Project Jet Tempur KFX/IFX Indonesia - Korea Kembali di Lanjutkan

AFB - Pemerintah Indonesia dan Korea Selatan sepakat kembali melanjutkan proyek pengembangan jet tempur Korean Fighter Xperiment (KFX)/Indonesian Fighter Xperiment (IFX). Sebelumnya pemerintah Korsel sempat menghentikan proyek ini secara sepihak.

"Ada berita gembira pengembangan pesawat KFX/IFX dilanjutkan. Beberapa waktu lalu berhenti, tetapi sekarang sudah disetujui parlemen Korea Selatan dan ditindaklanjuti," kata Menteri Pertahanan Purnomo Yusgiantoro di Jakarta.

Proyek bersama yang dimulai pada 2011 lalu telah berhasil menyelesaikan tahap pertama Technology Development Phase (TD Phase) pada Desember 2012. Indonesia telah mengirim 37 insinyur ke Korea selatan.

Welcome T-50i Golden Eagle

AFB - Tekad TNI mewujudkan kekuatan esensial minimum-nya pelan-pelan mulai terwujud, sejalan dengan kedatangan dua unit pesawat latih-taktis jet tempur T-50i Golden Eagle, di Pangkalan Udara Utama Iswahyudi, Madiun, Jawa Timur. 

Kedatangan kedua "Elang Emas" ini dilakukan setelah menempuh penerbangan feri dari pabriknya, Korean Aviation Industries, di Sacheon, Gyeongsang, Korea Selatan, melalui Taiwan dan Filipina, sejak beberapa hari sebelumnya. 

Adalah Panglima Komando Operasi Udara II TNI AU, Marsekal Muda TNI Agus Supriatna, yang menyambut kedua unit T-50i di hanggar Skuadron Udara 15 di pangkalan udara itu, demikian keterangan tertulis TNI AU. 

T-50i yang potongannya sangat mirip dengan F-16 Fighting Falcon itu memang ditujukan menggantikan peran Hawk Mk-53 buatan British Aerospace, yang telah berdinas sejak pertengahan dasawarsa '80-an. Pesawat bermesin jet tunggal dengan awak 2 orang itu termasuk jet latih tempur canggih. Kecepatan jelajahnya pun bisa mencapai 1,5 kali kecepatan suara.

Secara kemampuan, T-50i Elang Emas yang menjadi "juara" menyingkirkan pesaing-nya, Yakovlev Yak-130 Mitten (Rusia) dan Aermacchi M-346 (Italia) memang seolah menjadi "jembatan" antara tempur taktis, latih jet tempur, dan patroli terbatas, serang udara-darat dan udara-udara, menuju tempur strategis-taktis Sukhoi Su-27Flanker series. 

2 S. Korean Trainer Jets Leave for Indonesia in First Export

AFB - Two South Korean military jets left for Indonesia on Tuesday in the country's first export of the supersonic trainer, officials said.

The move came two years after Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), the country's sole aircraft maker, signed a US$400 million deal to export 16 T-50i trainer jets to the Southeast Asian country, KAI officials said.

South Korea has become the sixth country in the world to export supersonic jets following the United States, Russia, Britain, France and Sweden, they said.

The two trainer jets will make a stopover in Taiwan and the Philippines for refueling before landing on Iswahyudi Air Force base in Indonesia on Wednesday, according to the KAI.

The KAI said 14 other jets are scheduled to be delivered to Indonesia in seven separate occasions by December, four months ahead of schedule.

Ha Sung-yong, president and CEO of KAI, said that his company is pushing to sell T-50 jets to the Philippines, Iraq and Poland, though he sounded a cautious note over the possible exports.

Pesawat Tempur Sukhoi SU-30 MK2 Pesanan Indonesia Tiba di Makassar

AFB - Perkuatan pertahanan keamanan udara di Indonesia terus bertambah. Dua pesawat tempur Sukhoi SU-30 MK 2 tiba di Landasan Udara (Lanud) Sultan Hasanuddin, Makassar, sekitar pukul 17.56 Wita. 


Dua pesawat Sukhoi buatan Rusia ini diangkut dengan menggunakan pesawat angkut Antonov AN-124-100 Flight Number VDA 6328 dengan pilot Panov Vadim, Salovyev Evgeny dan Validanov Rinai beserta 13 kru dari bandara Khabarovsk. Sebelum tiba di Lanud Sultan Hasanuddin, pesawat Antonov sempat transit di bandara Ninoy Aq Manila. 


Kepala Penerangan dan Perpustakaan (Kapentak) Lanud Sultan Hasanuddin Makassar, Mayor Sus Mulyadi kepada Kompas.com mengatakan, dua pesawat Sukhoi tersebut langsung dirakit di Skadron Tehnik 044 Lanud Sultan Hasanuddin oleh teknisi dari Rusia. 

Indonesia to Buy More Russian Jet Fighters

Jakarta (AFB) - Indonesia plans to buy more than a dozen Russian Sukhoi fighter jets and domestically made, missile-equipped patrol ships as part of a $15 billion five-year campaign to modernise its military, defence officials said on Wednesday.

Southeast Asia's largest economy has sharply increased its defence budget since 2010 as the military looks to bolster its capacity to protect shipping lanes, ports and maritime boundaries.

Indonesia is also wary of being left behind as China , Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and other Asian nations ramp up defence spending.

Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Indonesia wanted to buy a full squadron of the Sukhoi fighter jets and the patrol boats. He also warned delegates at a military conference that rapidly increasing military spending and stronger defence capabilities in the region could sow distrust and fuel rivalry.

"If this is not accompanied by enhanced transparency that improves trust and confidence, it could run the risk of an arms race that adversely impacts on peace and stability," he said.

Another Indonesian military official said the plan was to buy as many as 16 more Russian Sukhoi fighter jets, 17 patrol vessels, three light frigates and an undisclosed number of tanks and missiles.

Indonesia also planned to upgrade a squadron of U.S.-made F-16s. Indonesia already has more than 10 Sukhoi jets. Last October, the  Defence Ministry said it was set to buy 130 Leopard 2 tanks from Rheinmetall AG of Germany worth a total of $280 million.

Indonesia, a vast nation of islands with key sea lanes and 54,700 km (34,000 miles) of coast, has also ordered three submarines from South Korea to expand its fleet to five. Defence spending in 2012 stood at 72.5 trillion rupiah ($7.54 billion), up 30 percent from 2011. It is expected to rise to 77.7 trillion rupiah in 2013.

reuters.