President Prabowo Subianto vowed on Monday that Indonesia will continue boosting its military capabilities amid uncertain times, as he handed over six French-made Rafale jets and other new hardware to the air force.
Jakarta, which follows a policy of non-alignment, must “continue to improve our defense capabilities to serve as a deterrent”, Prabowo told reporters at a ceremony at a military air base in Jakarta. He said Indonesia does “not have any interests other than protecting our own territory”.
“We observe that the global geopolitical landscape is fraught with uncertainty, and we recognize that defense is a primary prerequisite for stability,” he added.
Prabowo inspected recently procured defense equipment for the Indonesian military, including four Dassault Falcon 8X jets and an Airbus A400M Atlas transport aircraft, according to a presidential palace statement.
Jakarta signed an $8.1 billion deal in 2022 under then-defense minister Prabowo to purchase 42 French-made Rafale fighters. Six of the jets have been delivered so far — three in January and another three on Monday, defense ministry spokesman Rico Ricardo Sirait told AFP.
“The government views the strengthening of defense equipment not merely as the procurement of combat platforms, but as a strategic investment aimed at safeguarding sovereignty, national honor, and national defense readiness,” Rico said.
Prabowo, a former military general who came to power in 2024, has sought to modernize Indonesia’s aging military assets.
He met French President Emmanuel Macron last month in Paris, where the leaders discussed bolstering strategic cooperation, including through the “procurement of defense equipment and the strengthening of the defense industry”, according to an Indonesian government statement.
A security analyst told AFP on Monday that Indonesia was unlikely to withdraw from the Rafale procurement contract despite rising budget pressures amid economic uncertainty.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy is a net oil importer and is facing pressure from rising crude prices due to the war in the Middle East, even as the government insists on keeping subsidized fuel prices unchanged.
“A further question is whether the government’s emergency savings will be used in this procurement process,” said Christian Guntur Lebang, a researcher with the LAB 45 think tank. “Given the current state of the country’s finances, which are in disarray, it would certainly be unwise.”
However, on April 16, Indonesian Defense Ministry spokesman Sirait told the Jakarta Globe that Indonesia was not considering a follow-up order for Rafale jets. “There are no technical details that we can give for now. But to this day, [Indonesia] has not made a decision to acquire more Rafale units. The government is still reviewing the idea,” Rico said.
Earlier in 2025, Chinese media claimed that Indonesia’s bet on Rafale jets is facing scrutiny after Pakistan claimed to have shot down multiple French-origin jets during Operation Sindoor, raising questions in Jakarta about the cost, capability, and logic behind the whopping deal.
It added that the reports have triggered an alarm in Indonesia, which last year concluded an order for 42 Rafales from Dassault Aviation.
Dave Laksono, a member of Commission I at the House of Representatives, which oversees defense, defended the government’s decision to buy Rafales, saying that any “unverified claims in conflict zones cannot be used as the sole basis for assessing the effectiveness or failure of a particular weapons system”.
“In modern military history, even the most advanced jets such as the F-16, F/A-18, and F-22 have experienced incidents of being shot down or crashed due to certain tactical conditions,” Laksono said. Therefore, the performance of the Rafale cannot be measured by just one incident that has not even been fully confirmed.”
By: Agence France-Presse and ET Online Desk
