Indonesia touts KF-21 fighter jet need, but is mum on laggard payments

MELBOURNE, Australia — Indonesia has reaffirmed its commitment to develop a fighter jet with South Korea, as questions about long-overdue payments for Jakarta’s share of the development remain unanswered.

Muhammad Herindra, Indonesian deputy minister of defense, said in remarks carried on the agency’s social media channels that the Korea Aerospace Industries or KAI KF-21 Boramae fighter program remains of strategic value to the Southeast Asian country.

He argued that the KF-21 can meet the needs of Indonesia’s need for a fighter aircraft from 2025 onwards. With both countries having signed an agreement on technology transfer, the hope is that the program would support Jakarta’s aspirations to develop its own indigenous defense industry.

Herindra was speaking at a ceremony on Wednesday to mark the KF-21′s maiden flight , which took place at KAI’s facilities at Saechon in July.

The deputy defense minister also visited the 37 Indonesian engineering personnel stationed at KAI as part of the joint development program during his visit and expressed hope that the number of Indonesians involved in the program will grow to 100 by the end of this year.

However, he did not offer any more clarity on Indonesia’s arrears in paying its share of the program’s development costs. Indonesia agreed to contribute 20% of the costs when it joined the program in 2010 but started falling behind on payments since 2017.

According to South Korean media reports, Indonesia has failed to stick to a repayment schedule both countries agreed upon in November 2021 despite multiple promises to resolve the issue from various officials, including its president, Joko Widodo. As of July, the country was reportedly behind to the tune of $557 million.

Indonesia seeks to buy up to 50 KF-21s and is keen for local industry to take part in the manufacturing process. The country is additionally seeking more developmentally mature fighter types to meet its air-defense requirements and has signed a contract with France’s Dassault for six out of a potential 42 Rafale multirole fighters.

Indonesia is also considering the Boeing F-15 Eagle multirole fighter as part of its ambitious plans to modernize its armed forces, despite budget shortfalls exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite the issues with Indonesia’s contributions, South Korea continues to press on with the development of the KF-21, which it plans to put into production from 2026 to replace older F-4 and F-5 fighter jets.

KAI has also unveiled a model of a carrier-borne version of the KF-21, with South Korea considering the development of an aircraft carrier.

Mike Yeo is the Asia correspondent for Defense News.

澳大利亚墨尔本——印尼重申了与韩国共同研发战斗机的承诺，但关于雅加达应承担的研发份额的款项长期拖欠的问题仍未得到解答。

印尼国防部副部长穆罕默德·赫林德拉在该机构的社交媒体渠道上发表讲话称，韩国航空航天工业公司（KAI）的KF-21“波拉梅”战斗机项目对这个东南亚国家仍然具有战略价值。

他认为，KF-21战斗机能够满足印尼从2025年起对战斗机的需求。两国已签署技术转让协议，希望该项目能够助力雅加达发展本土国防工业的愿景。

赫林德拉周三在KF-21首飞纪念仪式上发表了讲话，该机于7月在韩国航空航天工业公司位于世川的工厂进行了首飞。

国防部副部长在访问期间还探望了驻扎在韩国航空航天工业公司（KAI）的37名印尼工程人员，他们是联合开发计划的一部分。他表示希望到今年年底，参与该计划的印尼人员数量能增加到100人。

然而，他并未就印尼拖欠该项目发展费用份额的问题提供更多解释。印尼在2010年加入该项目时同意承担20%的费用，但自2017年起开始拖欠款项。

据韩国媒体报道，尽管印尼总统佐科·维多多等多位官员多次承诺解决还款问题，但印尼仍未能遵守两国于2021年11月达成的还款计划。截至7月，印尼据称已拖欠5.57亿美元。

印尼计划采购至多50架KF-21战斗机，并希望本土企业参与生产过程。此外，印尼还在寻求技术更成熟的战斗机以满足其防空需求，并已与法国达索公司签署合同，订购42架“阵风”多用途战斗机中的6架。

尽管受新冠疫情影响，印尼的预算短缺问题日益严重，但印尼仍在考虑将波音F-15“鹰”式多用途战斗机纳入其雄心勃勃的军队现代化计划中。

尽管印尼的贡献存在问题，韩国仍继续推进 KF-21 的研发，计划从 2026 年开始生产该型战机，以取代老旧的 F-4 和 F-5 战斗机。

韩国航空航天工业公司（KAI）还公布了KF-21舰载型的模型，韩国正在考虑研制航空母舰。

Mike Yeo 是《防务新闻》的亚洲通讯员。