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)