Indonesia Rejects Gift of Mirage Airplanes

Friday, 20 March, 2009 | 17:23 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Indonesia has a gift of one squadron of Mirage combat airplanes from Qatar. According to Defense Minister, Juwono Sudarsono, the offer was rejected because of the limited budget available for their maintenance. “The gift is fine, but the maintenance is costly,” he said in his office yesterday.

The offer was made verbally by the Indonesian Ambassador in Qatar, Rozy Munir, six months ago. According to Juwono, all he needed was for him to send a letter to the Qatar Defense Minister.

At a glance, Juwono said, the eight-year old French airplanes would need high maintenance cost. Meanwhile, the budget of the Defense Department and that of the Indonesian Armed Forces’ budget could not afford such an expense. Moreover, they are currently focusing on the maintenance of cargo planes, such as the Hercules. Juwono added that the gift grant did not mean no costs would be involved. “There would still be costs, like mediator fees,” he said.

The Defense Department refused the offer for other considerations as well. According to Juwono, two problems would occur if the offer was accepted: the budget and the additional burden on the air hitter system, creating chaos to the existing system. The Indonesian Air Force currently owns American F-5 and F-16 combat planes and Russian Sukhois.

In terms of air strike capability, Juwono said, more important is the kind of deterrence technology. Quantitatively, we may not have enough airplanes. “That is why we bought the Sukhoi, even though they are expensive,” he said. Hence, our defensive system is still on a par with Singapore’s, particularly if they buy 24 F-15 airplanes next year.

According to Juwono, the Indonesian Air Force was initially interested in the offer from Qatar. However, the problem would arise in the allocation as well as in the availability of spare parts. “We must be certain the spare part manufacturer will still exist. They could well be extinct,” he said.