Indonesia, Japan on verge of record gunboat deal
Jakarta poised to purchase eight Mogami-class frigates to bolster its naval defenses amid rising Chinese incursions
By
JOHN MCBETH
APRIL 1, 2021
JAKARTA – Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is considering the purchase of eight stealthy Mogami-class multi-mission frigates as part of a plan to beef up the navy’s long-range patrol capabilities and strengthen the country’s strategic defense relationship with Japan.
If the purchase is completed, it would represent the biggest-ever arms deal between the two nations, significantly at a time the Biden administration seeks to build an alliance of like-minded nations to contain China’s maritime ambitions.
Prabowo and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi were in Tokyo last week for the first two-plus-two ministers meeting since 2015 as Indonesia quietly tries to counterbalance China’s increasingly aggressive posture in the southern reaches of the South China Sea.
Referring only to the transfer of fisheries surveillance vessels, Prabowo and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi signed an agreement on the transfer of military equipment and technology, one of the prerequisites Jakarta insists on in most new defense deals.
Government sources say the provisional plan calls for Japan to deliver four of the 3,900-ton frigates, beginning in late 2023 or early 2024, and for the remaining four to be built at state-run PT PAL’s Surabaya shipyard.
Indonesia had previously considered an order for six Danish Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates under a transfer-of-technology deal initially worth $720 million, but the sources indicate that Prabowo’s geopolitical thinking lies behind the switch to Japan.
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https://asiatimes.com/2021/04/indonesia-japan-on-verge-of-record-gunboat-deal/