Air Force officer defends government in Sukhoi deal

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An Air Force officer defended on Saturday the government's controversial decision to purchase Russian Sukhoi fighters, saying the country urgently needed jet fighters.

First Marshall Kusnadi Kardi, the Air Force chief of staff's deputy assistant for planning and budgetary affairs, said on Saturday the country needed more jet fighters to protect the country's airspace adequately.

Currently, Indonesia has 200 jet fighters, comprising F-16 Fighting Falcons, A4-Sky Hawks, Hawk 200s and F-5s. About 75 percent of the fighters, however, are unable to fly due to a lack of spare parts, Kusnadi said.

The military embargo imposed by the United States following the violence in East Timor in 1999 is largely to blame for the grounding of the American and British-made jet fighters.

Also, several jet fighters are already obsolete and in need of replacement. Several A-4 Sky Hawks, for example, were made in 1980. They are still being flown today, roughly 13 years after they should have been grounded in 1990.

"We have no choice (but to use the obsolete warplanes)," said Kusnadi after a discussion on the Sukhoi deal here on Saturday.

The government purchases four Sukhoi jet fighters last month to strengthen the country's air defenses.

While some people recognized the urgency of buying the fighters, some legislators have criticized the government for what they consider a lack of transparency in the deal.

Legislators were not consulted on the purchase of the planes, and money to pay for the fighters came from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) instead of the state budget.

The deal was prepared by the minister of industry and trade and not the minister of defense, whose responsibilities include planning and managing the purchase of military equipment from foreign parties.

Kusnadi said the country's poor air defenses had resulted in other countries in the region taking Indonesia lightly, reflected in the frequent violations of the country's airspace.

"We should have at least one squadron of Sukhoi. We need them as a deterrent," said Kusnadi. One squadron consists of 12 to 16 jet fighters.

The Air Force sought the Sukhois because it believes the fighters are sophisticated and come with more advantages than U.S.-made F-16s, for example.

The Sukhois, for example, can fly for up to four hours without refueling, compared to two hours for F-16s.

Kusnadi said the four Sukhoi purchased from Russia -- two SU- 27s and two SU-30 bombers -- were 80 percent complete.

"We have sent six pilots and 18 technicians to learn both how to fly and service the Sukhois," he said.

The jet fighters are scheduled to be completed and delivered to Indonesia in early September of this year, and the Air Force hopes to show off the jets to the public on Oct. 5, when the Indonesian Military commemorates its 58th anniversary.

The deal for the Russian planes, consisting of four Sukhoi jets and two MI-35 helicopters, was signed during President Megawati Soekarnoputri's visit to the country last month.

Cahyo Kumolo, a member of House of Representatives Commission I for security and political affairs said the House supported the purchase of the Russian planes because the Air Force was in urgent need of jet fighters.

"However, if there are procedural flaws in the deal, those should be accepted and corrected later on," said Cahyo, a legislator from the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

Another speaker at the discussion, Fadhil Hasan, however, questioned the process of the deal.

"The deal has a positive side in that Indonesia has diversified its sources of military equipment, so it does not have to depend on the U.S.

"But there are some questions that the government must answer in regard to the deal," Fadhil, from the Institute for the Development of Economics and Finance, told discussion participants.