Credit: Master Sgt. Joshua L. DeMotts/USAF/APFootage/Alamy
SINGAPORE—The Indonesian Defense Ministry has chosen to walk away from its contract to acquire 12 ex-Qatar Mirage 2000-5.
Termination follows the ministry saying in January that the procurement had been postponed.
“The plan to purchase the Mirage 2000-5 has not yet been realized due to limited financial resources,” Muhammad Herindra, Indonesia's deputy defense minister, told local media outlets.
Jakarta's Mirage package—which included 14 engines, spare parts, three years of support, and pilot and technician training—was signed in June 2023 and carried a $734.5 million price tag.
On postponing the purchase in January, Indonesian officials said the country's priority was to upgrade and retrofit its existing fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16s and Sukhoi Su-27/30s, without providing specific details or a timeline.
High-profile local lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea, who has been called in to represent the ministry, has pushed back against allegations made online that defense officials were involved in corruption relating to the contract. "Not a single penny" of state funds was paid out, the lawyer has said.
Meanwhile, Indonesia paid and signed off on the third and final batch of its planned acquisition of 42 Dassault Rafale fighters. The deal is estimated to be worth around $8.1 billion, the French Defense Ministry disclosed in 2022.
Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is currently running for the presidential seat. The election takes place on Feb. 14, and Subianto is leading the race in opinion polls. It is unclear how his defense modernization priorities will evolve should he become president.
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