Cancelled F-16 purchase
Cancelled F-16 purchase
The deed has been done. In protest, the Indonesian government
has canceled the deal to buy eight American F-16As and one F-16B
fighter/attack aircraft for the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU).
The planes, from a batch of 28 which Pakistan bought for US$658
million, were impounded by the U.S. due to the suspected
Pakistani nuclear program. The Americans, holding Pakistani
money, then tried to foist the F-16s onto other countries.
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said: "We
don't want those planes -- they were offered to us." But at
between $8-9 million for each F-16 (plus radar and armament
upgrades), the air force top brass originally thought it was a
bargain.
Who stands to lose in this whole affair? Despite U.S. claims
that other countries are interested in purchasing the aircraft,
for the last two years the impounded Pakistani aircraft has been
decaying somewhere in the American desert. It will take more
money to make them acceptable for any other air force. If those
F-16s indeed have numerous interested buyers, the U.S. would have
sold more than nine long ago.
Meanwhile, aircraft manufacturers in other nations are hoping
to get orders for fighter aircraft from Indonesia. Malaysia, in
what was probably a signal to the West that it did not need to
rely entirely on them, ordered and took delivery of Russian MIG-
29s. India has purchased French Mirage 2000s and the top-of-the-
line Russian SU-30MK multi-purpose fighters. Indonesia, having
chosen the ten F-16s it already possesses as its front line
fighters, will most likely not buy American aircraft for a long
time to come.
Does this do the U.S. any good? Before this latest
cancellation, the respected aerospace weekly Aviation Week &
Space Technology wrote that Indonesian Air Force officials were
interested in buying up to 42 of the more advanced F-16C & D
models for the future. Last September, U.S. assistant secretary
of state Winston Lord was quoted as saying: "We intend to go
ahead with the (F-16) sale... we believe that Indonesia has
legitimate self-defense needs."
In a press conference, Alatas implied that a bill drafted by
U.S. Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy of Rhode Island to eliminate
$26 million in civilian aid to Indonesia, plus another $600,000
in military training was not helpful for nurturing good relations
between the two countries.
Privately, I have heard from a source close to the U.S.
Embassy that Kennedy, who made his first visit to Indonesia last
December, declined to closely listen to a briefing about this
country and its realities held by American officials on his
behalf. Instead, he rushed off to East Timor, where he only
seemed interested in reinforcing his preconceived notions about
Indonesia, that alien nation half a world away from Rhode Island.
FARID BASKORO
Jakarta