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ndonesia’s plan to accept a grant of 24 F-16s from the US may lead to problems, including compatibility issues that might block the upgrade of the used jet fighters.

House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense gave its conditional assent last week to a Defense Ministry plan to accept the aircraft.

The ministry agreed to a House request to accept the planes if they were upgraded from Block 25 to Block 52, not to Block 32; if all components needed for the upgrade were produced in Indonesia; and if the jets were procured through a foreign military sales scheme without the involvement of brokers.

Previously, the ministry proposed accepting F-16s that had been upgraded to Block 32 from Block 25 instead of purchasing six new F-16s for US$430 million, arguing that the technology of Block 52 jets was not necessarily better or more sophisticated than that of Block 32 jets.

Block 52 is the highest level of upgrade for the F-16, featuring improved thrust, avionics and sensor systems. It can also be used as a basis for upgrading to Blocks 52+ and 60.

However, technical considerations are likely to scuttle the deal between the Defense Ministry and the House to accept the aircraft.

According to US-based weaponry producer Lockheed Martin’s F-16 configurations, Block 25 planes cannot be upgraded to Block 52 planes, while Indonesia’s existing fleet of Block 15 F-16s could be upgraded to Block 52 after a Mid-Life Update.

Former Air Force chief Air Marshal (ret.) Chappy Hakim said all military equipment had to be procured under a single strategic master plan designed over time.

“When we have a strategic master plan, we never have any plans to procure used equipment. In the end the aim of designing a master plan is combat readiness, which has its own parameters and cannot be calculated through instant procurement,” he told The Jakarta Post last week.

On the impossibility of Block 52 upgrades, Chappy said upgrading aircraft was too technical for laymen to understand.

The House is set to allocate a $200 million down payment from the state budget to upgrade the 24 used F-16s, which will require $650 million for engines and $160 million to $190 million for pilot and technician training.

Echoing Chappy, Institute of Defense and Security Studies executive director Connie Rahakundini Bakrie said the government would be better off buying new aircraft as the upgrade’s actual cost, including avionics and weaponry, would exceed the $650 million needed to refurbish jet engines and give the jets a face lift.

“If the avionics systems are not upgraded, our radars will have limited range of sight and not be able to lock on other planes even when they are not using jamming devices – electronic countermeasures – or worse, use anti-jamming devices – electronic counter-countermeasures,” she told the Post.

There would be no radar warnings to alert pilots if an enemy had a radar lock on his plane or launched a long-range air-to-air missile – nor could pilots use even use identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) systems that allowed for long-distance identification of friendly and hostile aircraft, she said.

Further, she said, upgrading the used jet fighters would require 77 months for Mid-Life Upgrades for the F-16 Falcon Star mod, while Indonesia could buy new F-16s with Block 50 specifications for delivery by 2014.

“As a consequence, by the time the first upgraded planes arrive, planes from other countries in the region will already be [next] generation. We’ll still be left behind,” Connie said.