TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Air Force awaits four last Tucano jet fighters

Despite a recent fatal accident, the Indonesian Air Force is resuming its plan to acquire another four new Super Tucano training jets that are scheduled to arrive by the end of this month

Nani Afrida (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, February 19, 2016

Share This Article

Change Size

Air Force awaits four last Tucano jet fighters

D

espite a recent fatal accident, the Indonesian Air Force is resuming its plan to acquire another four new Super Tucano training jets that are scheduled to arrive by the end of this month.

The last batch of jets will complete the country'€™s weaponry order from Brazil.

Air Force spokesperson Commodore Dwi Badarmanto told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that Brazil has already delivered 12 of the jets.

'€œThe new Tucano jets will be stationed at the Malang air base, East Java just like the other Tucanos,'€ Dwi said, adding that the delivery was on the schedule.

The Super Tucano is designed for light attack, counterinsurgency, close air support, aerial reconnaissance missions in low-threat environments and for providing pilot training.

The Defense Ministry signed two contracts worth a total of US$284 million with the Brazilian aerospace conglomerate Embraer SA in 2010 and 2012 to build a squadron of 16 Super Tucanos to replace the OV-10 Bronco aircraft, which had been in service since 1976.

Dwi said that after the four jets arrive, Brazil'€™s company Embraer will have completed delivering 16 Super Tucano jets in total, including the one jet that crashed on Feb. 11.

Media reported that a Tucano training jet crashed in a densely populated area in Malang, East Java, killing three people, including its pilot. The Air Force and the Embraer are still investigating the cause of the incident.

Rear Admiral Leonardi, the chief of the Defense Ministry'€™s procurement center of defense facilities agency (Baranahan), revealed that although Embraer has delivered all the jets, Indonesia still needs to purchase the jets'€™ spare parts from the company, as the procurement contract did not mention technology transfer.

'€œWhen Indonesia bought the Super Tucano from Embraer, the government had yet to endorse Law No. 16/2012 on the defense industry that requires a transfer of technology in every procurement of weapons from overseas,'€ Leonardi told the Post.

It is possible to have technology transfer included in the supply of spare parts, but the government would have to make another agreement with the company.

Besides the Super Tucano, other weapon that has been bought by Indonesia without a technology transfer mechanism is the Germany-made Leopard tank.

Indonesia has bought 103 Leopard 2 main battle tanks (MBTs), 42 upgraded Marder 1A3 infantry fighting vehicles and 11 various armored recovery and engineering vehicles from the Rheinmetall Group.

The deadline for the delivery of these vehicles is this year.

Indonesia is planning to lessen its dependence on foreign weaponry systems by reviving local strategic industries and by ensuring the transfer of technology when it purchases weapons overseas.

Recently the country signed an agreement with South Korea for the joint production of IFX/KFX jet fighters.

Indonesia is aiming to produce the jet fighters by 2025.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.