Indonesia receives more fighter jets from Russia

JAKARTA - Indonesian air forces recently received two of the six Sukhoi Su-30 MKII fighter jets it ordered from Russia, lifting its Sukhoi family aircrafts in operation to 12.

The delivery of the two Su-30 MKIIs was conducted late last week, and the fighters arrived in Indonesia's Hasanuddin air force base in Makassar, South Sulawesi province on Friday evening.

Those planes, delivered in unassembled form and transported by Russian strategic transport plane Antonov 124 Ruslan, arrived in Makassar along with 17 crews from Sukhoi plant Komsomolsk-na Amure Aircraft Production Association (KNAPO) tasked to assemble the fighter jets in the Indonesian air force base.

Hasanuddin air force base spokesperson, Muliadi, said the delivery of the two planes was part of Indonesia's order on six Su- 30 MKII planes from Russia. He added that the remaining four jets would arrive in the middle of this year.

The Su-30 MKII is a twin-engine, two-seater fighter jet with flight range of 3,000 km and a payload of eight tons of armaments.

However, due to budget constraint, Indonesia did not order missiles and other armaments suitable for the fighter jets. The plane's weapons were only the internal cannons attached to their original specifications.

"The weapons will be purchased separately after the jet fighters are assembled, just like other batches," Muliadi was quoted by a local media as saying.

The initial delivery of Sukhoi fighter jets to Indonesia commenced in 2003, with the first type arriving in Iswahyudi air force base in Madiun, East Java, turning out to be Sukhoi 27 SKM, which was codenamed by western military as the Flanker.

The Sukhoi fighter jets base was moved to Hasanuddin air force base in 2005 and was designated to be under the command of the air forces' 11th squadron. ?

Before the operation of Sukhoi family fighter jets, F-16 A/B Block 15 was the most reliable fighter jets applied by Indonesian air forces to deal with threats from the air. The air forces currently operate 10 F-16 A/B which were acquired in 1989.

Besides the Sukhoi fighter jets, Indonesia is now expecting the delivery of 24 F-16 C/D Block 25 fighter jets from the United States.

As part of its massive efforts to modernize its air forces, Indonesia has planned to acquire anti-insurgency propeller planes from Brazilian plane maker Embraer. Four of a total of 16 EMB-324 Super Tucano ordered from Embraer have already been in service under the air forces' 21st squadron, to replace the US made OV-10 Bronco.

Meanwhile, T-50 Golden Eagle produced by South Korean Airspace Industry has been opted by Indonesian air forces to replace the British-made Hawk 100/200 Mk53 planes. The light attack/trainer planes will serve in the 15th squadron.

Indonesia also has planned to procure six C-130 Hercules military transport planes to serve under the 31st and 32nd squadrons. It would also receive four similar planes granted by Australian military.

In addition, the country also has ordered nine medium transport planes C295 from Spain's plane maker Airbus Military. Production of the plane will be jointly carried out with Indonesia's PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI).

Under longer-term plans, Indonesia has carried out cooperation with South Korean aviation industry in designing and producing the so-called 4.5 generation fighter jet, codenamed KFX. The 2-billion- U.S. dollar project is expected to roll out the initial prototype of the plane in 2020.