Indonesia continues negotiation to acquire C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft

A C-130J Super Hercules of the Roya New Zealand Air Force.

The Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MOD) confirmed that they are looking to procure the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft from the US government, and is also interested in having industrial cooperation to support the aircraft.

This was among the topics discussed between the Indonesian MOD Secretary General Agus Stiadji and US acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia Christopher Johnston in Jakarta on 22 October 2019.

The Indonesian MOD, on behalf of the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) has shown interest in the C-130J Super Hercules to improve the service’s air transport capability and replacing legacy assets, mostly older C-130B Hercules aircraft that are in service since the 1960s.

An initial procurement of at least five (5) aircraft is planned, although more units will be needed to completely replace legacy units. The TNI-AU currently operates a fleet of up to 20 aircraft, all mixed variants of the older C-130 Hercules forming its heavy tactical airlift capability.
The TNI-AU has also showed interest to procure the larger Airbus A400M Grizzly, although nothing has been made since it was announced in 2017.

[1] Jane’s Defence Weekly