Indonesia remains committed to the KF-21 Boramae program with South Korea

After having participated in the development of the T/F/A-50 Golden Eagle training and attack aircraft with South Korea, and having acquired 19 T-50s for the training of its pilots, Jakarta had committed in 2010 to participate in the financing of the new generation combat aircraft program started in Seoul up to 20%, with the participation of the national company Indonesian Aerospace, in particular for the design as well as the manufacture of some 200 aircraft planned for be controlled by both countries. In fact, in 2011, a joint research and development center hosting a hundred Indonesian engineers belonging to the company PT Dirgantara was inaugurated in Daejeon, some 150 km from Seoul. In 2017, when the amount of Indonesian payment arrears exceeded $400 million, the center was put on hold, and the Indonesian engineers returned to their country, and in December 2020, there was talk of a pure and simple withdrawal of program Indonesia. However, in August 2021, after Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto participated in April in the presentation ceremony of the first prototype of the device, negotiations between Seoul and Jakarta enabled Indonesia to re-enter the program, and several dozen of its engineers were able to return to the Daejeon research site a few months later.

However, for the time being, the ambitions of the Indonesian authorities remain obscure regarding this program, as they are for the entire file of modernization of its fighter fleet. At the beginning of the year, Jakarta announced an agreement with Paris to order 42 planes Rafale, and a first tranche of 6 aircraft was actually ordered and paid for by Jakarta a few weeks ago. On the other hand, the future KF-21 order, but also that of F-15EX yet presented by the Indonesian Chief of Staff as imminent already 6 months ago, yet to be determined. Speaking on social media, Indonesia's acting defense minister, Muhammad Herindra, however confirmed this week that the country remains committed to acquiring the new aircraft in the future, beyond 2025, and that the co-production of this aircraft with South Korea remained a strategic objective for Jakarta.

Despite these announcements, according to the South Korean media, it seems that Jakarta has once again returned to its old demons, forgetting to respect the payment schedule agreed just a year ago when the resumption of the collaboration. Thus, despite Indonesian President Joko Widodo's promises, Jakarta's debt to Seoul under the Boramae program amounted to more than $2022 million in July 550, even though official Indonesian discourse remains focused on an order of 50 aircraft for the country's air force. It should be noted, however, that despite the Indonesian failure, the KF-21 program is continuing to develop according to the schedule initially established.

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