Indonesia "spends heavily" on weapons, making efforts to modernize its Air Force

Indonesian media on June 17 quoted Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto as saying that Jakarta is currently negotiating with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to buy a number of Dassault Mirage 2000-9 fighter jets after confirming a contract to buy an older version of this aircraft from Qatar.

Indonesia 'mạnh tay' sắm khí tài, nỗ lực hiện đại hoá Không quân

UAE Mirage 2000-9 fighter jet. (Source: Defense Express)

Speaking to reporters, Minister Prabowo said that if the deal with Abu Dhabi is approved, the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) will be able to quickly rejuvenate its "aging" fleet.

“We are currently negotiating with the UAE. They also have Mirage 2000-9 fighters. I hope that the negotiations will go smoothly and we can buy them soon within the next five years before the new aircraft contracts are handed over,” Prabowo said.

Previously, on June 15, the Indonesian Ministry of Defense confirmed that it had purchased 12 used Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets worth nearly $800 million from Qatar to quickly upgrade the TNI AU. This contract comes with 3 years of support services and pilot training.

On June 18, French arms manufacturer Thales and Indonesian defense company PT Len Industri also announced that Jakarta had ordered 13 long-range military radars from Thales to boost airspace monitoring efforts in the vast archipelago nation.

In a joint statement, the two companies said the Ground Master 400 Alpha (GM400a) radars will allow the Indonesian military to “benefit from a single integrated aerial image capable of detecting all types of threats, from jets and missiles to helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.” The value of the multi-year contract was not disclosed, but each radar is worth tens of millions of dollars.

The GM400a is a mobile radar with a range of 515 km and “integrated artificial intelligence capabilities to manage the huge amount of data it receives,” said Pascale Sourisse, president of Thales International.

According to Ms. Sourisse, the purchase of 13 latest-generation radars “shows Indonesia’s interest in monitoring surrounding airspace, which is directly related to the situation in the Indo-Pacific,” where China is asserting its ambitions.

The contract stipulates that Thales will build the radars and the computer systems to process the information received. Meanwhile, PT Len is responsible for building the stations to install the equipment, as well as manufacturing some components of the radar.

According to Sourisse, rising geopolitical tensions have led to strong growth in the radar market. This is why Thales has transformed its industrial organization and developed its production capacity in new countries as well as in France.

“We have to set up in new countries to meet the demand for production volumes as well as the requirements of customers who want to leverage these contracts to develop the country’s economy, create jobs and benefit from technology transfer to master new skills,” said Ms. Sourisse.

To date, Thales has sold more than 80 GM400 and GM400a radars to 19 countries around the world.

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