Military aircraft dominate air show
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)