Indonesia is close to purchasing more than 40 F-15 fighters from the USA

The Indonesian government confirmed on Monday (21) to be in the “final stages” of negotiations for the purchase of more than 40 F-15EX Eagle II fighters, locally designated F-15ID.

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The status of talks between Jakarta and Washington was revealed by Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, alongside his US counterpart Lloyd Austin. "The decision now rests with the Indonesian government… The negotiations have progressed very well”, he said.

F-15EX USA USAF — F-15EX Eagle II. Photo: Ethan Wagner/USAF.

Subianto's statements go against the grain of the fears of executives at Boeing, maker of the fighter jets. As sources told the Bloomberg at the time, the company would be concerned about the ability of Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, to pay the installments.

In October, the minister stated that there were challenges in relation to the financing of planes. “We asked clearly that we should be able to buy on installment payment ; We can't do everything at once." said Prabowo at a press conference with local reporters at the time. “The government always prioritizes economic development and so on.”

A few days ago, the country also authorized the search for a billionaire loan to finance three other aircraft acquisition projects. One of them refers to the purchase of used Mirage 2000 fighter jets from Qatar, while the other should cover part of the agreement with to buy up to 42 Dassault Rafale.

Dassault Rafale Qatar — Dassault Rafale fighters of the Qatari Air Force. Photo: Dassault.

In February, the US approved the sale of 42 F-15EX to Indonesia, shortly after the country announced the deal with Paris. The agreement includes General Electric F110-GE-129 or Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engines, AESA AN/APG-82(v)1 radars, AN/ALQ-250 Eagle ive Active Warning Survivability Systems (EPAWSS) ), JHMCS integrated display helmets, pods IRST AN/ASG-34 and other items. Armaments have yet to be defined.

"We certainly the minister's efforts to continue to modernize his defense systems and capabilities and we want to continue to be of assistance in whatever ways we can.", said US Secretary of Defense Austin. “The acquisition of the F-15 certainly increases interoperability,” he added.

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The investments are part of the modernization of the local air force, which currently operates fighter jets. F-16, Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30, T-50i, bae hawk Mk.200 and Embraer Super Tucano. The country also invests in South Korea's KF-21 Boramae program. If Indonesia goes ahead with purchasing the US fighter jets, the country will become the second customer for the Rafales and F-15s, following the acquisition of Qatar, which is also a of the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Indonesian Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon. Photo: Vichndrlie (CC BY-SA 4.0)

With information Reuters, Flightglobal

Indonesia is close to buying more than 40 F-15 fighters from the US

by Gabriel Centeno