Indonesia orders Leonardo light fighters, eyes naval helicopters

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — The Indonesian Air Force will soon add yet another aircraft type to its eclectic fleet, after a deal with Leonardo for a dozen M-346F Block 20 light fighters was announced this week.

Lorenzo Mariani, Leonardo’s CEO and General Manager, said: “The introduction of the M-346F in Indonesia provides clear evidence not only of the aircraft system’s inherent quality, but also of the country’s continued and yet growing trust in our capabilities across domains.”

Leonardo said the sale “includes the localization of a range of support, maintenance, overhaul and training capabilities, as well as human capital development.”

The Italian-built M-346 is well known as an advanced jet trainer, but the F variant is a dedicated, multirole, light fighter. It has an active electronically scanned array radar, Link 16 data link, seven hardpoints for carrying weapons, aerial refueling capability and electronic countermeasures system.

The first M-346s should be handed over to Jakarta in 2030. This will make Indonesia the 23rd operator of the M-346, but the first Asian customer of the newest Block 20 variant.

“Just eight months after the first order, strong and rapid global demand for the latest version of the aircraft clearly demonstrates it is meeting customer requirements,” reads a Leonardo statement. The firm said the M-346 has logged 170,000+ flight hours to date.

Indonesia is currently inducting Dassault’s Rafale fighter, but the air force maintains a hotchpotch fleet that includes the American F-16, Russian Su-27/Su-30 and Korean T-50i.

Jakarta invested in the Korean KF-21’s development, and it has also professed devotion to the Turkish Kaan. However, neither has resulted in production contracts yet. Indonesia’s defense minister has also expressed a desire for the Chinese J-10.

If all these aspirations came true, Indonesia would end up operating perhaps the world’s most complicated and varied fleet of combat aircraft.

“The Indonesian Armed Forces have been facing existing challenges related to interoperability,” Alban Sciascia, director of consultancy firm PT Semar Sentinel Indonesia, told Defense News. “It’s no secret that Indonesia has been focusing on procuring different equipment from different countries, as part of its diversification strategy, and that its joint operations concept is limited because of the relative inability to get all this equipment interoperating on the battlefield.”

Meanwhile, Leonardo, PT ESystem Solutions and the Indonesian Ministry of Defense also signed a letter of intent on July 21 for the prospective procurement of Leonardo AW149 medium helicopters for the Indonesian Navy.

“If followed by a contract, this could lead to the supply of AW149 helicopters for search and rescue and disaster relief, for both land-based and embarked operations,” Leonardo said in a statement.

The navy currently operates eleven Airbus AS565 Panther helicopters, but as guardian of the world’s largest archipelagic waters, it has a requirement for more shipboard helicopters.

Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.

新西兰基督城——本周宣布与莱昂纳多公司达成协议，购买十二架M-346F Block 20轻型战斗机，印尼空军很快将在其种类繁多的机队中再添一种新机型。

莱昂纳多公司首席执行官兼总经理洛伦佐·马里亚尼表示：“M-346F 在印度尼西亚的引入不仅清楚地证明了该飞机系统的固有质量，也证明了该国对我们在各个领域的能力持续增长的信任。”

莱昂纳多公司表示，此次出售“包括一系列支持、维护、大修和培训能力的本地化，以及人力资本开发”。

意大利制造的M-346是一款著名的先进喷气式教练机，但其F型却是一款专用的多用途轻型战斗机。它配备了有源相控阵雷达、Link 16数据链、七个武器挂点、空中加油能力和电子对抗系统。

首批 M-346 坦克将于 2030 年交付给雅加达。这将使印度尼西亚成为 M-346 坦克的第 23 个运营商，但也是最新 Block 20 型号的首个亚洲客户。

莱昂纳多公司在一份声明中表示：“首笔订单下达仅八个月后，全球对最新款飞机的强劲且快速的需求就清楚地表明，该机型完全满足客户需求。”该公司称，M-346飞机迄今已累计飞行超过17万小时。

印尼目前正在引进达索公司的“阵风”战斗机，但其空军仍然维持着一支混杂的机队，其中包括美国的F-16、俄罗斯的苏-27/苏-30和韩国的T-50i。

雅加达投资了韩国KF-21战斗机的研发，也曾公开表示对土耳其卡安战斗机感兴趣。然而，目前尚未达成任何生产合同。印尼国防部长也曾表示希望引进中国的歼-10战斗机。

如果这些愿望全部实现，印度尼西亚最终可能会拥有世界上最复杂、种类最繁多的战斗机队。

“印尼武装部队一直面临着与互操作性相关的挑战，”印尼咨询公司PT Semar Sentinel Indonesia的董事Alban Sciascia告诉《防务新闻》。“众所周知，印尼一直致力于从不同国家采购不同的装备，作为其多元化战略的一部分，但由于难以让所有这些装备在战场上实现互操作，其联合作战概念受到限制。”

与此同时，莱昂纳多公司、PT ESystem Solutions公司和印度尼西亚国防部也于7月21日签署了一份意向书，拟为印度尼西亚海军采购莱昂纳多AW149中型直升机。

莱昂纳多公司在一份声明中表示：“如果后续签订合同，这将为搜救和灾害救援提供AW149直升机，用于陆基和舰载作业。”

目前，海军拥有 11 架空客 AS565 黑豹直升机，但作为世界最大群岛水域的守护者，它需要更多的舰载直升机。

戈登·阿瑟是《防务新闻》的亚洲特派记者。在香港工作20年后，他现居新西兰。他曾到访亚太地区约20个国家，参加过军事演习和防务展览。