You get a lot of fighter jet for $1.2B if you look in the right places. A bargain $25M each on volume orders. In addition Putin gets a win for Russian business of all sorts.
Jakarta Says It Will Buy 48 Fighter Jets
themoscowtimes.com
By Lyuba Pronina
Staff Writer
Misha Japaridze / AP
Indonesia intends to acquire more than 40 Sukhoi jets like these Su-30s based at the Zhukovsky airfield, outside Moscow.
Indonesia plans to buy 48 Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia, The Associated Press quoted Indonesia's military chief General Endriartono Sutarto as saying in Moscow on Thursday.
Sutarto, who was accompanying President Megawati Sukarnoputri on a trip to Russia this week, was quoted as saying Jakarta would purchase an initial batch of two long-range Su-27s and two Su-30s for delivery this year and at least another 44 planes over the next four years.
"We have decided to buy these jet fighters and ideally we need four squadrons of 12 planes each," Sutarto said.
Talks on a possible jet deal began in 1997, but were put off after the Asian financial crisis. "So, if some parties are shocked by the purchase I would have to say that this did not happen all of a sudden," air force commander Air Marshal Chappy Hakim told AP in Jakarta.
AP reported that the deal had been signed Wednesday in Moscow, but Russian officials could not confirm the report, and defense specialists were skeptical that Jakarta could afford to pay the estimated $1.4 billion price tag for the 48 jets.
Sukhoi chief Mikhail Pogosyan refused to comment Thursday, and his spokesman, Yury Chervakov would only say: "This year promises us a range of contracts that will considerably extend the geography of our deliveries. Indonesia does not have our jets yet, and this is a big event for us."
The only concrete contract signed this week was for delivery of two Su-27SKs and two Su-30MKs, which will be delivered before the fall, a source close to the negotiations said.
However, although the purchase of another 44 jets was discussed, the Indonesians only signed a letter of intent for eight additional jets, with part of the payment to be in commodities, mainly palm oil, the source said.
Rosoboronexport, the state-owned arms export agency, also declined to comment on the deal.
Although the two nations signed a friendship treaty and Megawati encouraged Russian businesses of all types to expand trade with her country, the focus of Megawati's visit was arms, with helicopters and armored vehicles on her shopping list in addition to the jets.
On Wednesday, she toured a Sukhoi testing ground in the Moscow region town of Zhukovsky and watched the performance of a Su-27. |
