New Malaysian Chief of Air Force
GENERAL Muhamad Norazlan Aris took over as Chief of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) in a handover of duties ceremony at Subang Air Base on June 26. Gen Mohd Asghar Khan handed over the reins to Lieutenant General Norazlan who had served as the Deputy Chief of Air Force since June 2022.
With Chief of Defence Force Gen Mohd Nizam present to witness his appointment, Lt Gen Norazlan was officially promoted as the 21st RMAF chief and attains his fourth star to become General. Moreover, Lt Gen Nur Hafis was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Air Force.
Gen Norazlan began his military career as a cadet in 1985 before moving on to RMAF flight training in 1988, eventually piloting various aircraft including the Aermacchi MB339A, A-4PTM Skyhawk, Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-29N/UB and Sukhoi Su-30MKM. Additionally, he had also become an instructor on several of those platforms, such as the MiG-29N/UB, MB339CM and Su-30MKM.
Prior to his ascension to Deputy Chief, he had served as Air Operations Commander, Air Support Commander, Chief of Staff at the Air Operations Command Headquarters, Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Planning and Development, Commander of Gong Kedak Air Base and Commanding Officer of 11th Squadron.
His predecessor, fellow Su-30MKM and MiG-29N/UB pilot Gen Mohd Asghar Khan served for over 42 years with distinction, becoming the service chief in March 2022. Gen Asghar Khan’s tenure saw the procurement of various new assets, comprising the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) Anka-S medium-altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50M Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Leonardo P-72M maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), Thales GM400 Alpha air defence radars, and lease of more Leonardo helicopters.
In his farewell speech, Gen Mohd Asghar Khan added that those assets will begin arriving from this October up to the end of 2028. These procurements are in line with the RMAF’s Capability Development Plan 2055 (CAP55) and outlined in the Defence White Paper. Furthermore, the training structure and development of human capital has been continually strengthened by sending personnel locally and abroad for training to ensure the force’s readiness to effectively operate the new assets when commissioned into service.
Gen Norazlan said that the RMAF is closely monitoring global events with regards to the Russia-Ukraine, India-Pakistan, Iran-Israel conflicts, seeking to learn from these battles and adjust accordingly should the current realities not align with our directions or doctrine. The chief also added that CAP55 initiatives will continue accordingly, but said that more will be divulged in his Inaugural Command set for July 3.-shp/adj/dl (Pix:ADJ,RMAF)