World Tribune.Com, Monday, October 23, 2006
Muslim government in Indonesia plans to buy Israeli UAVs
LONDON — Indonesia's government intends to buy Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles
for its military.
Indonesian officials said the military has selected a platform from the state-owned
Israel Aircraft Industries. The sources identified the system as the Searcher Mk-2
UAV, which was used in the Israeli war with Hizbullah in the summer of 2006.
Indonesian Chief of Staff Air Marshal Djoko Suyanto has confirmed Jakarta's plans to
purchase four Searcher systems. Islamic parliamentarians have opposed the
proposed UAV procurement, Middle East Newsline reported.
"We made surveys here and there, not only in one country," Suyanto said. The
surveys were conducted by a joint team with personnel from the army, navy, air force,
the TNI's strategic intelligence agency BAIS and the Defense Ministry."
Officials said the Defense Ministry would purchase the Searcher through the
Philippines-based Kital Philippines Corp. The UAV, meant for reconnaissance
missions, has a range of up to 250 kilometers and endurance of 15 hours.
Over the last three years, Indonesia and Israel have held talks on defense and other
cooperation. The two countries do not have formal diplomatic relations.
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said Indonesia examined the Searcher after
Jakarta's failure to develop an indigenous UAV. Sudarsono said Indonesia required the
capabilities offered by Israeli UAVs.
"We still need time and huge amounts of money to develop these aircraft both for
military and commercial purposes," Sudarsono said. "To upgrade the existing
prototype, we still need further study, time and huge sums of money."
Officials said the Defense Ministry was still investing in the development of main
weapons platforms. They said this would include aircraft and warships.
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