Indonesia interested in French Rafale fighters, Scorpene submarines, Gowind corvettes

Dassault Rafale multirole fighters.

The Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MOD) has confirmed that they are interested in acquiring several weapon systems from France, including the Rafale multirole fighter for the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU), and Scorpene-class diesel-electric attack submarines, and Gowind-class corvettes for the Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL).

This is to increase its defense capabilities to respond to threats especially with China being more aggressive in its claims in the South China Sea.

Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto was in Paris, France from 13 January 2020 for bilateral meeting with his French Counterpart Florence Parly in preparation for signing a defense cooperation agreement later this year.

Minister Prabowo also held meetings with defense companies that produce weapon systems, warships and fighter aircraft, including Dassault, Thales, Naval Group, among others.

The interest on the Rafale is on top of existing acquisitions and plans of the TNI-AU, including a pending order of Sukhoi Su-35 high performance fighters from Russia, and an existing deal with South Korea on joint development and acquisition of the K-FX fighter program.

The offer for Scorpene-class submarines is another interesting development for the TNI-AL, as France made an offer to either sell two (2) submarines off-the-shelf and built in France, or for a deal to purchase up to four (4) submarines with technology transfer to allow Indonesian state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL to participate.

The interest on the Scorpene-class was said to be due to the TNI-AL encountering major issues with the Chang Bogo-class submarines they purchased from South Korea, which may push the Indonesian MOD to cancel an earlier agreement worth US$1 billion with South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) to build three (3) more Chang Bogo-class submarines.


[1] La Tribune
[2] The Jakarta Post