Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – A Russian diplomat said Wednesday that Indonesia had yet to terminate its contract for Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets as Jakarta orders new warplanes from Turkey and possibly China.
In February 2018, the Southeast Asian country inked a purchase contract worth $1.14 billion for 11 Sukhoi jets. The Indonesian Air Force revealed in 2021 that Jakarta had scrapped the plans in favor of the French-made Rafales and the American F-15EX multiroles. Possible US sanctions also made Indonesia have second thoughts about the Russian aircraft.
Fast forward to 2025, President Prabowo Subianto is on a warplane shopping spree to boost Indonesia's air power.
According to Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Sergei Tolchenov, the deal for the Sukhoi Su-35 – the twin-engine, 4.5-generation fighter – remains on the table.
"The situation is still the same. This deal is not cancelled. It's still pending," Tolchenov told the press in Jakarta.
Tolchenov said that Moscow was "waiting" for the Indonesian side to resume the negotiations.
In Prabowo's first year in office, Indonesia bought 48 of Turkish KAAN fighter jets in a contract reportedly valued at around $10 billion. The aircraft is currently in active development, but the prototypes are set to fly as of April 2026. The deal includes the possibility of co-producing the components in Indonesia.
Jakarta is currently waiting for the 42 Rafale jets that it has ordered from the French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation. The first three units will arrive in February, followed by the second tranche in April 2026. More jets are expected to arrive in phases.
Southeast Asia's biggest economy is currently co-developing the KF-21 fighters with South Korea. However, alleged data theft by Indonesian engineers, coupled with missed payment deadlines by Jakarta, has cast a shadow over the project. Senior diplomat Abdul Kadir Jailani recently confirmed that the KF-21 deal "remained ongoing" despite the setbacks.
A few weeks ago, Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin signaled that Indonesia would buy China's Chengdu J-10s, an affordable 4.5-generation combat aircraft alternative. Sjafrie later clarified to the press that it would be up to Prabowo to make the final decision.
A single J-10 unit has a price tag of between $30 million and $40 million, according to the Singapore-based news outlet CNA. The price of Rafales is around threefold of a J-10, costing between $100 million and $120 million each. The Dassault has a longer combat range of 1,850 kilometers compared to the J-10's 1,240 kilometers.
In 2023, Indonesia and US aircraft maker Boeing sealed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on finalizing the sale of 24 F-15EX fighters.
When the J-10 purchase plan made headlines, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said that Indonesia had already set a "quite huge" defense budget for the 2025 and 2026 fiscal years, alluding that Jakarta had enough money to spend on jets. This year alone, the Defense Ministry has its budget capped at Rp 247.5 trillion ($14.9 billion), and has only spent Rp 167.1 trillion or 67.5 percent of the money as of Sep. 30. The ministry's spending cap will get cut to Rp 187.1 trillion next year, with some of the funds going into military equipment upgrades.
Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/russia-says-indonesias-sukhoi-su35-jet-deal-is-not-cancele