If Indonesia is serious about modernising its outmoded military and producing a Minimum Essential Force by 2025, it can ill afford to turn down bargains, rare as they are in the bank breaking business of military procurement. So when Indonesia’s House of Representatives announced that it was thinking about declining an offer of 30 second-hand F-16s being offloaded as excess defence articles by the United States, it seemed that Jakarta was in danger of looking a gift horse in the mouth.
Though the government also announced last month that it plans to spend $11 billion on new kit by 2014 – an impressive amount historically by Indonesian standards – the military’s long and urgent of list requirements will see that money quickly burned through.
Air force modernisation may prove the biggest drain on resources. In 2010, Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said he envisaged the procurement of 180 Russian Sukhois in order to create an effective Indonesian air force, but few analysts lent much credence to that particular plan, with only 10 new Sukhois acquired so far. However, Purnomo also said that he wanted to acquire more F-16 fighter jets – Indonesia had previously bought one squadron of 12 F-16s, most of them now inoperable, in the 1980s – and this objective seemed more realistic in light of the democratising country’s rapidly improving ties with Washington.
The House of Representatives didn’t balk at the idea of buying second-hand aircraft – once upgraded, the F-16s could see another two decades’ service – nor was the $430 million price tag the sticking point. At $14.3 million per aircraft, including both purchase and upgrade work, the offer represented good value for an air force that’s struggling to find cash for brand new planes.
It was the aircrafts’ origin that apparently stuck in some lawmakers’ craw. ‘We don’t want this plan to become a new start of our country’s dependency on the US government and their military products,’ said Enggartiasto Lukito, a Golkar representative. It’s clear that both the Defence Ministry and the Air Force were happy with the deal, and neither seems to have anticipated this kind of objection to US procurements.
Negotiations are now underway to see whether this objection can be overcome. If sense prevails, it will be overcome swiftly: the notion of the Indonesian armed forces becoming dependent on the United States is really quite far-fetched. Russia remains Indonesia’s biggest arms supplier, and defence ties with China are deepening. In terms of aircraft, Indonesia has recently procured planes from Russia, Brazil and South Korea, while the Koreans are also working with Indonesia to develop an advanced fighter jet that Jakarta expects to start procuring towards the end of decade. The Indonesians were also reported to be talking to the UK about obtaining Typhoons. Adding US F-16s into the mix is hardly going to leave the Indonesian air force at the mercy of Capitol Hill.
The potential value of the F-16 deal to the Indonesian Air Force is best understood in terms of the number of aircraft that the country is typically able to procure. It took Jakarta a decade to assemble its one squadron of 10 Sukhois; it has so far ordered eight Super Tucanos from Brazil; and it bought 16 T-50 Golden Eagle advanced jet trainers from Korea. C-130 transport aircraft are being sourced second-hand and in small numbers from various countries, including Australia and Norway. So, for an air force at this modest stage of development, 30 planes are a windfall.
Indonesia needs to focus on acquiring reliable, advanced equipment at prices that deliver value for money, and the F-16s seem to tick all of those boxes. The aircraft hardly threaten US dependency, especially given Indonesia’s far greater military dependency on Russia and, increasingly, South Korea.
The Golkar representatives blocking the deal may still be sore about the US arms embargo dating back to the days when Golkar was the party of power; or they may just be doing what oppositions do. However, even if closer ties with the United States aren’t considered a positive thing in the round – and that isn’t a view that most Indonesian politicians seem to share, with US re-engagement with Southeast Asia being generally welcomed – the House of Representatives should consider that filibustering and politicking won’t ever get them their Minimum Essential Force. They should take the planes and run.
Reddit
Digg
StumbleUpon
Delicious
Technorati
Yahoo
Google
Plurk
gabby
I think that was misquoted stating that Indonesia will buy 160 sukhoi. What I was understood from various media and sources that total 160 fighters consisting of sukhoi, F-16, T-50, F-5E, Hawk-109/209 and supertucano. Those will not include tranportation planes such as C-13, MPA CN 325 and Chopper that are used for multifunction purposes.
Cyrus
How I wish Philippines can afford this.
John Chan
I am socked; I am dismayed, how dare American not giving its most loyal lackey those nice wrapped snakeoil?
Pentagon should hire subprime sales to handle this deal, they will sell the old F-16s to Philippines as a teaser and attach a 30 years contract of exclusive after services for those F-16s when Filipino takes up the deal. Man, what an opportunity to milk the Filipinos for the next 30 years, they are begging for it.
Perhaps, American is using Indonesia as a fake bidder to corner Philippines for even more lucrative deal.
Cyrus
They don’t, we have F5′s here and we are buying spare parts from various countries. Though our F5′s needs to be replaced by a newer fighter the F-16 would be sufficient.
John Chan
In Taiwan they called F5 flying coffin.
Cyrus
I suggest you look at our PAF. Huey from Vietnam war as well as F-5′s.
other person
Bitter over the arms embargo? The reason behind the arms embargo isn’t exactly Indonesia’s brightest moment. If invasion and occupation of foreign territory (Portuguese Timor as it was called at the time) for a couple of decades and the slaughter of more than a 100,000 people does not constitute grounds for an arms embargo, I am not sure what does.
aaron
Great – The U.S. won’t sell F-16s to Taiwan and they can’t give them away (practically speaking) to Indonesia!
John Chan
USA is not in the business of charity, it is in the business imperialism; selling junk at hundreds of millions is not a giveaway, it is a nice wrapped snakeoil. Taiwan wants latest model of F-16 so that their pilots won’t be shooting ducks for PLA.
aaron
It’s rather ironic to have a Mainland Chinese respond to me: your country sells junk to Pakistan and funnels weapons to America’s enemy (the Taliban) in Afghanistan. If you didn’t have over 2,000 ballistic missiles pointed at your “Taiwanese compatriots” then maybe they wouldn’t need to buy so much weaponry from the U.S.!!!
John Chan
@aaron:
Pakistan said JF-17 could shoot down India’s aeroplanes like clay pigeons. The Taiwan strait is too short for ballistic missile, it seems you make things up on the go.
Mark Thomason
The US is unique in its consistent abuse of its position as supplier. It is entirely untrustworthy. The Indonesian concerns are well founded. The US is doing this with F-16′s right now with Venezuela, and already did it for decades with Pakistan. Other suppliers have never done this.
mareo2
If they are wary of depend to much from a country that can stop selling upgrades or parts for repairs… Then why they don’t just buy from a neutral country like Sweden? As far as I know the Gripen fighter have no diplomatic strings attached.
John Chan
Gripen cannot take off without engines, which come from GE a USA company.
mareo2
@John Chan: Like India’s HAL Tejas? Yeah, not even the PRC seems to be able to make a reliable jet engine overnight. I readded that the CCP is planning buying again russian engines for their J-10 fighter. But that don’t stop countries for keep replacing everything else of the airplane, is in it?
John Chan
@mareo2:
It takes long time to master the technologies to produce jet engines better than those on the market. Although it is hard, but China determines to do it, and the end of tunnel is nearing.
You know China is the only one challenging the Whiteman supremacy in this high technology field, and it is kind of lonely. Japan bragged itself as a developed nation and most advanced nation in Asia, and it failed to take on the challenge is a disgrace of Asians. When will Japan join the competition?
mareo2
@John Chan: “It takes long time to master the technologies to produce jet engines better than those on the market”
That is what I told to you the first time that we commented the J-10. When you said “I heard that Obama is going to talk with Wen about produce parts for the F-22 in China” and you say it just before the CCP unveiled the J-20, remember?
“You know China is the only one challenging the Whiteman supremacy in this high technology field, and it is kind of lonely. Japan bragged itself as a developed nation and most advanced nation in Asia, and it failed to take on the challenge is a disgrace of Asians.”
“White man”? US and EU companies employ people of asian and african races to. “White man technology vs. no-white man technology” imply that you think that people have to build something just because someone else did it. It sounds like envy or an inferiority complex. Many people use a computer with an OS made by Microsoft in the US. Do I feel part on an inferior race for that? No. Why? Because Microsoft employ americans of asian races. Do I feel ashamed because Japan don’t made an OS? No. Why? Because I think that we made better cars than the US. Some people are good with some things and bad for other things, there is no shame at all on that. What it is your definition of advanced country? Making weapons? The Kim dynasty build nukes, but their people starve, do we Asians feel proud of that or is more like we feel ashamed of that?
“When will Japan join the competition?”
I know that you don’t really know much of the arms industry so perhaps you are unaware of these: Japan don’t export weapons. We buy the license from another country and produce what we need and we design something only if we think that what it is available on the market don’t fit our particular defense needs. But we don’t compete, because we don’t are in the business of making money by selling weapons, it go against the modern japanese culture of pacifism. The fact is that countries that make a lot of money from selling weapons are afraid of the idea that Japan can one day “join the competition”. Do I feel ashamed if Japan is defended by fighters designed in the US or the EU? No. I don’t care as long as we get the best defense at a reasonable cost, because I am not xenophobic and nationalist.
John Chan
@mareo2:
I am really disappointed by your answers, it seems Japanese have lost the fire in their tummies. We are not talking about weapons here, we are talking about innovation and technology, it is time for Asian to lead.
disgrunt
neigboring countries are improving its military assets but the philippines are pathetically left behind.. what has happen to once modest air forces in 60′s the people and even the military becomes the victim of neglect and corruption.. today in every event of dispute philippine all can do is to ask u.s assistance,
Cyrus
Marcos happened and his systemic plunder of Philippine Gold Reserves and Treasury left the Philippines bankrupt.
Heh
I think you’ve got the wrong idea. The indonesian lawmaker are not objecting the purchase of US fighters but they wants the new F-16c/d block 52 instead the old series offered by the US.