Indonesia in advanced stages of negotiations for French Rafale fighters
The Dassault Rafale fighter, these examples with the French Navy. |
France’s Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly confirmed in an interview that they are in advanced stages of negotiation with the Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MOD) on the acquisition of at least 36 units of the Rafale 4.5 generation fighter from Dassault Aviation.
In a TV interview with BFM Business, Min. Parly said that the no orders have been signed yet, but a lot of work has been done and negotiations are in advanced stages.
Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto met with Minister Parly in October 2020 in Paris, with the potential sale of Rafale fighter among those discussed, on top of other potential arms sale to Indonesia of French submarines, warships, and weapon systems.
Previous reports already mentioned Indonesia’s interest in the Rafale fighters as it try to look for alternatives to modernize the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) and replace its ageing fleet of Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II light fighters, after a contract with Russia’s Rosoboronexport for 11 new Sukhoi Su-35 fighters worth US$1.1 billion remain pending.
Indonesian reports mentioned that the US government did apply pressure on Indonesia to cancel the deal with Russia, although Russian officials insist that the deal with Indonesia is still on.
And while the US government has offered to sell the latest variant of the F-16 fighter aircraft, Indonesia was said to have counter proposed the sale of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, which Indonesian Ambassador to the US Muhammad Lufti said may take several years to fulfill.
Indonesia is also in discussions with the Austrian Ministry of Defence to procure the Austrian Air Force’s fleet of 15 EF-2000 Eurofighter Tranch 1 fighters, which is also said to be ongoing.
[1] The Drive – The Warzone
[2] Aerotime Hub
[3] Reuters
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