Indonesian Ambassador To The US: It Is Not Easy To Own An F-35 Fighter Jet

JAKARTA - Indonesian Ambassador to the United States (US) Muhammad Lutfi spoke about the issue of Indonesia targeting the advanced F-35 fighter jet, following the visit of Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto to the US Defense Ministry some time ago.

The F-35 is Lockheed Martin's 5th generation aircraft and is the latest generation of the F series fighter jets.

Lutfi explained that it is not easy to get the F-35 fighter jet, which is a 5th generation fighter. This is because Indonesia needs to have series 4 and 4.5 first before being able to bring these fighter jets from the US.

"There are platforms that we have to work on to get the F-35. We must have the 4th and 4.5 generations, namely the latest F-16 Block 72 fighters. This is one of the talks between the two Defense Ministers to achieve this. to the F-35, "he said, in a virtual press conference regarding the extension of the GSP Facility to Indonesia, Monday night, November 2.

Moreover, said Lutfi, to get the F-35 Indonesia had to wait nine years. This long span of time made the defense equipment expired when Indonesia acquired it.

Furthermore, Lutfi said, in exchange, the United States would offer several F-16 series to Indonesia in the near future. Not only that, Indonesia will also be offered other fighter aircraft that are equivalent to the fourth generation F series.

"So we have to get the plane in the middle and now the United States will give Indonesia some breakthroughs that we have never seen before. This means that it will provide the best fighter aircraft, without reservation," he said.

Actually, said Lutfi, Indonesia already has the F-16. However, what Indonesia has is an old series and is not compatible with the latest D-16 series.

"Our AB version of F-16 is very old, if I'm not mistaken in the 90s. Now this must be fixed, for now we are rejuvenating it to become the CD they offer us, the F-16 block 32," he explained.