T

he government will in the near future purchase at least six more Russian-built Sukhoi jet fighters to form a complete fighter squadron, the defense minister says.

“Our strategic plan for the 2010-2014 period is to buy more Sukhoi fighters so that we could have a squadron of them,” Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro told reporters after the handing over ceremony of three Sukhoi SU-27 SKM fighters from Russia in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Monday.

Purnomo said he was upbeat the plan would materialize soon given the country’s robust economy.

“Our state budget has reached more than Rp 1,000 trillion and our GDP is about five times that. I believe we will be able to complete our Sukhoi squadron.”

Alexander Ivanov, the Russian Ambassador to Indonesia said his government was more than ready to provide assistance to Indonesia to complete the existing Sukhoi fleet.

“We expect further cooperation with the Indonesian government regarding its plan to develop the Sukhoi squadron. We will provide any assistance required,” he said.

Three Sukhoi SU-27 SKM fighters were delivered by the manufacturer, Rosoboronexport Russia, to the Ministry of Defense on Monday.

The delivery of the last three fighters completed the purchase of six Sukhoi jet fighters, under an agreement signed by Jakarta and Moscow in 2008.

Indonesia now has 10 Sukhoi fighters and it will need at least six to eight more to form a squadron.

Secretary-general of the Defense Ministry Vice Marshall Eris Haryanto said the government has spent a total of US$ 335 million to purchase the six aircraft.

Air Force Chief of Staff Air Marshall Imam Sufaat said the Russian jet fighter had been able to perform beyond satisfactory level and therefore suited the air force in carrying out its duty to safeguard both the country’s air and land territory.

“The aircraft has been able to perform both air to air and air to ground striking maneuvers satisfactorily. Thus there will be no reason for us to doubt this aircraft to safeguard our country’s territory,” he said.

The newest Sukhoi is equipped with guided missile facilities, which have not been included in most of jet fighters in its class.

However, Imam said that right now none of the newly produced Sukhoi had its own weaponry system in place. “The weaponry system is sold separately from the aircraft. But this will be no problem for us since now we have been able to manufacture almost all of the aircraft’s weaponry systems. We are still in the middle of developing its missile,” he said.

Besides the Sukhoi, Indonesia, which has 43 air bases throughout the country, is also the home for the other two squadrons of jet aircraft, made up of the US F16 jet fighters and British Sky Hawks.