- Lanud Halim Perdanakusumah
VIVAnews – Indonesia plans to purchase six units of new Su-30 MK2 Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia in an effort to reinforce the air force with one squadron of Sukhoi fighter jets or an equivalent of 16 units.
“We are still negotiating. No deal has been made yet,” revealed the Ministry of Defense Secretary General, Air Marshal Eris Herryanto today, Dec 9.
Currently, the Indonesian Air Force only owns 10 fighter jets consisting of Shukoi Su-30MK2 and Su-27SKM. According to Eris, adding Sukhoi jets is very crucial for the Air Force to maintain Indonesia’s air zone.
“Learning from past experiences, the amount of jets we have right now is insufficient to cover our sky from foreign aircraft infiltration,” he said.
However, Eris did not want to share the amount of money which will be spent to purchase six units of Sukhoi jets.
“The payment for the purchase of the jets to the Russian government will be paid by foreign loans. We are still in negotiation process right now. We can’t inform when the jets will arrive,” he said.
In 2003, Indonesia bought four Sukhoi jets of which types are SU-30MK and SU-27SK with two units each. Then, Sukhoi’s manufacturer announced on August 21, 2007, about the purchase of six fighter jets to Indonesia of US$300 million. The purchase consisted of three units of Sukhoi SU-30MK2 and three units of SU-27SKM.
Indonesia was previously planned to receive 24 units of F-16 fighter jets from the United States. Moreover, Indonesia was also planned to receive an additional of six units of F-16 jets from the United States, but not in their intact form, however only in parts, for spare parts purposes. However, the plan is still in a discussion stage between the Indonesia and United States governments.
