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Two F-16 jets back in service after midlife upgrades
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wo of the Indonesian Air Force's F-16 jet fighters are now back in service after having undergone upgrades to their radar and weapon systems and structures to extend the service life of the 30-year-old aircraft.
The upgrades were part of the Structural Augmentation Roadmap (Falcon STAR) and enhanced midlife upgrade (eMLU) programs, supervised by US defense company Lockheed Martin, for F-16 fighters that have been in service since 1990.
Under the projects, Air Force technicians modified the F-16 structural frame to extend the service life of the aircraft, giving them an additional 8,000 hours of flight time, or equivalent to 20 years. It was complemented with the eMLU, which modernized the aircraft's avionics and enabled them to have beyond visual range (BVR) capabilities in launching missiles.
The upgrades, carried out at Iswahjudi Air Base in East Java and completed in February, were part of projects being carried out on 10 of the Air Force’s F-16 serving Iswahjudi's Squadron 3. Last week, the Air Force hosted a ceremony to mark the comeback of the two F-16s at the air base.
Air Chief Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo said Falcon STAR was an example of a “hybrid case”, which combined direct commercial sales -- a government-to-business military equipment purchase -- between Indonesia and Lockeed Martin, as well as foreign military sales between the two governments.
Under the arrangement, the Air Force is responsible for both planning and handling the upgrades, while Lockheed Martin supervises the complex modification process by the Air Force's technicians.
“Through this arrangement, the Air Force gains the biggest advantage: we can improve our human resources, particularly the technicians, in carrying out heavy-duty tasks and even factory-level maintenance work,” Fadjar said during the ceremony.
With the new experience the Air Force technicians gained from upgrading the two F-16 fighters, Fadjar said he hoped that the upgrades for the remaining eight aircraft could be completed on schedule by the end of 2021.
The coming project will also be carried out by the Air Force technicians but completely independent of Lockheed Martin’s supervision, according to Air Force spokesman Air Cdre. Fajar Adriyanto.
All eight F-16s will also get an advanced medium-range air-to-air missile installed, with a range of up to 110 kilometers. Its air-to-land missile will also be equipped with joint direct attack munition to provide greater accuracy.
The 10 F-16s under the Falcon STAR program were an older version of the 24 refurbished F-16s that were purchased by Indonesia in 2011. The company completed the delivery of all 24 jets, which are heavier but have a farther maximum ferry range than the 10 older F-16s, in 2018.
National Development Planning Minister Soeharso Monoarfa, who attended last week’s event, said the Falcon STAR program had highlighted just how relevant an alternative path to upgrade the primary weapons system (Alutsista) was.
“This is a way for us to improve our Alutsista's [capability] by upgrading our existing [Alutsista] with the latest technology. This is how we can make significant savings [in the state budget],” Soeharso said.
Muradi, a military expert from Bandung-based Padjadjaran University, said the eMLU was indeed the best option for the cash-strapped government to modernize its air defense system.
“For the next five to 10 years, this [eMLU] is a reasonable option for the government that has a limited budget [for defense spending],” Muradi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. “At least we are trying to catch up with our neighbors in air defense.”
The return of the F-16 jets into the Air Force’s service comes amid little progress having been reported on the purchase of 11 Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets in a US$1.1 billion deal that was signed in 2018. Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has also reportedly been interested in purchasing 15 Eurofighter Typhoons from Austria, although no concrete deals have been signed between the two countries.
Defense analysts have said the COVID-19 pandemic could derail Indonesia's defense procurement under its Minimum Essential Force plan -- a medium-term plan that was expected to reach its target by the end of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's second term in 2024 -- with much of the government's focus on health and economic recovery. Jokowi recently instructed Prabowo to purchase defense equipment from local manufacturers in an effort to boost the economy during the pandemic.
