Air Force to try out Sukhoi this week

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The new kids on the block in the Air Force's fleet of jet fighters -- two Sukhoi Su-27SKs and two Sukhoi Su-30MKs -- will be test-flown between Sept. 10 and Sept. 11 after their delivery from Russia last week.

Air Force chief of staff Marshal Chappy Hakim said two of the new warplanes were undergoing final checks, while the other two were being assembled at the Iswahyudi air base near the East Java town of Madiun and would be ready for their maiden flight soon.

"As soon as we complete assembling the jets we will try them out. But they will be used by the Air Force from Oct. 5," Chappy said on the sidelines of the Indonesian Air Games at Halim Perdanakusumah air base in East Jakarta.

During his visit to the Iswahyudi air base last week, Chappy witnessed the process of assembling the warplanes.

The Air Force has sent eight pilots and 18 technicians to Russia to undergo special training to operate the new warplanes, the first Russian-made aircraft since Indonesia turned to the West for warfare technology in the late 1960s.

The pilots and technicians are expected to arrive home on Tuesday for the test-flight.

Chappy said the eight senior pilots would also be tasked with training 12 colleagues, selected by the Air Force to fly the Russian jet fighters.

He said he needed 20 pilots in anticipation of the government's plan to buy more Sukhois over the next two years.

Previously, Indonesian Military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto told the House of Representatives the government would propose the purchase of 10 Su-27SKs and two Su-30MKs in the 2004 and 2005 fiscal years.

Chappy suggested that the House approve the proposal as the country was in dire need of jet fighters to safeguard its territory, spanning over thousands of kilometers.

He said the Air Force should have at least three squadrons of warplanes as reliable as Sukhois.

"At least two or three more squadrons will significantly contribute to our efforts to carry out duties, although this is still far from ideal," Chappy said.

Indonesia dropped its plan to buy one squadron of Sukhoi SU- 27s in 1997, due to the economic crisis.

The Air Force currently has 200 jet fighters, but 75 percent of them are unable to fly due to a lack of spare parts, as a result of the arms embargo imposed by the United States following the bloody violence in East Timor in 1999.