Air Force to Sign Loan Agreement on Sukhoi Jet Fighters

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 08/24/2008 4:32 PM | National

Indonesia will sign a loan agreement with Russia on the purchase of six Sukhoi fighter planes in September, 2008.

"According to the result of a meeting between the Defence Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the National Defense Force and the Air Force on Saturday, the loan agreement will be signed in September," Air Force chief Air Marshal Soebandrio said Sunday as quoted by Antara news agency.

He said that the six Sukhoi aircraft, which would arrive in stages in 2008 and 2009, were urgently needed to strengthen the Indonesian Air Force.

The Russian Sukhoi company announced last year the sale of six fighting aircraft to Indonesia worth US$300 million.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the procurement of the six Sukhoi planes was signed during the Moscow aerospace exhibition in August 2007. In the MoU however it was mentioned that the selling value of the six aircraft was $355 million.

Three units of SU-30MK2 type complete with the armament are scheduled to arrive in Indonesia in 2008 and the SU-27SKM type units in 2009.

The six Sukhoi fighters will replace the A-4 Skyhawk aircrafts of the Squadron 11 at the Hasanuddin airbase in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

The purchase of the six Sukhoi aircraft was not included in the credit scheme given by the Russian government worth $1 billion in weapon systems for Indonesia signed in 2007 for the next four years. (dre)