Ministry Of Defense: Purchase Of Rafale Fighters To Build Indonesia's Defense Force

JAKARTA - The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defense, Madya Marshal (Marsdya) TNI Donny Ermawan Taufanto, said the planned purchase of 42 Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft from France and F-15 EX aircraft made in the United States is an effort to build an air defense force.

"The plan to procure fighter aircraft, both Rafale and F-15 EX along with their weapons, is one of the steps taken by the Government, which must be seen in the context of developing the main component forces, especially the air dimension", Donny said in the webinar "Welcoming the Rafale Aircraft" as reported by Antara on Thursday, February 17th.

According to him, the condition of readiness of fighter aircraft in Indonesia in recent years has experienced a setback.

The F5 Tiger fighter has fallen out of service in recent years and there has been no replacement to date. Likewise, the Hawk 100/200 aircraft are more than 25 years old, he added.

"In conditions of a low level of readiness, of course, they will enter their retirement period in the next few years", he said.

Currently, he continued, Indonesia only relies on 33 F-16 AM, BM, C, and D aircraft, which are more than 30 years old, and 16 Sukhoi 27 and 30 aircraft with almost 20 years of age as the main fighter aircraft.

"The limited number of aircraft spare parts, as well as the limitations of the types and number of guided missiles, have also caused the combat readiness of the F16 and Sukhoi 27 and 30 aircraft to not be optimal", he explained.

With these conditions, it is the Ministry of Defense's obligation to plan fighter aircraft, which will serve in the 2030s and 2040s.

The process of procuring fighter aircraft and their weapons, which is quite long, takes at least 5 years, requiring the government to hold it in the 2020-2024 Strategic Plan if the fighter aircraft will be operational in the 2030s.

"Failure to procure fighter aircraft and their weapons in this strategic plan will lead to a decrease in the number of air squadrons that are ready to fight", he said.

Thus, the 2020-2024 Strategic Plan is a critical period in efforts to maintain the continuity of the combat air squadron's capabilities.

The reason for choosing France as the producer of the Rafale, he said, was because the main equipment of the defense system made in France was not inferior in quality to armaments made in other developed countries; Moreover, France has a fairly neutral bargaining position.

"France's bargaining position in the international arena and its relatively more neutral foreign policy compared to European countries have made France an alternative source of defense equipment procurement for Indonesia", he said.

Meanwhile, former Air Force Chief of Staff, Marshal TNI Chappy Hakim (Ret), said the purchase of 42 fighter planes of the 4.5 generation could be said to break the record for the number of purchases of fighter aircraft in the history of Indonesia after 1965.

According to Chappy, the purchase of the Rafale fighter aircraft is part of strengthening Indonesia's defense system.

"The plane is one of the sub-systems of a large air defense system", he said.

Thus, the process of procuring fighter aircraft is essentially an effort to improve the capability of the national air defense system.

The chairman of the AirPower Indonesia Study Center also reminded us about the contract for the purchase of the Rafale aircraft. He said it was necessary to study the procurement issues which were a bit problematic when India purchased the Rafale in 2016.

At that time, he added, an agreement was reached in the procurement process of 36 Rafale aircraft by India.

The agreement is that 50 percent of the contract value will be the offset value which is the obligation of Dassault Aviation as the Rafale aircraft manufacturer.