Indonesia's Ministry of Defence States Purchase of Turkish KAAN Fighter Jets Uses Debt Scheme

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Ministry of Defence (Kemhan) has stated that the purchase of KAAN fighter jets from Turkish Aerospace Industries will use a foreign loan (PLN) mechanism, or debt. “Regarding the KAAN fighter jets. For KAAN, there is already an initial contract for a limited number that is currently in the activation process through the PLN (Foreign Loan) mechanism together with the Ministry of Finance,” said the Head of the Defence Information Bureau (Karo Infohan) of the Secretariat General of the Ministry of Defence, Rico Ricardo Sirait, in his statement to reporters on Friday (3/4/2026). This was conveyed by Kemhan in response to issues surrounding the procurement of KAAN fighter jets from Turkey. Previously, the Indonesian Government officially signed a contract to purchase 48 units of KAAN fighter jets from Turkey. The signing took place as part of the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 in Istanbul on Saturday (26/7/2025), and was witnessed directly by the Indonesian Minister of Defence, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin. “This signing is a follow-up to the Government-to-Government (G2G) agreement that was previously signed on 11 June 2025,” said the Head of the Defence Information Bureau of the Indonesian Ministry of Defence, Brigadier General TNI Frega Wenas Inkiriwang, in his statement on Monday (28/7/2025). Frega stated that this contract is not merely the procurement of advanced defence equipment, but also part of a long-term strategy to strengthen the capacity of the domestic defence industry. “The local industrial base to be established in Indonesia is expected to be tangible proof of a mutually beneficial partnership based on friendship,” said Frega.