Jakarta (TDI): Indonesia has taken delivery of three Rafale fighter jets from France, marking the first installment of a multi-billion-dollar defense deal and a major upgrade to the country’s aging military fleet, a defense ministry official confirmed on Monday.
Jakarta, France’s largest arms client in Southeast Asia, has ordered up to 42 Rafales from Dassault Aviation, alongside French frigates and submarines, as President Prabowo Subianto, himself a former special forces commander, boosts defense spending.
“The aircraft have been handed over and are ready for use by the Indonesian Air Force,” said Defense Ministry spokesperson Rico Ricardo Sirait, confirming that the jets had arrived on Friday and are stationed at Roesmin Nurjadin Air Base in Pekanbaru on Sumatra’s western island, according to Reuters.
More Rafales are expected to arrive later this year, although Sirait did not specify how many.
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Indonesia has been actively modernizing its air force, exploring multiple options including China’s J-10 and the US-made F-15EX.
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In the longer term, the country has also signed a deal to acquire 48 Turkish-made KAAN fighter jets, a fifth-generation aircraft powered by General Electric F-110 engines, the same engines used in Lockheed Martin’s fourth-generation F-16 jets.
