Indonesia plans to purchase more Hawk jet fighters

PEKANBARU, Riau (JP): Bilateral discussions between Indonesia and Britain for the purchase of 18 more Hawk-100 trainers and Hawk-200 all-weather attack fighters will not be hampered by the change in the British government, a minister said yesterday.

Speaking after the official handover of eight Hawk-100s and 16 Hawk-200s to the Indonesian Air Force at the Simpang Tiga airbase, Minister of Defense and Security Edi Sudradjat said the Hawk fighters are the "most appropriate choice".

"The political change in Britain will not affect our negotiations for an additional purchase of 18 Hawk-100s and Hawk- 200s," he said.

All of the Hawk warplanes were made in Britain, which is now ruled by the Labor Party.

The Labor Party defeated the Conservative Party after 18 years in opposition in a general election on May 1.

In December, a British non-governmental organization protested the export of these warplanes to Indonesia and damaged one of the jet fighters.

Present at the ceremony were Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung, chief of the Indonesian Air Force Vice Marshal Sutria Tubagus, chief of the Air Force's first regional operation command Rear Marshal Purnomo Sidhi, Riau Governor Soeripto, chief of the Bukit Barisan regional military command, which oversees North and West Sumatra, Riau and Jambi, Maj. Gen. Sedaryanto, and a number of medium and high ranking military officers.

Edi told the Indonesian jet fighter pilots to take good care of the newly purchased 24 Hawks and urged them to consider safety first before doing their tasks.

"Learn your jet fighting and maintenance skills well, so you can be accountable to the people for their money spent on the purchase of the jet fighters," he said.

He said the defense and security ministry would always be careful in establishing its security and defense strategy.

"We finance our military budget from the people's money," he said.

With the handover of the jet fighters, the Indonesian Armed Forces is now progressing in modernizing its military equipment, he said.

Edi also said it was important to improve the skills of the fighter pilots and support personnel.

"The Indonesian Air Force is identical with technology development. To become acquainted with technology, people must develop their skills," he said.

Edi said Indonesia has only a limited number of jet fighters because the country is concentrating on improving the welfare of its citizens.

"However, a limited number of jet fighters does not mean that we fail to cover Indonesia's air," he said.

Negotiations for the purchase of the British-made jet fighters started in 1991, while the deal was signed in 1993 with a total contract of 442.5 million pound sterling (US$40.85 million).

Indonesia is strengthening its military defense in the western Indonesia because of the robust development in the region, especially around the Riau islands bordering Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, the Philippines and Thailand.

Last October, the Armed Forces carried out war games that involved all of its 63 jet bombers, 40 warships and 100,000 personnel in the Natuna waters to ensure the security of the gas- rich island. The gas is expected to be explored next year in cooperation with U.S. and British mining companies.

Indonesia has also purchased 12 F-16 Falcon fighters from the U.S. and several F-5 Tigers, all of which are stationed in East Java's Madiun and Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma airbases. Two of the F-16 bombers crashed in routine training in 1993, and another in March this year.

Indonesia plans to buy 12 more F-16s, which the U.S. put up for sale in 1995. (imn)