Saviour or stop gap? Malaysia’s South Korean jets arrive to relieve ageing fighters

Malaysia received its first South Korean-made light combat jet on Friday under a nearly 4 billion ringgit (US$990 million) procurement, in what analysts describe as welcome relief for an ageing air force still years away from replacing its frontline fighters.

The FA-50M Block 20 jet arrived at the air force base in Labuan, off Borneo, with a second expected in Kuantan on the peninsula’s east coast next Monday. They…