The governments of Indonesia and France have signed a contract for the sale of 42 Dassault Rafale fighters to the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU).
The contract was signed in Jakarta on 10 February by Indonesian and French officials in the presence of French Defense Minister, Florence Parly. It comes after Indonesia had considered multiple air combat types in recent years, including the Rafale, the Sukhoi Su-35, Lockheed Martin F-16V Block 70/72, Eurofighter EF-2000, the South Korean KF-X, and the Boeing F-15.
But the possible Su-35 sale appears to be dead in the water due to the threat of western sanctions under the US enforced Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). There also there appears to have been little progress on the F-16V or Eurofighter opportunities, and uncertainty surrounds Indonesia’s participation in the KF-X program. But the Rafale has finally been converted, and the F-15 remains a possibility.
To that end, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on 10 February that the US State Department had approved the possible sale of 36 Boeing F-15ID Eagle fighters to Indonesia. Based on the new F-15EX for the USAF and Qatar’s F-15QA, the possible US$13.9bn sale would include the 36 F-15ID aircraft, 15 spare GE F110-GE-229 engines, AN/APG-82(V)1 AESA radars, AN/ALQ-250 EPAWSS electronic warfare EW systems, and many of the other advanced systems developed for the newest version of the F-15.
In the meantime, Indonesia will become the eighth Rafale operator after France, Greece, Egypt, India, Qatar, the UAE, and Croatia. The contract is reportedly valued at US$8.1 billion, and includes training, an initial support package for multiple base locations, and a training centre. No delivery timetable has been announced, but the aircraft will be built by Dassault in Bordeaux.
The deal with France also includes a possible sale of two Scorpene class diesel electric submarines (SSK), with state ship manufacturer PT PAL signing an MoU to build the vessels in Indonesia under a technology transfer agreement with Naval Group.