AgustaWestland Caught Up In Indonesian Chopper Purchase Controversy

An Indonesian National Armed Forces’ team will investigate the purchase of a AgustaWestland AW101 helicopter.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) has said that it would summon the Air Force chief of staff Air Chief Marshall Agus Supriatna and other officials at the Air Force to seek clarification about the decision to purchase a British-made chopper, the AgustaWestland (AW) 101, which is reportedly worth US$55 million, Jakarta Post reported Tuesday.

“Yes, [Agus will be questioned] for sure and other relevant parties as well. Let’s wait for the results of the investigation. All relevant parties will be checked,” Wuryanto was quoted as saying to Jakarta Post on Tuesday without naming the date of the interrogation.

Wuryanto said that TNI commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo had sent a letter to cancel the purchase of the helicopter last year following an order from President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in December 2015 to reject the Air Force’s proposal to buy an AW 101 chopper for presidential purposes because it was too costly.

However, the Air Force recently made headlines after it insisted on buying the same type of chopper by reasoning that it was not for presidential purposes, but for military and search and rescue purposes.