Air Force to acquire three Sukhoi fighter aircraft this year

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Three Russian-made Sukhoi or SU-30 jet fighter planes are to arrive in Indonesia later this year, Air Force Chief of Staff Marshal Subandrio said here on Wednesday.

"The three Sukhoi fighter planes from Russia are expected to arrive in Indonesia before the National Defense Forces (TNI) anniversary on October 5," Subandrio said after attending a function to mark the Air Force`s 62nd anniversary at Halim Perdanakusuma airport.

He said the three jet fighter aircrafts would become part of the Air Force`s Sukhoi Squadron V based in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

"The new fighter aircraft from Russia will heighten the state of the Air Force`s operational readiness," Subandrio said, adding that the Defense Ministry was at present negotiating with Russia about the planes` delivery to Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the defense ministry`s director general for defense facilities, Rear Marshal Erik Herryanto, said the ministry and Sukhoi aircraft maker Rosoborn Export would soon finalize negotiations on the supply of six Sukhoi fighter planes to Indonesia.

"The process to purchase the six Sukhois is almost completed and we are now only waiting for the issuance of a letter of credit by the finance ministry," Heryanto said.

The letter-of-credit issuing process would take three to six months so it was still difficult to say when exactly the Sukhois would be delivered, he said.