Hello guys! Welcome back to Pacific Front Channel!
Where I talk and discuss military equipment and latest news on weapons programs.
Especially for Indonesian Armed Forces.
Today, I’m going to talk about the joint Future Fighters Program of South Korea and Indonesia.
How is it going? And how is its future for Indonesia?
Coming Up!
Recently, I read an article on Janes.com about
the progress of the South Korean KF-X program that said
“Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) Begins Final Assembly Of First KF-X Prototype”.
In the article, it didn’t mention any sentence of Indonesian involvement in the process.
It makes me wonder, do we pull out from this program?
Then, I found another article on Janes from July 2020 that said,
“KF-X Program On Track, But Concern Grow About Indonesian Involvement”.
From what I read in this article, there are two main concerns about Indonesian involvement in this program.
The first one is related to delays
in efforts to reach a compromise on the scope of Indonesian financial participation in the program.
As we know, Indonesia pledged to finance about 15% of the project (around $2 billion).
The second one, there are some concerns in Jakarta about the strategic value of its involvement.
Mr. Sakti Wahyu Trenggono,
Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of Defense was asked about this during an interview with CNBC Indonesia.
He said, with a total Indonesian spending of $2 Billion
and can only get one prototype, It is not so beneficial for Indonesia.
With only a minority ownership (approximately 15%) of shares,
Indonesia can’t have some of the technologies that South Korea currently has.
He also concerns about the average age of Indonesian technicians who’s being sent to South Korea,
which is between 35 and 40 years old.
And, the high additional cost of infrastructure that PT. DI needed
to support the manufacturing of the aircraft in Indonesia.
I provide all the links to these articles down in the description below
so you can read and learn all by yourself.
After I read the interview, and I try to position myself as South Korea,
actually it all makes sense.
I spend a chunk of the cost, why you should get all the research and with extra prototypes?
You get what you spend. You want more, you spend more. As simple as that.
Here’s what I think.
If the total prototype build is five units,
one prototype is actually more than what Indonesia spent.
Of course if we based it by percentage.
We still can make our own research and gather additional data afterward.
But, if there is any other reason or factor that is not related to financial agreement,
I don’t know. I don’t want to speculate about anything.
The good news is, all the technicians from Indonesia, 100 of them,
will soon be joining their Korean counterparts again.
After returning to Indonesia last March due to Covid-19. According to Janes.
I really hope that Indonesia will still continue with the program.
Maybe spend some more money so we have bigger shares.
Because in my opinion the value of having this next generation fighter alone,
will give Indonesia a boost in foreign policy and a deterrence effect.
Moreover, have the knowledge of how to build it.
Don’t see this as an expense but as a long term investment.
I always believe that one day, I can see with my own eyes the pure Indonesian Fighter.
And this is one of the steps of the journey.
There you have it guys!
A quick video of the future of KFX/IFX.
I hope it all goes well for both countries.
And congratulations to Korean Aerospace Industries and all South Korean people for the achievement.
Thank you for watching!
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