Indonesia delays purchase of Qatari Mirage 2000-5 fighters due to lack of funding

The Indonesian government has decided to postpone its plans to purchase 12 second-hand Dassault Mirage 2000-5 fighters that the Qatar Emiri Air Force [QEAF] is about to withdraw from active service due to fiscal constraints, the Defense Ministry said.

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Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak, spokesman for Indonesia’s Defense Ministry, made the remarks during an interview with TV One earlier this week, in which he said the delay had been decided by the Defense and Finance ministries.

«The government… has delayed the purchase of Mirage aircraft because our fiscal capacity, at the moment, cannot support such a purchase,» Dahnil told TV One. Instead, he added, it will look to upgrade and extend the service life of Sukhoi and F-16 fighter jets currently available to the Indonesian Air Force [Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Udara [TNI-AU].

Indonesia signed an agreement with Czech defense firm Czechoslovak Group (CSG) for the procurement of the 12 Mirage 2000-5 fighters in January 2023, valued at €733 million ($801.68 million), the Defense Ministry said last year.

The second-hand fighters were to be delivered within 24 months of signing the agreement. The aim was to use them to accelerate the withdrawal from service of Russian Su-27 and Su-30 heavy fighters, whose availability had declined significantly in recent years, and to give the pilots and technical staff of its Air Force the opportunity to begin familiarizing themselves with French material, while awaiting delivery of the first Rafale fighters acquired in 2022 for $8.1 billion.

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See also: Indonesia still not paying its share of the cost of the KF-21 Boramae program and South Korea studies alternative partnerships

Or maybe the problem is political?

According to Reuters, the delay in the purchase of the Qatari Mirage could be due to the proximity of the presidential elections in Indonesia.

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is the front-runner for the February presidential election, and his plan to buy second-hand fighter jets is being heavily criticized by some lawmakers, who question the value of the deal and worry about the operational cost of the equipment.