Indonesia And South Korea Reaffirm Cooperation In Combat Jet Project Development

Indonesian Deputy Defense Minister Donny Ermawan Taufanto received the Minister of Administration of the Defense Acquisition Program (DAPA) Seok Jong-gun. (Source: IG@kemhanri)

JAKARTA - Korean and Indonesian defense officials have reaffirmed their cooperation in joint projects to develop KF-21 fighter jets, South Korea's arms procurement agency said on Monday.

Minister of Administration of the Defense Acquisition Program (DAPA) Seok Jong-gun and Deputy Minister of Defense of Indonesia Donny Ermawan Taufanto discussed joint development projects, as well as other arms cooperation agendas, during a meeting in Jakarta last Friday.

Last year, Korean defense authorities approved plans to reduce Indonesia's contribution to the project to build the advanced supersonic fighter jet by 2026 to 600 billion won from the initial 1.6 trillion won.

Indonesia initially agreed to pay around 20 percent of the 8.1 trillion won program launched in 2015 in exchange for technology transfers and one prototype model, among other requirements.

The project was also hampered by allegations of technological leaks involving an Indonesian engineering team sent to South Korea.

"As the first high-level meeting to take place after an investigation into Indonesian technicians, the talks became an opportunity to normalize bilateral weapons cooperation which was a bit tense," said Seok, who promised to use it as a "momentum" to expand cooperation with Indonesia, quoted from The Korea Times March 24.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Deputy Defense Minister Donny Ermawan Taufanto was quoted as highlighting the competitiveness of Korean weapons equipment, such as KT-1 and T-50 aircraft, emphasizing that Indonesia is committed to contracting and maintaining cooperation in various fields, according to DAPA.

Quoted from the ministry's official Instagram account, the Indonesian Deputy Minister of Defense expressed his appreciation for South Korea's contribution to the development of the TNI's main weapon system (alutsista), including T-50 fighter aircraft.

It said the main focus of this meeting was the project to develop KF-21/IFX fighter aircraft as well as cooperation in other sectors, such as aircraft and helicopter maintenance.

In addition, the two countries are committed to expanding collaboration, including by participating in the 2024 Indo Defense defense exhibition in Indonesia as well as an invitation to attend ADEX in South Korea.