The Indonesian Defense Minister, Prabowo Subianto, has expressed interest in buying 15 second-hand Eurofighter Typhoons from the Austrian Air Force, stating that the procurement aimed to modernize the country’s Air Force. Austria purchased the 15 Typhoons back in 2002 in a contract worth USD 2.28 billion.
If carried through, Indonesia will be the first in Asia to operate the Typhoon. It is also expected that the typhoon would be revamped from Tranche 1 to Tranche 3A standards, providing it greater ground attack capabilities in addition to its current role in air-defense missions. Also, there is a possibility for the Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH consortium, which manufactures typhoons, to move one of its assembly lines from Spain to Bandung, West Java.
The consortium consists of Airbus, British BAE System and Italian Leonardo. Currently, it has a total of four assembly lines located in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Besides Eurofighter Typhoons, Indonesia has reported interest in France’s Dassault Rafale, and is eyeing Russia’s Su-35 Flanker-E. It is also working with South Korea to produce its own jet fighters, KF-X.
(Sources: Asia Times; Jakarta Post)
