On the Purchase of Defence Equipment from France, Foreign Minister Highlights Technology Transfer

Foreign Minister Sugiono stated that defence cooperation with France is not limited to the purchase of major weapon systems (alutsista). According to Sugiono, the cooperation also encompasses technology transfer. The purchase of defence equipment is one of the outcomes of President Prabowo Subianto’s visit to France last week. “We know that we have obtained or purchased quite strategic defence equipment from France. And this also has implications that we must be able to improve our mastery of technology over these matters,” Sugiono said at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Wednesday, 22 April 2026. This Gerindra Party politician explained that the government is pushing for defence cooperation not to stop at the procurement of alutsista alone, but to develop in a broader direction. “We are not just buying, but also carrying out technology transfer and mastery of technology from the items we buy,” Sugiono stated. Furthermore, Sugiono said, this procurement of alutsista is a long-term process that has been ongoing even since Prabowo served as Minister of Defence during the Joko Widodo era. “That is what the President always reminds us, that alutsista cannot be bought like buying goods at a supermarket. If we need it, we want to have it, it can’t be done that way,” Sugiono said. He gave the example of the purchase of Rafale fighter jets produced by Dassault Aviation. Sugiono stated that the procurement of those fighter aircraft requires years from ordering to actual delivery to Indonesia. “How many years did we order it? About four years ago until it started rolling, right? So the process is long,” Sugiono remarked. The purchase of Dassault Rafale fighter jets is one of five new defence cooperation agreements agreed upon between the French Republic’s Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly and Prabowo, who was then still the defence minister, on Thursday, 10 February 2022. That agreement was then realised for the first time with the delivery of three Rafale fighter jet units on 27 January 2026. The arrival of the Rafales adds to the lineup of TNI Air Force fighter aircraft, which previously included T-50i, Hawk 100/200, Sukhoi Su-30, and F-16. On Tuesday, 14 April 2026, President Prabowo visited the Élysée Palace in Paris, France, for a tête-à-tête meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. Prabowo and Macron discussed issues to strengthen bilateral cooperation in several sectors during that meeting. “Including the procurement of alutsista and strengthening the defence industry, energy transition and development of new renewable energy, infrastructure and transportation, to education and creative economy,” as stated in the caption on the Instagram account @presidenrepublikindonesia. Nevertheless, neither Prabowo nor the Ministry of Defence has detailed what defence equipment Indonesia has purchased from France or the value of the agreement.