Translated material
Prospective client
Indonesia is interested in Russian weapons
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived in Moscow yesterday. Today in the Kremlin the guest will take part in the second Russian-Indonesian summit. His three-day official visit began on Wednesday from St. Petersburg. Yesterday the guest performed morning prayer at the St. Petersburg Cathedral Mosque. After the prayer, he met with the Mufti of St. Petersburg and North-West Russia Jafyar Ponchaev, with whom he talked about the life of Russian Muslims and visited the State Hermitage.More than a dozen joint documents are scheduled to be signed in the Russian capital, including on military-technical cooperation (MTC) until 2010, on countering international terrorism, and on establishing cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will then hold one-on-one talks with Vladimir Putin.
Of course, the main direction of cooperation is military-technical. Indonesia is a very promising client for the Russian military-industrial complex. “Indonesia has begun modernizing its armed forces and is interested in purchasing certain types of weapons from Russia,” says an expert from one of the defense enterprises, who wished to remain anonymous. In his opinion, within the framework of the agreement on cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, we will talk about Indonesia’s acquisition of a floating nuclear power plant, but the main part of the negotiations will concern the development of military-technical cooperation.
In St. Petersburg, the Indonesian President visited the Admiralty Shipyards shipbuilding enterprise, where he got acquainted with modern developments in the field of submarine shipbuilding, primarily non-nuclear submarines of the third generation of the Kilo class. Indonesia is also interested in purchasing BMP-3F infantry fighting vehicles for the Marine Corps, as well as Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopters for the Indonesian ground forces, and training officers in Russian military educational institutions. “Indonesia would have bought more. For these purposes, it received a loan from Russia in the amount of $1 billion, but there is still a problem with how Indonesia will pay for the loan,” the expert noted.
Back in the late 90s, Indonesia began to show interest in developing military-technical cooperation with Russia. Advisor to the General Director of the Sukhoi Company OJSC Alexey Poveshchenko says that back in 1997, Indonesia decided to purchase 12 Su-30 fighters, eight single-seat Su-30KI, four double-seat Su-30 MK aircraft and eight multi-purpose Mi-17 helicopters . “Indonesia considered several projects for the purchase of Russian fighters, but the financial crisis in Southeast Asia postponed the implementation of these plans,” Mr. Poveshchenko explained.
However, military-technical cooperation with Russia did not die out. The US imposition of an arms embargo on Jakarta in 1999 in connection with Indonesia's military operations in the former Portuguese colony of East Timor forced Indonesia to turn again to Russia. Then Jakarta purchased from Russia 9 thousand Kalashnikov assault rifles, a batch of BMP-80s, and 12 Mi helicopters of various modifications.
According to Mr. Poveshchenko, cooperation with Indonesia resumed for the Sukhoi company in 2003 after the signing of an agreement on military-technical cooperation. “In accordance with the agreement, we, through Rosoboronexport, delivered to Indonesia two Su-30MK multirole combat aircraft and two Su-27SK fighter aircraft. The Indonesian Air Force was attracted by the fact that Russian fighters of the Su-27 family can stay in the air with refueling for up to ten hours. As part of the contract, Indonesian pilots and technical personnel were trained at the airfield in Zhukovsky,” said Vremya Novostey’s interlocutor.
In accordance with the military-technical cooperation agreement, it is planned to supply spare parts for Russian fighters to Indonesia. In the future, projects for joint licensed production of spare parts and aircraft assembly may be considered. The Sukhoi company associates its prospects on the Indonesian market with the supply of multifunctional combat aircraft systems. In the future, it is possible to supply Su-30MK2 multirole fighters, Su-80 civil aircraft and Be-103 amphibious aircraft produced by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Production Association (KnAAPO) to Indonesia.