Indonesia Defence Minister meets counterparts from different countries to finalise equipment acquisition deals

JAKARTA: Indonesia's Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto met with his counterparts from different countries recently in a bid to finalise several military equipment acquisition deals.

On November 25, Mr Subianto met with his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu in Jakarta when they discussed the purchase of two French Scorpene-class attack submarines.

In February Indonesia already ordered 42 of France's Rafale fighter jets worth US $8.1 billion.

Mr Subianto welcomed his American counterpart Lloyd Austin to Jakarta earlier in November.

They discussed Indonesia's plan to purchase F-15 fighter jets. The Indonesian defence minister described the talks as being in an advanced stage.

He said at a press conference with Mr Austin on November 21 that the Indonesian government's negotiations have advanced very well.

He said that he supports the Minister's efforts to modernise defence systems and capabilities and that we want to be helpful in any way we can. Analysts told CNA that Indonesia s decision to renew its military equipment is timely. A closer look at the country's defence procurement strategy suggests that there may be potential pitfalls, including whether the equipment could work well with each other.

Given the size of the Indonesian archipelago, which stretches more than 5,000 km from east to west and more than 1,700 km from north to south, observers have said that its military equipment is insufficient.

Defence think tank Marapi Consulting and Advisory said that the country s military equipment is ageing because of the sinking of Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala 402 last year.

The equipment procurement is to replace those that are already old.

Some equipment is 30 years old, some 40 years old, some 50 years old. This is a very reasonable move, said Mr Ali.

KRI Nanggala 402, for example, was built in 1981 in Germany and underwent a two-year refit in South Korea that was completed in 2012.

It was part of a torpedo drill in north Bali waters last year when it went missing.

After days of search efforts that included foreign assistance such as Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, the military chief announced that it sank in Bali's sea, killing all 53 crewmen on board.

In a bid to replace old equipment, Indonesia has increased its defence budget.

The budget last year was 118.2 trillion rupiah US $7.2 billion and this year it went up to about 133 trillion rupiah.