Planned purchase of F-15 jets in final stages, says defence minister

INDONESIA’S planned purchase of F-15 fighter jets is in advanced stages and awaiting final sign-off from the government, the South-east Asian country’s defence minister said.

Speaking after meeting his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Jakarta, Prabowo Subianto said that Boeing had agreed to the financial offer proposed and he was confident the package was affordable.

“The decision now is with the Indonesian government. Negotiations have advanced well,” he said.

In February, the US State Department approved the potential sale of Boeing F-15ID aircraft and related equipment to Indonesia in a deal valued at up to Us$13.9bil (Rm64bil), the Pentagon said.

Indonesia has been seeking to overhaul its ageing air fleet for some time, which currently includes Us-made F-16 and Russian Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30 jets.

“We certainly support the minister’s efforts to continue to modernise their defence systems and capabilities and we want to continue to be helpful in any way we can,” US Defense Secretary Austin said.

“The acquisition of the F-15 certainly increases interoperability,” he added.

Addressing tensions between major powers in the Indo-pacific region, Prabowo, an ex-special forces general, said Indonesia was committed to its policy of non-alignment and was “honoured” to maintain good relations with both China and the United States.

Prabowo met with his Chinese counterpart Defence Minister Wei Fenghe in the city of Xi’an last Friday, where it was agreed that Indonesia and China would resume joint military training exercises and education, which had been paused during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier this year, Indonesia and the United States also participated in the Super Garuda Shield exercise, a military partnership between the countries that is now one of the biggest joint, multinational exercises in the region.