Three More Rafale Fighter Jets to Arrive in Indonesia Mid-Year

The Ministry of Defence stated that three more Rafale fighter jets will arrive in Indonesia from France in the middle of this year.

Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait, Head of Information at the Ministry of Defence’s Secretariat General, said that in the initial phase, three Rafale fighter jets had already arrived in January.

“Three Rafale units arrived in January and have been stationed in Riau, and we expect the next batch to arrive possibly in the middle of the year,” Rico said when confirmed on Thursday (26/2).

He explained that the aircraft handover process is planned for the middle of the year by the President of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto.

Rico said the aircraft would arrive in several stages.

“At that time, there will be a reception event which may have been prepared centrally and will be held together with Mr. President. Let’s wait for the date. There are still many batches because the number of Rafales is indeed 42 units. This second batch is likely to be three more, so it will be six in total,” he said.

Indonesia previously signed a contract to procure 42 fighter jets from Dassault Aviation.

The first phase was signed by the Ministry of Defence with Dassault in 2022 for six aircraft units.

Furthermore, a contract for the second phase of procurement was signed in August 2023 for 18 units. Then the third phase on January 8, 2023, for 18 aircraft.