by David Donald
Indonesia has outlined a need for up to 200 new fighters over the next 15 years to meet its minimum force ambitions. Most pressing is the need to replace 14 Squadron’s elderly Northrop F-5E/Fs, and funding has been allocated for that in the current (2015-2019) five-year spending plan. Although selection of the Sukhoi Su-35 has been “announced,” no contract has been signed, and Western manufacturers have good reason to believe that it is still an open competition.
Apart from the merits and costs of the aircraft themselves, an important consideration is Indonesia’s Law 16, which calls for the development of the country’s own aerospace/defense industry and governs the conditions under which foreign companies can compete, including the need to provide 35 percent of the contract value in direct offsets and 50 percent indirectly.
At the Indodefence show in Jakarta this week Eurofighter, Lockheed Martin and Saab outlined their offers. Eurofighter, represented by Airbus, is offering the latest AESA-equipped Typhoon and is emphasizing its swing-role capability. This year Airbus celebrates 40 years of collaboration with Indonesia’s airframer, PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI), which has resulted in licensed production and co-development of helicopters and transport aircraft. Airbus sees an industrial share in the Typhoon program as a logical next step, and could even set up a final assembly line at PTDI’s Bandung facility if selected.
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