Indonesia gets US nod for F-15 and F-18 fighter jet purchases
Verbal agreement was made at meeting this week, defense official says
Two F-15 jets from the 125th Fighter Wing of the Florida Air National Guard perform a flyover on May 13, in Orlando, Florida. © AP
ERWIDA MAULIA, Nikkei staff writerDecember 9, 2020 20:52 JST
JAKARTA -- The U.S. has indicated it will sell F-15 and F-18 fighter jets to Indonesia following months of meetings between top defense officials from the two countries, according to a defense official in Jakarta.
U.S. Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller was in Jakarta on Monday and Tuesday to meet with Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto. During those meetings, Miller agreed to sell the two models of fighter jets to Indonesia, which has long wanted to upgrade from its aging F-16 fleet.
Top of Miller's agenda was the South China Sea, a water where many territorial claims overlap and where China has built military bases. His visit follows Washington's lifting in October of a two-decade entry ban on Subianto over past allegations of human rights violations, allowing him to hold high-level talks with Pentagon officials.
But warming relations between the two countries has put Beijing on edge, according to Rodon Pedrason, director-general of defense strategy at Indonesia's Defense Ministry.
"They asked, 'Why did you accept them?' To which we responded diplomatically. We don't want either China or the U.S. to feel neglected," Pedrason said in a webinar on Tuesday.
Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, left, walks with acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller as they inspect guards during a meeting in Jakarta on Dec. 7. © AP
Miller also met with Indonesian Military Commander Hadi Tjahjanto and discussed plans to step up training between the two forces.
"The secretary emphasized the importance the [U.S] department of defense places on the bilateral partnership and in securing a free and open South China Sea and Indo-Pacific region," the U.S. embassy said in a press release.
Pedrason said there had been some concerns that U.S. policy might change under Joe Biden, who will be sworn into office as president next month, although he reckoned that Washington would not renege on signed deals.
"It is just a matter of how ready we are to provide the budget," he said. For now, no agreement has been signed.
Indonesia has been pushing the U.S. to sell it F-15, F-18 and F-35 fighter jets, but finally agreed on only two models as the third could take up to 10 years to deliver, Pedrason said. The F-15s and F-18s are manufactured by U.S. aerospace companies McDonnell Douglas and Boeing.
Major powers such as France, Britain, Germany and NATO have also approached Indonesia lately to discuss the South China Sea. Pedrason said Subianto is slated to visit Britain early next year, after having made more than 20 visits over the past year in search for good armament deals, including in France, Russia, Turkey and China.
Manila will be Miller's next stop, after which he will head to Hawaii
, from where he will attend a virtual meeting of defense ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the bloc's partners.
Pedrason said the defense ministry under Subianto has a grand plan of procuring more than 100 superior fighter jets, to add to Indonesia's current fleet of less than 60. "We'll have around 170 fighter jets at the end of it. Extraordinary," Pedrason said.
He did not say when the ministry hopes to achieve that target, but added Indonesia hopes to make available between $9 billion and $11 billion for new weaponry and military equipment over the next 20 years. He said Indonesia was also planning to take soft-loan offers from countries like France, Turkey, China and Russia.
As the deal for the new fighter jets could take years to come to fruition, Indonesia is planning to buy used aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, which can be delivered much sooner. Previous reports said Subianto was interested in purchasing 15 such aircraft from Austria.
But Pedrason said the plan was only a stopgap.
"It is most urgent for us now to have weaponry that can balance [the power] against red dot countries near us," he added, citing not just the South China Sea but also Indonesia's older border disputes with neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.
Pedrason said the defense ministry is also planning to buy new models of military transport aircraft Hercules, C130J and C130H, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, as well as more submarines and patrol vessels. He added the ministry was planning to train up to 300 fighter jet pilots and around 100 pilots for Hercules over the next two years.
Additional reporting by Ismi Damayanti.
