This country has inked deals for some of the most powerful fighter jets, KAAN, F-15 EX, Rafale...its next deal is with this big nation for..., the country is...

As big and powerful nations like US, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea have known to hold some of the most powerful weapons and military assets like missile systems, USS Gerald R. Ford, Israel’s Iron Dome, rocket systems like T-14 Armata, and others other developing nations have also started increasing their acquisitions of such weapons. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will soon pay a visit to Russia to likely discuss purchase of Su-35. The country’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Rolliansyah Soemirat in a press conference said that the Indonesia’s Foreign Minister will visit Russia from June 18-20 for diplomatic talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.  

“The bilateral meeting is expected to discuss the development of bilateral cooperation, as well as a discussion between leaders on the regional and global issues that become a common concern,” he stated. He had earlier finalised the deal to acquire Turkish KAAN fighter jets while the President was on a visit to Turkey.  

President Prabowo’s likely visit to Russia shows his strong ties with Moscow even while maintaining a neutral foreign policy amid the ongoing Russia Ukraine war under which he has refused to show interest in anyone party. This would not be his first visit to the nuclear country as Prabowo also visited Putin last year even before his inauguration as the new president in October 2024 and while there he called Russia a “great friend.” 

According to the Su-35 deal, announced in 2018, Indonesia was supposed to purchase 11 Su-35s from Russia for USD 1.14 billion, with Moscow to take 50% of the deal value in local commodities. 

Indonesia’s fighter jet collection 

Indonesia has reportedly signed a deal for acquiring 48 KAAN fifth-generation fighter jets on June 11 and became the first-ever foreign country to have purchased the aircraft. Indonesia has also said to ink a strategic cooperation agreement with Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) just the next day after the KAAN deal. The move shows its commitment to the KF-21 project. Indonesia has partnered on the South Korean KF-21 supersonic fighter jet since 2015. 

China recently offered the country a J-10CE while the Indonesian Air Force representatives were on a visit to China. Indonesia’s latest purchase has been in 2022 when it signed a deal with France. It acquired 42 Rafale fighter jets in a USD 8.1 billion defense deal. In the same year, Indonesia also made a deal with Boeing to acquire up to 24 F-15EX fighters.