JAKARTA: The Indonesian authorities has delayed a plan to buy 12 Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets beforehand utilized by Qatar, because of restricted fiscal capability, a spokesperson for the defence minister stated.
Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak made the feedback in a panel interview with broadcaster TV One earlier this week, saying the delay was determined by the defence and finance ministries.
“The federal government … has delayed the acquisition of Mirage jets as a result of our fiscal capability, in the meanwhile, can’t assist such buy,” Dahnil stated on TV One, including that the navy would order a retrofit for its present Sukhoi and F16 plane as an alternative.
Dahnil, in addition to spokespeople for the defence and finance ministries, didn’t reply to Reuters request for feedback.
Indonesia inked a cope with a unit of Czech defence firm Czechoslovak Group (CSG) to purchase 12 Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets in January 2023, valued at €733 million (US$801.68 million), the defence ministry stated final 12 months.
The secondhand jets have been set to be delivered inside 24 months after the deal was signed. They have been meant for use whereas Indonesia waits for the arrival of among the 42 Rafale fighter jets that Jakarta had purchased in 2022 for US$8.1 billion.
The plan to purchase the Mirage planes has been criticised by some lawmakers as a result of the jets have been thought of previous.
The choice to delay the Mirage buy got here regardless of President Joko Widodo’s approval of a 20 per cent enhance in defence spending to the tip of 2024 to improve navy {hardware} to US$25 billion.
Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, the frontrunner for presidential elections due in February, has overseen the navy’s efforts to modernise its ageing fleet, which embody purchases of 12 new drones from Turkish Aerospace and fighter jets and transport helicopters from US corporations Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
