As Jane's information group reported on November 15, 2022, the Indonesian Ministry of Finance allowed the Indonesian Ministry of Defense to receive foreign loans worth up to $3.9 billion for three separate proposals that were submitted by the Ministry of Defense to maintain the combat capabilities of the Indonesian Air Force. Two of these proposals include the purchase of 12 Dassault Mirage 2000-5 multirole fighters from the Qatar Air Force, and the purchase in France of a second batch of 12 to 18 Dassault Rafale multirole fighters.
Carrier-based fighters Dassault Rafale M aviation of the French Navy during their stay at the Indonesian airbase Sultan Iskandar Muda, 05/18/2019 (c) kompas.comThe main program is the purchase of additional Rafale fighters.
The Ministry of Finance of Indonesia, after coordination with the Ministry of National Development Planning, in September 2022, issued permission to organize a new credit line in the amount of $ 2.9 billion with a foreign lender for the second batch of 12-18 Rafales aircraft.
Recall that on February 10, 2022, the Ministry of Defense of Indonesia signed an agreement with the French company Dassault Aviation on the acquisition of 42 new-built Rafale fighters. The total cost of supplies under this agreement is estimated at $7 billion, excluding weapons. Due to the lack of such available funds in Indonesia, this Rafale purchase agreement was divided into three phased batches: the first batch - six aircraft (the formal contract for which was also signed in February), the second batch - 12-18 units, and the third batch - about 18-24 units.
Only the purchase of the first batch of six Rafale aircraft was formally secured with financing in the amount of $ 1.1 billion from the budget of the Ministry of Defense of Indonesia in 2021, but also from foreign loans (apparently also French). The approval of obtaining this loan was also somewhat delayed, and the contract for the first batch of six Rafale aircraft entered into force only on September 9, 2022 after Indonesia made advance payments at the expense of funds received from foreign creditors. It is reported that in case of continued sustainable financing, these first six Rafales will be launched by delivery to the Indonesian Air Force 39 months after the contract enters into force, that is, from the end of 2025, with the completion of delivery by the end of 2026. In November 2022, the first batch of Indonesian flight and technical personnel (six and eight people, respectively) was sent to France to undergo training on Rafale aircraft.
Indonesia needs $5.9 billion in foreign loans to finance the rest of the Rafale procurement program, but the sources of such loans have not yet been identified . However, now the permission (and guarantees) of the Indonesian Ministry of Finance for $ 2.9 billion will allow the Indonesian Ministry of Defense to negotiate with foreign creditors on obtaining loans for the purchase of the second batch of Rafale aircraft.
It is reported that another $ 734.5 million of guarantees from the Ministry of Finance of Indonesia are intended to seek loans to finance the purchase of 12 Mirage 2000-5 fighters (nine single-seat Mirage 2000-5EDA and three double Mirage 2000-5DDA), which are being withdrawn from service by the Qatar Air Force in connection with their replacement with Rafale fighters purchased by Qatar.
These Qatari Mirage 2000-5 fighters, built in 1997-1998 and in good technical condition, attracted the attention of a number of potential buyers - in particular, at one time the Indian Air Force negotiated their redemption, but did not reach an agreement for financial and intra-Indian bureaucratic reasons. In November 2021, it was reported that an agreement had been reached on the acquisition of these aircraft by the French private company Ares, which intended to provide them on a contract basis to provide combat training services to customers (in particular, the company already had a contract with the French Navy), but in the end the deal also did not take place. In August-September 2022, it was reported that Bulgaria was interested in acquiring or leasing these fighters as a "temporary" solution until it received the ordered American Lockheed Martin F-16V Block 70 fighters. But, according to the latest data, the option of buying the Qatari Mirage 2000-5 by Indonesia now looks the most likely.
