Indonesia, U.S. Discuss F-15IDN Fighter Jet Procurement

The United States Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. hosted Indonesian Air Chief Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo for an official counterpart visit May 19 during which he discussed the sale of F-15IDN aircraft to Indonesia, besides upgrading existing jets.

As part of the visit, Fadjar received a full honors arrival and was awarded a Legion of Merit at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, attended both an office call with Brown and staff talks at the Pentagon, and participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

The two leaders also discussed Indonesia’s defense modernization initiatives, including Indonesia’s proposed F-15IDN aircraft procurement and upgrades to existing platforms, and how an air component can enable greater maritime domain awareness, the Air Force confirmed in a release.

In February, the U.S. approved the sale of Boeing F-15 Advanced Eagle combat aircraft to Jakarta for an estimated $13.9 billion. It covers up to 36 Indonesian-specific F-15ID variants of the Advanced Eagle, as well as related equipment, spares, mission kit, training, and support. Besides the aircraft's internal M61A Vulcan Gatling gun, weapons are not included in the package.

A week before the U.S. greenlit the sale, Indonesia signed a contract with French company Dassault Aviation for 42 Rafale fighters. Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said the $8.1 billion deal was part of series of agreements also including submarine development.

The F-15ID is the latest version of the export Advanced Eagle that has previously been sold to Saudi Arabia as the F-15SA and to Qatar as the F-15QA, and that features a number of capability enhancements over earlier generation models. Although the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notification does not provide too many details as to the likely end configuration of the F-15ID, it does note that it is to be equipped with the AN/ALQ-250 Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability Systems (EPAWSS) as fitted to the U.S. Air Force's F-15EX Eagle II. This feature indicates that the F-15ID will be the most advanced version of the ‘Advanced Eagle' to date.