Indonesia Commits to Acquiring Boeing F-15EX Combat Jets

Indonesia’s defense minister Prabowo Subianto confirmed Jakarta’s commitment to finalize a contract for 24 Boeing F-15EX aircraft during his visit to the United States.

The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by Air Vice Marshal Yusuf Jauhari, Head of Defense Facilities Agency, Indonesia Ministry of Defense, and Mark Sears, Boeing Fighters vice president and program manager, took place today at the company’s St. Louis facility following a tour of the F-15EX production line.

“We are pleased to announce our commitment to procure the critical F-15EX fighter capability for Indonesia,” said Minister Subianto who witnessed the MoU signing. “This state-of-the-art fighter will protect and secure our nation with its advanced capabilities.”

The F-15EX is the most advanced version of the F-15 ever built, with digital fly-by-wire flight controls, a new electronic warfare system, an all-glass digital cockpit, and the latest mission systems and software capabilities, which will all be leveraged in delivering the new F-15IDN.

In February, the U.S. approved the sale of Boeing F-15 Advanced Eagle combat aircraft to Indonesia for an estimated $13.9 billion. It covers up to 36 Indonesian-specific F-15IDN 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. Subianto said the $8.1 billion deal was part of series of agreements also including submarine development.

The F-15IDN 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-15IDN, it did 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-15IDN will be the most advanced version of the ‘Advanced Eagle' to date.