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High in the Malaysian skies, RMAF pilots flying MiG-29 fighters and Hawk multi-role combat aircraft and U.S. Navy pilots flying F/A-18Cs and F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters flew against each other in a series of mock air-to-air combat scenarios. “Every pilot benefited from seeing how a dissimilar aircraft performs. There’s only so much you can learn from a book. You have to see how the other aircraft perform,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Chris Hubbard, who flies the F/A-18F Super Hornet. While the pilots received briefings on the performance and capabilities of each other’s aircraft, they saw for themselves in the air what to expect from a possible enemy aircraft. In addition to learning about each other’s 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 RMAF Maj. Sebastian Williams, a MiG-29 pilot. “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.” “It was a good fight. We had to struggle to compete,” said MiG-29 pilot Capt. 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. At-Sea Maneuvers During the underway period of the Malaysia phase of CARAT, RMN and U.S. Navy ships sailed out to the coast of Tioman Island to conduct close air support and surface action group exercises. These led up to tactical free play, the final mock encounter between the joint RMN and U.S. Navy teams. The underway phase also included sharing maritime law enforcement expertise between crewmembers of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mellon (WHEC 717) and their RMN counterparts. It also included a highline transfer, in which personnel transferred from one ship to another on a boatswain’s chair hung from a line between ships.
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