Air Force officer defends govt in Sukhoi deal
Air Force officer defends govt 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.