Indonesia may Equip Su-30, Su-27Aircraft with Ukrainian R-27 missiles

Indonesia could buy R-27 air-to-air missile from Ukraine to equip its Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets.

Ukraine is going to export aircraft missiles to Indonesia. They are intended for the Armed Forces of this country, Russian language website, topwar.ru reported quoting a representative of the Ukrainian foreign trade company "Progress."

Ukraine independently manufactured all the components of the missile, from the homing system to the solid fuel engine, the representative said. The R-27 missile is a Soviet/Russian origin missile. Moscow also exports the missiles under the same designation.

Details of the deal- value and number of missiles were not specified in the report. There was no official confirmation from “Progress” or from the Indonesian MoD.

However, Indonesia could be looking to equip its Su-30s and Su-27s with non-Russian sources of weapons due to U.S. sanctions against Russia that has degraded its ability to receive payment in hard currency. The Ukrainian R-27 missiles are a direct substitute for the Russian-made R-27 as they being made under license since the Soviet days.

The Ukrainian R-27 missiles are manufactured by state-owned firm, Artem which lists six variants of the missile in its inventory.

According to Artem information, “the R-27 is а medium range, guided air-to-air missile. It is designed to intercept and destroy hostile piloted aircraft, drone targets and cruise missiles in a long-range and close-in manoeuvrable air fight. It features a three-modular construction that incorporates the equipment and guidance section with a homing head, warhead, solid-propellant rocket motor and three hardpoints. It is compatible with the MiG and Su aircraft weapon systems.”