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.
