Habibie says Sukhoi jet fighters costly

Habibie says Sukhoi jet fighters costly

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Research and Technology B.J.
Habibie reiterated yesterday the high price that the government
would eventually have to pay for its decision to buy Sukhoi jet
fighters.

Habibie said at a hearing with the House of Representatives
Commission X for research and technology that the government
should be willing to allocate more funds to the state budget to
pay for maintenance of the Russian-made aircraft.

"From a technological point of view, the Sukhoi are in the
same league as their Western-made counterparts, or even a little
bit better.

"But it (Sukhoi) needs spare parts changes quite often. It has
a far shorter time-between-overhaul (TBO), probably 50 percent to
60 percent of the NATO standard," Habibie said.

He said the shorter TBO would mean more frequent overhauls,
and therefore brought about higher operational costs which could
place a heavy burden on the state budget.

"Consequently, the government should increase its budget for
the Air Force," he said, adding that he submitted to President
Soeharto an analysis of the fighters following a Russian trip.

Habibie was responding to House legislators who queried his
stance on the Sukhoi purchase. Laksmiari Priyonggo of the
Indonesian Democratic Party said that Habibie looked disappointed
with the government's choice of the Sukhoi.

Habibie had previously predicted that the Sukhoi would cost
Indonesia more money.

The government opted last month to purchase 12 Sukhoi SU-30K
fighters and eight MI-17-IV helicopters from Russia. It canceled
the purchase of American-made F-16s following an attempt by the
United States to link the planned deal to Indonesia's human
rights record.

State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar
Kartasasmita announced last week that Indonesia had agreed to
fund the purchase of the Sukhoi jet fighters and helicopters
through a counter-purchase deal worth US$500 million.

Ginandjar, who led a team that negotiated the purchase of the
aircraft, said Indonesia did not push for an offset deal.

Habibie said last month he expected a 35 percent offset deal
from the purchase. The offset scheme would have allowed state-
owned aircraft manufacturer PT IPTN to produce certain spare
parts for the Russian aircraft.

Habibie said yesterday he was not disappointed with the
government decision not to include his proposal in the deal.

"No problem. It doesn't mean anything to IPTN because we are
now concentrating on producing N-250 aircraft. We already have a
big job," he said.

Habibie said he went to the Bandung aircraft factory every two
days as the company was pushing the sales of the 50-seat plane.
(amd)