Rosoboronexport Smells Blood In Indonesia Tank Deal

As Indonesia's deal with Germany for the procurement of Leopard tanks comes under attack by human right groups with a possibility of the deal being delayed or canceled, Russia's Rosoboronexport (RoE) has offered its T90s tank at the fifth edition of the Indo Defense 2012 show in Jakarta. “The T-90S main battle tank (MBT) shows good sales prospects in this region’s market. The T-90S MBT has demonstrated excellent performance during most exacting trials in one of the countries in the region", a RoE statement said. The Indonesian Defence Ministry had ordered 100 Leopard battle tanks, 50 lighter Marder tanks and several supporting vehicles from German defence company Rheinmetall AG. However, the deal is being opposed by human rights groups in Indonesia and the German Green party, who insist that the Indonesia military was still committing human rights violations in the Papua region. Following this opposition, the delivery has been delayed and there are apprehensions that Germany may renege on the deal. "Indonesia is one of Russia's major partners in the region, and it is only natural that we expect progress in many areas of our military technical cooperation with this country, following our talks in Jakarta. We offer our Indonesian partners various projects. It can be licence assembly, joint item development, or assistance in refining products developed by Indonesia. This also involves technologies transfers, which is now especially important for Indonesia striving to develop its own defence industry," said Viktor Komardin, deputy director general of Rosoboronexport and head of the delegation to the Indo-Defence 2012 exhibition. Rosoboronexport will also showcase air defence systems such as the Buk-M2E missile system, Pantsir-S1 gun/missile system, and Igla-S man-portable air defence missile system. Combat helicopters like the Ka-52 and Mi-28NE, Mi-26Т2 heavy-lift transport with the upgraded avionics suite and Ka-226T light multipurpose helicopters will take centre stage at the show.