By Chief Journalist Melinda Larson, CARAT Task Group Public
Affairs
Released: July 16, 2004
KUANTAN, Malaysia -- High in the Malaysian skies, U.S. Navy and
Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) fighter pilots went nose-to-nose
during a 10-day series of air-to-air combat scenarios that ended
July 15.
Every pilot benefited from seeing how a dissimilar aircraft
performs. Theres only so much you can learn from a book. You have
to see how the other aircraft perform, said Lt. Chris Hubbard who
flies the F/A-18F Super Hornet for Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA)
102.
The Navy pilots from VFA 102, 192 and 195 flew F/A-18Cs and F/A-18F
Super Hornets against the RMAFs MiG-29s and Hawks. The air-to-air
combat training, along with a fighter symposium, was part of the
Malaysia phase of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training
(CARAT) exercise. CARAT is a series of bilateral exercises with
several Southeast Asia nations designed to enhance the
interoperability of the respective sea services, and as was the
case in Malaysia, other services as well.
It was a great opportunity for us to fight against the type of
threat we may face from other countries, said Lt. Jason
Naidyhorski, an F/A-18C pilot with VFA 195. Its a good feeling to
learn how to fight against a potential threat and be more
prepared.
While the pilots received briefs on the performance and
capabilities of each others aircraft, in the air the pilots were
able to see for themselves what to expect from a possible enemy
aircraft.
In addition to learning about each others aircraft, the pilots
learned from each other.
We see this as a chance to interact with a force that has gone
through real-time combat, noted RMAG MiG-29 pilot Maj. Sebastian
Williams. We can gain a lot of knowledge and experience working
with the U.S. Navy pilots. We shared openly about our aircraft and
our experiences.
In the end, how did the aircraft stack up against each other?
It was a good fight. We had to struggle to compete, said MiG-29
pilot Cpt. Roshaidi Bin G-Mon Kamaruddin who earned his call sign
by pushing the limit on his nine-G capable aircraft. Each
aircraft has a G or gravitational pull limit. One G is equal to
gravity at sea level.
The RMAF pilots were impressed by the capabilities of the Super
Hornet. It almost matches or surpasses what a MiG is designed to
do, Williams said. I know we've not seen all that it can do. I
hope they can come back again.
When they werent fighting, friendships between the pilots and
crews developed during the 10-day training series that began with
the squadrons arrival on July 6 prior to the official start of
CARAT Malaysia on July 12.
The Malaysians were great hosts. We had fun. They were very kind,
said Hubbard.
It seems the Malaysian pilots felt similarly about their U.S.
counterparts.
The U.S. pilots are cool, said Kamaruddin.
In all, nearly 120 U.S. Navy pilots and crew took part in CARAT
Malaysia. VFA 102, 192 and 195 are forward deployed to Atsugi,
Japan.