The Dassault Aviation Rafale lands in Indonesia
Indonesia bought six Rafale. Waiting for better. Florence Parly's visit on Wednesday and Thursday could be an opportunity to complete the future Rafale fleet of the Indonesian Air Force.
Michael Cabirol 08 Feb 2022, 17:15 2 mins
Indonesia will fly on Rafale (Credits: DARRIN ZAMMIT LUPI)
New export success for the Rafale. According to corroborating sources, Dassault Aviation has signed an order with Indonesia for the sale of six Rafales. While waiting for better... The Minister of the Armed Forces, who will be in Indonesia on Wednesday and Thursday after having postponed her visit in January, could obtain a new, more substantial order (between 30 and 36 aircraft). This first order is certainly modest but it is important for the aircraft manufacturer: it put a foot in the door in a country, which had never bought combat aircraft from France. It is also the assurance not of guaranteed success for a future order but of solid and serious consideration on the part of Indonesia.
It is therefore a major success for the CEO of Dassault Aviation Eric Trappier, who has set himself the objective of selling the Rafale in a new country after filling up on the countries that use the Mirage 2000 (Egypt, Qatar, India, UAE and Greece), with the exception of course of Taiwan but also of Peru. It should be noted that Croatia, which had never owned tricolor fighter planes, offered itself twelve second-hand Rafales, a contract carried by the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA).
A budget taken from the Sukhoi
The contract for the six Rafales was probably financed by the Indonesian Ministry of Defence from a budget earmarked for the purchase of Sukhoi 35s (nearly 600 million dollars). The Americans strongly advised the Indonesians against signing a contract with the Russians, as they could have been sanctioned under the CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act), which punishes countries that buy arms from Russia. This cash therefore enabled Prabowo Subianto to buy his first six Rafales.
For the past two years, the Indonesian minister has also wanted to buy about 24 F-15 EXs from Boeing. Just as he wants to complete the Rafale fleet with about thirty additional aircraft from Dassault Aviation. Florence Parly's visit will be decisive for this new order.
L'Indonésie a acheté six Rafale. En attendant mieux. La visite mercredi et jeudi de Florence Parly pourrait être l'occasion de compléter la future flotte de Rafale de l'armée de l'air indonésienne.
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