappeared early Saturday with 239 people on board was the target of an attack, U.S. and European government sources close to the probe said.

Missing MH370: 5 theories on what could have happened to MH370

10/3/2014

By: Ong Hwee Hwee (www.nst.com.my)

1. Act of terrorism

There was speculation that MH370 might have been attacked by terrorists after the Malaysian authorities said on Sunday they were investigating two passengers who were using stolen passports.

But officials and experts was quick to point out that there was no proof of foul play so far and there could be other explanations for the use of false identity documents.

The two passengers bought their tickets through China Southern Airlines, which was code-sharing the flight with Malaysia Airlines. They were using the documents of an Italian and an Austrian who apparently had their passports stolen in Thailand during the past two years, and had made police reports about the theft.

MISSING MH370: Gong Kedak base abuzz with activities

9/3/2014

By: Hariz Mohd (www.nst.com.my)

Search and rescue mission by air to find the missing MH370 was conducted relentlessly by air crews from multiple agencies based in Gong Kedak Air Force here last night.

HARI KEDUA OPERASI MENCARI MH370#pray4mh370

9/3/2014

By: Agensi Penguatkuasaan Maritim Malaysia FB
Agensi Penguatkuasaan Maritim Malaysia meneruskan operasi mencari pesawat MH370 dengan meluaskan kawasan pencarian di perairan Kota Bahu, Kelantan dalam lingkungan 120 batu nautika hingga menghampiri garis sempadan maritim Malaysia-Vietnam. Tepat jam 6.45 pagi Ketua Pengarah APMM, Laksamana Maritim Datuk Mohd Amdan bin Kurish mengetuai operasi pemantauan udara dengan pesawat Bombardier CL415 sehingga jam 11.30 pagi tadi.

More picture after the jump