Indonesia Look To Buy C-27J Military Transport Aircrafts

Indonesia Looking to buy an unspecified number of Alenia Aeronautica C-27J Spartans to augment its fleet of military transport aircraft.

It will assess the aircraft based on its "operation requirements, technical specifications [and] logistics support", says air force chief Air Chief Marshal Imam Sufaat.

Apart from the C-27Js, the service is also reportedly considering the Airbus Military C-295 that is licence-produced in Bandung by state-owned Indonesian Aerospace.

"We also need a middle transport fleet. This could be met with the procurement of C-27J Spartans. A CN-235 has the capacity to transport about three tonnes of load while a Spartan is able to carry a load of up to 10 tonnes," the air force chief adds.

The service is focused on the purchase of transport aircraft due to an anticipated increase of military operations in the next five years, he adds.

Alenia is waiting for the air force to provide information on the number of aircraft needed and delivery schedule before it offers its aircraft.

"Indonesia has a need for transport aircraft. Of course this is of interest for Alenia Aeronautica, as we believe that the C-27J tactical transport aircraft can meet these requirements. We believe that their requirement could be quite urgent: air mobility is certainly crucial for a country like Indonesia," adds the Finmeccanica subsidiary.

In addition to Fokker F-27s and CN-235s, the Indonesian air force also operates de Havilland Canada DHC-5s, Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules and Lockheed L-100s, Fokker F-28s and Airbus Military C-212s for its military airlift and transport.

The C-27J is operated or has been ordered by several air forces around the world, including Bulgaria, Ghana, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Morocco, Romania and Slovakia. The US Air Force and US Army also operate the type as the Joint Cargo Aircraft.

India has issued a request for information for 16 medium military transport aircraft, to which Alenia has responded. Taiwan is also looking to buy the C-27J as well.

Indonesia To Get T-50 Golden Eagle Advanced Jet Trainer From KAI

Indonesia has selected Korea Aerospace Industries as the preferred bidder for its 16-aircraft advanced jet trainer requirement, paving the way for the first export sale of the T-50 Golden Eagle.

KAI received a letter from the Indonesian government on 12 April informing it of the decision, says an industry source. The source understands that preferred bidder status means that Indonesia will conduct commercial negotiations exclusively with KAI. These are likely to take between three and four months to finalise, the source adds. Indonesia also desires industrial co-operation on the project.

The news represents an important win for the T-50, which has previously lost competitions to the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

An alleged spying incident at a Seoul hotel in January appeared to have threatened the Indonesia T-50 deal. A member of an Indonesian defence delegation visiting South Korea returned to his room to find three individuals looking at his laptop computer. The individuals fled and their identities were never determined.

The incident received wide publicity in the South Korean and Indonesian press, although the governments in Seoul and Jakarta played down its importance.

According to media reports in South Korea, Seoul told Jakarta that if it chose the T-50, then it would consider buying more Indonesian Aerospace-built CN-235 transport aircraft. The South Korean air force and coastguard already operate the type.

The other contenders in the competition to replace Indonesia's BAE Systems Hawk 53s were the Aero Vodochody L-159 and Yakovlev Yak-130. An Indonesian air force delegation visited South Korea in April 2010 to test-fly the nation's air force T-50s.

Jakarta's T-50 decision follows other efforts to upgrade the nation's air force. In November 2010 it purchased eight Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to replace Vietnam War-era Rockwell OV-10 Broncos. Then in January 2011 it awarded Arinc Engineering Services a $66.7 million contract to modernise five of its Lockheed Martin C-130B transports.

Indonesia is also considering upgrading its 10 Lockheed Martin F-16A/B fighters. Media reports have also said that the nation will buy 24 ex-US Air Force F-16s, but this has not been officially announced by either Washington or Jakarta.

Indonesia Orders 16 T-50 Golden Eagle Jet Trainers

Indonesia has placed a $400 million order for 16 Korea Aerospace Industries T-50 Golden Eagle advanced jet trainers, the type's first export sale.

The Indonesian Defense Ministry signed the deal on Wednesday, said Enes Park, executive vice president of KAI. The contract stipulates that the aircraft must be delivered 18 months after the signing of a loan agreement between the South Korean and Indonesian governments.

The announcement follows a 12 April letter the Indonesian government sent to KAI designating the South Korean firm as the preferred bidder to replace Indonesia's BAE Systems Hawk 53s. The letter all but sealed the fate of the T-50's rivals in the competition, the Aero Vodochody L-159 and Yakovlev Yak-130.

The 16 General Electric F404-powered aircraft will be produced at the KAI facilities in Sacheon, South Korea. They will shipped to Indonesia partially disassembled, where Indonesia state aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia/Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) will reassemble them.

"The aircraft is certainly capable of being ferried, but transporting them meets Indonesian industrial regulations," says Park. "(Re-assembling) the aircraft will help them improve their capabilities."

Despite the best efforts of KAI and the South Korean government, theT-50 lost trainer competitions in both the United Arab Emirates and Singapore to the Alenia Aermacchi M-346.

The T-50 will again square off against its rival in Israel and the USA. In 2012, the Israeli Air Force will decide between the T-50 and M-346 to replaces its Douglas A-4 Skyhawk trainers. In early May, Alenia Aermacchi general manager Alessandra Franzoni said America's T-X competition to replace the 1960s era Northrop T-38C will be a two horse race between the T-50 and M-346.

Park adds that there could be a possibility of selling Indonesia the T-50's combat variant, the F/A-50. "While there have been no concrete discussions on this, there is a distinct possibility of this in the future."

Indonesia is also still involved in South Korea's proposed KF-X programme, says Park.

At the Farnborough air show in 2010, South Korea signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia, with the latter to potentially contribute up to 20% of the KF-X development costs. Indonesia is currently looking at how it might participate in the project.

The T-50 buy is just the latest example of Jakarta's efforts to upgrade the nation's air force. In November 2010, it purchased eight Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to replace Vietnam War-era Rockwell OV-10 Broncos. In January 2011 it awarded Arinc Engineering Services a $66.7 million contract to modernise five Lockheed Martin C-130Bs.

Indonesia is also considering upgrading its 10 Lockheed Martin F-16A/B fighters. Media reports have said Jakarta will buy 24 ex-US Air Force F-16s, but this has not been officially announced by either Washington or Jakarta.

Indonesia To Get 50 KF-X South Korea's Fighter Jets

Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Monday that Indonesia will receive 50 units KF-X/F-X jet fighters from South Korea as a result of Cooperation of two countries.