How can Malaysia improve her air arms based on Lahad Datu operation?

RMAF F 18 and Hawks superbly executed their roles in Ops Daulat in Lahad Datu. The army's old but reliable war horses Nuris also perform without any glitches.  Nuri However are not attack helicopters and can only be used to transport armed personnel and maybe conduct light attacks on the enemies. Two more  helicopters Augusta Westland 109 are sent to help Malaysia's arm forces along with eight armour vehicles.  The army can use them for recon missions as well as air assaults with its heavy machine guns. The same applies to Navy's Lynxes if needed..

There is no sign that the skirmishes will end any time soon because of the difficulty finding the Sulu intruders in the said terrain. No doubt sulu does not have a chance against the Malaysian military arms, however they will definitely cost a substantial injuries and cost of life. This however will not hamper Malaysian defending Sabah as part of its sovereign territory. At the end of the day Sultan Kirams effort would be totally fruitless.

There are many lessons that can be learnt from this turmoil.

1. Rafales can also do the same job as the F18 D, only better as proven in Libya and Mali. So Rafales should be the the popular choice, if affordable.

2. F 18D are lethal in its multi roles platform, although old and short in range. More F 18 secondhand can be bought to supplement the current available unit if Rafales or other reliable types are found to be unaffordable. Malaysia is lucky that they can bomb the intruders this time, I assume that source codes were given. A second hand F18 D is considered an ok buy in this case.  Paying not so high for these aircrafts helps, especially to ease the graze ego and tight pocket when source codes are not given for needed security operations. Their are cheap being secondhand, logistically easy to operate as proven so in the past all have high rate of operability or servility, and since we already have them commonality cost are as good as zero, but most importantly they are very effective in their roles.

3. Of course acquiring a few eyes in the sky in the likes of Hawkeyes or Erieyes would tremendously help to monitor the movement at Sabah's coastal line, so that there will be no more or lesser intrusion of Sulu terrorist onto the land.

4. More Lynxs and Fennecs should be acquired to help the navy ships and boats patrol and chase infiltrators. Their guns and missiles will be there to back the special forces when things get worse.

5. Malaysia should sign up for attack helicopters like the Europters Tigre. It will help reducing loss of life of her military personnel, especially in this Lahad Datu scenario. Leasing options should seriously be considered for at least six Tigres or even Mil 28s as the need is dire. They can be sent in a hurry from Europe or Russia as they would not be using them any time soon, fast enough for the army air arm to train and put it to good use after. Countries in Europe and Russia would jump to this opportunity just because they need the money. The choppers can be bought as secondhand units if both parties find it agreeable later.

6. Local industry should locally invent and build more types of drones that can locate and destroy targets. They can work together with foreign counterparts so that they can evolve the local technology at a faster rate. This can also help pushing forward local industries and reduce future fatalities.