Indonesia Proposes To Cut Payment For Fighter Jet Projects With South Korea

Purwarupe KF 21 Boramae during the flight test in February 2023. (ANTARA / koreaero.com) (ANTARA / koreaero.com / 231129676055102)

JAKARTA - Indonesia proposes a reduction in payments for fighter jet development projects together with South Korea to about a third of its original number amid concerns over late payments.

The statement was made by an unnamed resource person as reported by Yonhap News Agency, Monday. Indonesia, he said, recently suggested paying a total of 600 billion won (Rp 7 trillion) for the KF-21 jet project,

Whereas initially Indonesia agreed to pay around 20 percent of the program worth 8.1 trillion won (Rp95.8 trillion) launched in 2015 to build advanced supersonic fighter aircraft by 2026.

The payment was approved in exchange for the acceptance of a prototype model and technology transfer, as well as producing 48 units in Indonesia. However, Indonesia is said to have proposed a reduction in the number of payments for less technology transfers, the official said.

So far, it is recorded that Indonesia has contributed around 300 billion won (IDR 3.55 trillion) to the project and failed to meet the deadline for payment, so South Korea questioned the commitment to the agreement between the two.

Earlier at the end of last year, it was known that Indonesia had asked South Korea to postpone the payment of the project until 2034, but Seoul maintained its stance that the payment must be made before the construction deadline in 2026.

A government official said consultations were being carried out with Indonesia and added that the government had not yet decided whether to accept the proposal.

The proposal comes amid ongoing police investigations into the alleged attempt by an Indonesian engineer to steal jet technology at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the manufacturer of KF-21.

The engineer, who departed after Indonesia agreed to take part in the project, was caught in January while trying to leave the KAI facility with a USB storage device containing data on tempu jets.