Military aircraft dominate air show
JAKARTA (JP): The massive presence of military aircraft, the most striking feature of Indonesia Air Show '96, has armsmakers vying for public attention and government buyers.
The military aircraft featured during the nine-day event include the French Dassault Rafale E-1, Russian Sukhoi Su-26, Su- 27B, Su-30, Su-31, Su-35 and MiG-29, and the American McDonnell Douglas F-15, F/A-18 and Lockheed-Martin F-117A.
Rosvoorouzhenie of Russia regards Indonesia as a potential buyer for its Sukhoi aircraft series.
McDonnell Douglas, one of the largest defense contractors in the U.S. and a leading producer of military aircraft, is also looking to sell to Indonesia and other Asian countries.
McDonnell Douglas currently produces jets for all four branches of the U.S. military. It makes the F/A-18 Hornet, the C- 17 Globemaster III, the AV-8B harrier II Plus, AH-64 Apache helicopter, the F-15 Eagle and the T-45 Goshawk Trainer.
The French Dassault Aviation group is displaying its fourth generation of the Rafale. The multipurpose twin-jet combat aircraft can perform air strikes or air superiority missions without changing the engine configuration, navigation system or weapons system.
Dassault also produces the Mirage 2000-5, which is designed for air defense and air superiority missions.
Raytheon International, an American firm which has opened a Jakarta representative office, produces the Hawk surface-to-air missile system. The system has been successfully coproduced by the U.S. and a group of European NATO allies.
Indonesia has expressed interest in buying up to nine F-16 fighter jets from the U.S.
The nine F-16s were part of 28 fighters originally bought by Pakistan. After Pakistan spent more than US$650 million on the aircraft, the U.S. halted the transfer because of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program.
The U.S., looking for a way out of the mess, found Indonesia interested in buying the discounted F-16s.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon, made by Lockheed Martin, is one of the most modern fighters in the world. Pakistan bought each aircraft for about $16 million. The price will likely decrease by up to 50 percent when offered to a third party.
During a visit here last month, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Shalikashvili, expressed hope that the deal would soon be finalized.
The Indonesian negotiating team is led by Minister of National Development Planning/Chairman of the National Development Planning Board Ginandjar Kartasasmita.
Indonesia currently has a decade-old squadron of 11 F-16s.
Air show participants, of which there are 280 firms from 22 countries, had mixed feelings about the organization of the show.
"It's odd that many young children have been allowed in today while visits by the general public are supposed to start only on Friday," commented a participating executive.
Boeing manager for international communications Jerry Johnson, and Raytheon's president for South Asia, A. Derek Fisher, said they were satisfied with the show.
The event, supposedly limited to business executives and professionals until Thursday, was overrun by people impatient to see the high-tech products.
A large crowd jammed the road outside Soekarno-Hatta airport to watch the entertaining aerobatic teams.
Yesterday Agung "Sharky" Sasongkojati of Indonesia's Elang Biru and Russian pilot Igor V. Votinsev put a Sukhoi Su-30 through its paces. (icn)