Indonesia is waiting to receive the first Su-35 Russian fighter jet by October this year, Indonesian Ambassador to Russia Mohammad Wahid Supriyadi has said.
“We expect the first out of eleven S-35 fighter jets to be delivered by October this year,” he said.
“We mark the Indonesian National Armed Forces Day in October and we want to time the aircraft’s delivery to coincide with this date,” the Indonesian diplomat added.
Indonesia hopes to receive the aircraft as soon as possible. “The sooner the better,” the Ambassador said, but the sides are now discussing technical details.
Previous reports said that Jakarta wanted to buy 10 multirole Su-35 fighter jets to replace the outdated U.S. F-5 Tiger aircraft, which have been in service with the Indonesian army since 1980. The Russian State Corporation Rostec reported later that Indonesia had received a commercial offer, which mentioned 11 aircraft.
The fighter jet is supposed to be handed over to the Indonesian side before October 5 when a parade usually takes place in Indonesia to mark the 73rd anniversary of foundation of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The Su-35 fighter jet is expected to participate in the parade.
It is not the first time that Indonesia is going to demonstrate new military hardware at a parade. The tradition goes back to 1959 when the Soviet MiG-17 and MiG-19 fighter jets participated in the parade for the first time. Indonesia demonstrated the Soviet-made S-75 Dvina anti-aircraft missile system at another parade, which took place in 1962.
Su-35 is a Russian multirole super-maneuverable generation 4++ fighter jet equipped with onboard phased antenna array radar and steerable thrusters. It can develop a speed of 2500 km/h. The range is 3400 km and combat radius is close to 1600 km. The aircraft is armed with 30mm gun and has 12 suspensions for bombs and missiles.
