Spending for Russian weaponry factored into Indonesia's budget

An Indonesian Air Force soldier guards a Russian Su-27 fighter © AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana

Spending for the purchases of Russian weaponry has been factored in the Indonesia's budget for 2015/2016, the Indonesian ambassador to Moscow, Djauhari Oratmangun, told a news conference on Thursday.

To ensure integrity of a country consisting of more than 17,000 islands, specialized security measures are needed, the ambassador said.

He pointed out his country's plans to build up its defense capability in the coming years so as to be able to guarantee its territorial integrity and sovereignty and Russia would be a closest partner in this context, as usual.

The ambassador said a Sukhoi jet piloted by an Indonesian crew, and the Indonesian Air Force has the Sukhoi Su-27s and Su-30s of various modifications on its tables of equipment, had excelled in fulfilling the combat tasks in the course of a recent testing. It made a sortie to the Indonesian border within a shortest possible time limit and accomplished the operational task promptly.

The Indonesian government has already factored the monies for purchasing Russian defense technologies, including jets, into the budget for the 2015/2016 fiscal years.

The diplomat expressed hope all the plans for weaponry purchases would materialize, although the Indonesian government had to take account of the current economic situation, the climbing US dollar and the pursuant ongoing weakening of the Russian and Indonesian national currencies.

The Indonesian and Russian authorities are also discussing supplies of various types of weaponry to the Army and the Navy, Oratmangun said.

"The Chief Commander of the Indonesian Navy has recently made a visit to Russia and he showed interest towards submarines and had a familiarization tour of one of these," he said.

  ♘ TASS