Indonesian buy Israeli-Made UAVs?

Indonesian Air Force plans to form a squadron of unmanned Israeli aircraft production, the newspaper "Republica" with reference to the statement of Marshal Ion Azwai.It is learned that Indonesia plans to purchase 16 UAVs of "Israel Aerospace Industries" (IAI), and the Air Force expect to get the first three devices in the current year.


The acquisition of UAVs is included in the Air Force procurement plan for 2010-2014. Funding is planned to be at the expense of attracting export credits. It should be noted that the Board of the Chamber of Representatives of Indonesia back in 2009 decided to dismiss the country's Defense Ministry submitted a draft purchase of Israeli UAVs, which is planned to finance with a loan issued by Bank Leumi Plc Bank. The cost of vehicles was estimated at 16 million dollars.

The representative of the Commission said that the reason for failure is the lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries. For this reason, buying Israeli-made vehicles is contrary to public policy. Indonesia's Ministry of Defense was first announced its intention to purchase four Israeli UAV 'Sercher" Mk.2 in late 2006 after a comparative evaluation of devices provided by multiple vendors. However, the country's leadership has not approved this purchase.


In response to an inquiry commission has once again pointed to the need for the Ministry of Defense stop the purchase of Israeli UAVs. For their part, legislators have proposed defense department to buy UAVs from other countries, including, possibly, in the U.S.. In addition, the evaluation committee, unmanned systems can be developed in the National Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), although they will not be as technologically advanced as Israeli UAVs.

In November 2010, the Indonesian Air Force made another attempt to get four short-range tactical UAVs for delivery in 2011. Indonesia's Ministry of Defense in April 2011, even allocated 16 million dollars on their purchase. However, apparently, the Parliament has once again blocked the deal.

Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world and for political reasons, a negative attitude to cooperation with Israel. According to the parliamentarians, the purchase of Israeli UAVs will not be approved by Parliament. At the same time, lawmakers have not excluded the possibility of procurement of UAVs in other countries.