Indonesia to buy Brazilian-made jet fighters

Jakarta - Indonesia plans to purchase a squadron of 16 Brazilian-made jet fighters to upgrade its fleet, a media report said Sunday. Air Force Chief Marshal Imam Sufaat said 16 planes known as Super Tucanoes would replace OV-10 Bronco aircraft, which have been in service for more than three decades.

"The purchase is part of our effort to improve the Air Force's weaponry system," The Jakarta Post quoted Sufaat as saying.

He declined to disclose the price or time of the deal but said the Brazilian jets were a suitable and affordable choice to replace the turboprop-driven aircraft.

"We have proposed the purchase to the government with the hope that they will grant the funds," he added.

Sufaat also expected that three more Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets ordered in 2007 would arrive this year. Seven of the planes have already been delivered.

The fleet also includes US-made F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets, two squadrons of F-5 Tiger, two squadrons of British-made military training Sky-Hawk and Hawk bombing jets.

A senior cabinet minister was quoted as saying that the country was also looking into arms purchases from China and forging bilateral cooperation in weapon systems development.

Indonesia shifted its military shopping away from the US, toward eastern Europe, China and Latin America, after Washington imposed an embargo on arms sales to Jakarta in the early 1990s.

The US in 1992 restricted arms sales and most training for Indonesia due to human rights concerns. In late 1990s, Washington formally cut off its military relations with Jakarta, after a rampage by an army-backed militia in what was then East Timor province.

However, some counter-terrorism training resumed after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and other targets.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305432,indonesia-to-buy-brazilian-made-jet-fighters.html.