Indonesia eying F15-EX or Rafale fighter jet and abandons plans for Su-35.

Recently, the Indonesiasn Air Chief Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo said that Indonesia is seeking a 4.5-generation mediumweight or heavyweight fighter.

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Su-35 armed with bombs, R-77 and R-73 air-to-air missiles (Picture source: Military Watch Magazine)

Speaking at a gathering at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base near the Indonesian capital Jakarta, Prasetyo said the narrowing of the choices to the American F-15EX and the French Rafale was made together with the Defense Ministry, adding that Indonesia wants two to three squadrons’ worth of fighter jets, depending on the budget.

The Air Chief also said that Indonesia would abandon its plan to acquire the Russian Su-35 Flanker-E. The Russian side was yet confident last July: Spokeswoman of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS) Valeria Reshetnikova told Tass at this time: "The project to deliver to Jakarta 11 multirole Su-35 fighter jets has attracted global attention since the very beginning. The Indonesian side faced major pressure after signing the contract from a number of countries. They insistently recommended to Jakarta to abandon the project. However, we are sure to say that the Russian side is set to implement the contract," she said.

The contract on the delivery of 11 Su-35 to Indonesia was reported in early 2018 but has not been implemented so far.