US to sell Apaches to Indonesia

[leonard van T]

US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, has revealed the United States is working on the potential sale of eight Boeing AH-64D Apaches to Indonesia.

The possible sale was announced at a joint press conference between the Secretary of State and her Indonesian counterpart, Rade Natalegawa in Washington on 20 September.

'This agreement will strengthen our comprehensive partnership and help enhance security across the region,' said Clinton.

The deal was established through the Security Working Group of the US-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership project and is part of a broader programme to modernise Indonesia's armed forces and increase the country's 'active role in regional and global security.' Part of this programme includes the transfer of F-16 fighters and the purchase of Maverick missiles along with other equipment.

The deal would make Indonesia the third Far East nation to adopt the Apache, joining Singapore and Japan.

source;
http://www.shephardmedia.com/news/rotor ... indonesia/

Leonard

[Stratofreighter]

Tsk tsk...

What price now selling the Dutch Leopard 2 MBT tanks to Indonesia?

Also:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/ind ... use/545833

Indonesia Should Have Gone for Chinooks Over Apaches: House
September 22, 2012

A senior legislator has expressed disappointment with the planned purchase of eight Apache attack helicopters from the United States,
arguing that the Chinook heavy-lift chopper would be more suitable for domestic military operations.

Mahfudz Siddiq, chairman of the House of Representatives Commission I, overseeing defense and foreign affairs,
said on Friday that legislators had long urged the Defense Ministry to purchase the twin-rotor Chinook.

“We at the commission have since last year been calling on the ministry to buy Chinook helicopters through an MFS [military foreign sales] scheme,
on the grounds that the Chinook is a more versatile and multifunctional aircraft,” he said.

He argued that a large part of the Indonesian military’s work involved distributing relief supplies to disaster-hit regions,
a task where the Chinook would be far better suited than the Apache, he said.