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Indonesia continues spending spree with French-made jets, military radars
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Securing our skies: Members of the Indonesian Air Force prepare to take off in Sukhoi fighter aircraft on Sept. 29, 2020 from Iswahjudi Air Base in Magetan, East Java, to take part in a military exercise at the Pandanwangi Air Weapons Range in Lumajang, also in East Java. (Antara/Courtesy of Iswahjudi Air Base)
W
hile controversy around Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto’s decision to purchase used Mirage fighter jets still rages on, state-owned electronics manufacturer PT Len Industri announced on Sunday that the company has ordered military radars from French manufacturer Thales, signifying a growing partnership between Indonesia and France.
Thales said in a statement on Monday that the 13 Ground Master 400 Alpha (GM400a) long-range radars will confer the Indonesian Military (TNI) the advantage of “a single air picture integrating the detection of all types of threats, from jets and missiles to hovering helicopters and unmanned air vehicles."
The purchase of the radars "shows this country's concern for monitoring the surrounding airspace, which is directly linked to the situation in the Indo-Pacific," where China is asserting its ambitions, Thales International president Pascale Sourisse told AFP.
Len Industri is part of DEFEND ID, a holding company consisting of five state-owned enterprises (SOEs) focusing on the defense industry. While the nominal value of the contract remains under wraps, the announcement came less than a week after the Defense Ministry’s purchase of 12 used Mirage 2000-5 jets totalling US$792 million (Rp 11.8 trillion) from Qatari armed forces raised eyebrows.
While lawmakers questioned the wisdom behind the decision, Defense Minister Prabowo argued that the Mirage jets will merely act as a stop-gap measure to prepare for the arrival of brand-new Rafale fighter aircraft that the Indonesian government expects to join the Air Force squadron in 2026.
"Our pilots will first be trained with these Mirage jets so when Rafale arrives, they will be transitioned to Rafale," Prabowo said last week. French aerospace and defense company Dassault Aviation manufactures both the Mirage and its successor, the Rafale, with Prabowo claiming that the two models have a number of technological similarities.
Read also: RI now in talks with UAE to get more Mirage jets
