Breaking news
Indonesian Defense Minister officially signs deal to acquire Sukhoi Su-35 multirole fighter jets.
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World Aviation Defense & Security News - Indonesia
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| Indonesian Defense Minister officially signs deal to acquire Sukhoi Su-35 multirole fighter jets | |||
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Indonesia's defense minister had finally signed the official document approving deal to acquire Russia-made Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets to replace the would-be decommissioned F-5 E/F Tiger II operated by Indonesian air forces. The document had been submitted to the National Development Planning (Bappenas) for the follow up.
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 A RuAF Sukhoi Su-35 multirole fighter jet |
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Indonesian Air Forces Marshall Agus Supriatna has said recently that before the signing, the air forces has submitted the characteristics of fighter jets eligible to replace the F-5 E/F Tiger II which was in service since 1980.
According to Agus, the air forces proposed two options to replace the light attack F-5 E/F Tiger II. One is Sukhoi 35, the other is F-16 Viper produced by the United States producer Lokheed Martin. "As the final user, the Indonesian Air Forces only submitted the technical specifications of fighter jets that we desire, capable to accomplish our missions," Agus was quoted as saying by a local media on Thursday. According to Agus, the main reasons behind the choice of suppliers were maintenance issue, saying that the air forces does not want to alter the existing maintenance system extensively. The Indonesian air forces is now extensively operating F-16 and Sukhoi Flanker-family fighter jets with multirole specification. "The Sukhoi 35 is relatively similar to Sukhoi 30 fighter jets we are operating at present," Agus said, adding that the Sukhoi 35 has more superior character as it is equipped with sophisticated avionics. Before came up with F-16 Viper and Sukhoi 35, the air forces has considered several other fighter jets including Saab JAS 39 Gripen from Sweden, Dassault Rafale from France, Eurofighter Typhoon from Britain and F-16 C/D Block 60 from the United States. Purchase of Sukhoi 35 fighter jets would be financed by the air forces' main weaponry rejuvenation budget for the year of 2015 to 2019 amounting 3.1 billion U.S. dollars, Agus said. Indonesia, would not acquire the whole squadron of 16 planes. Agus said that the number of aircraft will depend on Indonesia's financial position. "With the existing budget, we would probably purchase 12 of them. But I asked for the fully-equipped ones," the chief of Indonesian Air Forces said. |
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