Indonesia; Black Hawk contract and Rafale delivery planning
Representatives of the Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract with PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) to deliver 24 Sikorsky S-70M Black Hawk helicopters for the armed forces. This is the next concrete step after the cooperation agreement between Lockheed Martin and PTDI was signed on 22 August 2023.
According to Lockheed Martin, these helicopters will be manufactured in Poland. PTDI will take care of "integration, customisation, modification and system upgrade for the helicopter's completion" according to Lockheed Martin. The Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI, Indonesian Armed orces) buys them from PTDI while Lockheed Martin builts and delivers them to Bandung for final modifications and delivery to the armed forces.
Earlier this month, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto declared that the first 12 of 24 ordered Rafales will arrive in 2026 to equip SkU12 at Pekanbaru/Roesmin Nurjadin. Their Hawk Mk109/209s will transfer to Pontianak/Supadio joining SkU1. The second dozen Rafales is slated to eventually replace the Hawks of SkU1.
Credit photo: Piotr Buchman (via Jetphotos.com)