Indonesia Looks To Turkey To Up Its Laggard Air Power

Latest stories Michael Pettis misleading the American zeitgeist on China

Estonia cribbing Ukraine's script for provoking Russia

Xi to visit Southeast Asia amid China's grievous export crisis

Indonesia's attempts to modernize its air force have had mixed results. For instance, in December 2022, it dropped its plans to acquire Russian Su-35s due to US pressure and the threat of sanctions.

Also, the country has been struggling to pay its share in South Korea's KF-21 Boramae next-generation fighter project. As of March 2025, Indonesia had only paid 25% of its pledged contribution, which is 20% of the project's US$5.5 billion budget until 2026.

This situation led the South Korean government to take up 74.5% of Indonesia's outstanding balance of $322.2 million, with Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) shouldering the remaining 25.5%.

These capability gaps led Indonesia to consider stopgap solutions, such as buying used Qatari Mirage 2000 jets, which did not push through due to technical, practical and corruption concerns.

While Indonesia placed an order for 42 French Rafale jets in February 2022, with the first jets expected to arrive in 2026, the fighter's lack of stealth and suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) capability makes it vulnerable to an adversary with an advanced integrated air defense system (IADS), according to a January 2025 report by the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).

The IFRI report mentions that French pilots flying Rafales found winning against F-35s in joint exercises challenging due to the former's sensor limitations. It adds that while the Rafale is still relevant in the short and medium term, its capabilities are becoming increasingly inadequate for high-intensity combat operations within a coalition setting.

While Indonesia's partnership with Turkey allows the former to future-proof its air force to some degree, the Kaan's dependency on foreign assistance may cast doubts on its exportability.

In a May 2024 War on the Rocks article , Rebecca Lucas and Stuart Lee mention that building a fifth-generation fighter is difficult, as the US is the only other NATO member with indigenous fifth-generation aircraft programs, such as the F-22 and F-35.

Lucas and Lee say countries with independent fourth-generation fighter programs, such as France with its Rafale and Sweden with its Gripen, disguise their reliance on external suppliers for key systems.

They point out that for Kaan, Turkey used technical advice from UK defense firm BAE Systems and US-supplied General Electric F110 engines while an indigenous replacement is underway. According to them, that situation raises questions about whether Turkey can turn the Kaan from a one-off test aircraft into a repeatable, exportable and sustainable program in service.

They add that export restrictions from critical Kaan technical data suppliers and subsystems may limit Turkey's future choices.

In an October 2020 article, Luerdi and Hizra Marisa explain the possible reasons why Indonesia views Turkey as an ideal high-end military modernization partner.

They note Turkey can help Indonesia to narrow existing defense weaknesses, such as a limited domestic technology base, insufficient strategic military hardware and dependence on major powers' supplies. Luerdi and Marisa highlight Turkey's leading position in military technology and arms sales as key to such a partnership.

In line with that, a March 2025 report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says that in 2024, Turkey was the 11^th largest arms exporter globally, with most of its sales going to the UAE, Pakistan and Qatar.

Molly Campbell mentions in a September 2024 article for the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) that military drone exports served as Turkey's gateway into the global arms industry. Campbell mentions that since 2018, Turkey has made 65% of all sales, overtaking China as the world's largest military drone supplier.