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)

Military to Buy 6 More Sukhois

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 11/29/2006 12:49 PM

MALANG, East Java: Indonesia will buy six more Russian-built Sukhoi jet fighters, Air Force chief Marshall Herman Prayitno said Tuesday.

Herman said the purchase of the Sukhois, of which Indonesia already owns four, was to be made through a US$1 billion loan from Russia that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would sign during his trip there this week.

Yudhoyono is scheduled to meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin to finalize the loan.

""The purchase of more Sukhois is aimed at creating a deterrent effect and we do not have any plans to attack other countries. Of course as a sovereign country we want to be strong and respectful,"" Herman said.

Indonesia purchased the first four Sukhois, along with two MI-35 helicopters worth US$192 million in 2003, during Megawati Soekarnoputri's presidency.

The Indonesian Military turned to Russia for arms after the U.S., which supplied 80 percent of Indonesia's weaponry, placed an embargo on the country following the Dili massacre in Timor Leste in 1991. The embargo was lifted fully earlier this year. -- JP