Indonesia offers to buy Austrian Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets

Austrian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft.

Austrian media outlet Die Presse reported on Sunday that Indonesia’s defense minister, Prabowo Subianto, had sent a letter to his Austrian counterpart Klaudia Tanner offering to buy the country's 15 Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft.

“To achieve my target to modernising the Indonesian Air Force, I would, therefore, like to propose to enter into official deliberations with you, your excellency, on purchasing all 15 Eurofighter Typhoon from Austria for the Air Force of the Republic of Indonesia,” said Prabowo in his letter.

The letter, dated July 10, was sent a few days after Tanner said the country will continue to use its 15 Eurofighter Typhoons until the contract with Airbus expires. Austria's position regarding the Indonesian proposal is currently unclear as the Austrian minister has left no statements. However, the Indonesian defense minister seems very interested in the European jet and relies on the problems that Austria is complaining about the Eurofighter order.

“As I was always impressed by European technologies and know-how, I would kindly ask your support for the following proposal, which hopefully leads to a mutual benefit for our two countries,” Prabowo said.

Austria bought Typhoons in 2003 for € 1.75 billion, but the government subsequently accused Airbus and EADS of fraud and deception regarding the actual costs of the program and the operating costs of the aircraft. The cuts to the defense budget forced the Austrian Air Force to reduce the use of the Typhoon and partially introduce the Saab 105 for aerial surveillance. The deal with Indonesia would allow Austria to replace the Eurofighter with a less expensive jet while Indonesia would get aircraft with low flight hours.

Indonesia has also expressed interest in two squadrons of F-16C / D Block 72 and, more recently, launched a request to potentially acquire eight Bell-Boeing MV-22s. In addition, the nation is negotiating with Russia to purchase 11 Sukhoi Su-35 fighters to replace Northrop F-5 aircraft.

Written by Matteo Sanzani