The US aerospace giant, Boeing, has officially ended its pursuit of selling its F-15EX to Indonesia, months after the Southeast Asian country showed interest in acquiring Chinese J-10C aircraft.
“In terms of our (F-15) partnership with Indonesia, it is no longer an active campaign for us,” Bernd Peters, vice president of business development and strategy at Boeing Defence, told reporters at the Singapore Airshow on February 3, 2026.
Notably, the development comes nearly three years after Indonesia inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Boeing to acquire up to 24 F-15EX fighters during a 2023 visit by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to the US.
“We are pleased to announce our commitment to procure the critical F-15EX fighter capability for Indonesia,” Subianto said at the time. “This state-of-the-art fighter will protect and secure our nation with its advanced capabilities.”
It was initially decided that the F-15EX acquired by Indonesia would be named F-15IDN. However, since the MoU was non-binding, Jakarta did not pursue the contract.
In a bid to woo Indonesia into signing the deal, Boeing sweetened the offer in April 2025, adding a 85% local manufacturing requirement to the initial offer.
“Should Indonesia choose [to purchase] the F-15EX, Boeing will deliver on its 85 per cent local content and offset commitments, aligned with national defence and industrial priorities,” Boeing South East Asia President Penny Burtt stated during a media briefing on April 15.
“Boeing wants local businesses to be involved in the supply chain, training, maintenance, repair, and operations of the fighter jet,” Burtt added.
The MoU and potential acquisition were part of Indonesia’s efforts to augment its combat jet fleet to brace for emerging security threats in the Indo-Pacific region. Earlier, for instance, the Indonesian government signed an agreement with France for 42 Rafale fighter jets– the first three of which were delivered on January 27, 2026.
Indonesia has also been involved in the development of the KF-21 fighter jet in collaboration with South Korea, despite financial constraints that have led to a reduction in its financial commitments to the project over the past two years.
However, recent reports indicate that Jakarta may purchase 16 Block 2 aircraft as part of a package to restart a long-stalled contract.
Interestingly, the latest confirmation from a Boeing representative comes even as the company is constantly on the lookout for customers for the most advanced Eagle variant produced to date. So far, the aircraft has been purchased only by the United States and the Israel Air Force (IAF), with other countries such as Saudi Arabia using a pre-F-15EX variant.
According to publicly available information, Boeing is lobbying potential customers, such as Poland, to sell the aircraft while upgrading existing F-15 Eagle variants for operators.
For example, Boeing was awarded a $2.806 billion contract for the upgrade of the Republic of Korea Air Force’s (ROKAF) F-15K Slam Eagle fleet to a configuration that is very similar to the F-15EX Eagle II.
China Is Trying To Sell The J-10C To Indonesia
President Subianto has significantly advanced Indonesia’s long-stalled military modernisation since assuming office in October 2024, ushering in the most ambitious phase of the “Minimum Essential Force” (MEF) roadmap.
However, a key component of this strategy is a deliberate arms diversification to avoid over-reliance on a single supplier.
In May 2025, Indonesia signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with France to potentially purchase additional Rafale fighters during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Jakarta.
“I am delighted that the letter of intent signed today could open up a new perspective with new orders for Rafales, Scorpenes, light frigates,” Macron said at a joint press conference sitting alongside General Probowo Subianto at the time.
Just two months later, the Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced a $10 billion deal for 48 TAI KAAN fighter jets. The delivery of the 48 aircraft will be phased over 10 years, and the agreement covers extensive collaboration in manufacturing, technology transfer, and engineering.
However, doubts persist over how the purchase would be funded, as previously reported by the EurAsian Times.
It is noteworthy that previous reports had suggested that Jakarta’s F-15EX purchase was slacking due to financing-related challenges, and that Boeing had itself raised concerns regarding the country’s ability to meet the financial obligations associated with the F-15 acquisition.
Meanwhile, China offered the J-10C to Indonesia less than a month after the May 2025 Indo-Pakistan conflict, according to the Southeast Asian country’s Deputy Defence Minister Donny Ermawan Taufanto.
The offer first made in June was part of a long-drawn Chinese effort to sell the aircraft based on the appeal that it was used in real-world combat and by leveraging Pakistan’s claims that it downed multiple Rafale jets, a claim India rejected.
In October 2025, the Indonesian Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin announced that “they will be flying over Jakarta soon,” underscoring Indonesia’s push to modernise its air force. However, at the time, some reports stated that the cash-strapped Southeast Asian country may have to opt for second-hand J-10B instead.
Later that month, Indonesia said it was considering purchasing 42 J-10C fighters, but that a decision had not yet been made. “It’s still being analysed and reviewed. At the moment, we are considering all platforms that can fulfil our need to help guard our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” ministry spokesman Brigadier General Frega Wenas Inkiriwang said.
According to observers, the J-10s would be less expensive than other fighters, but integrating them into the Indonesian Air Force would make it more difficult for the country’s military to conduct internal and international operations. The US, for instance, would not conduct joint operations with the Indonesian Air Force if it inducts the J-10C, as per some experts quoted by the South China Morning Post.
The other main jets that the country operates are the American F-16 and the Russian Su-27 and Su-30. With the addition of French Rafale and Chinese J-10C, as well as the Turkish KAAN, the operation and logistics will become exponentially more expensive.
The Indonesian Air Force currently operates about 62 fighters. According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), a Canberra-based think tank, spare parts for Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27s and Su-30s are becoming hard to obtain due to international sanctions on Russia and its own production difficulties, and the F-16s are now ageing.
A J-10 sale would be a significant development for China’s defence diplomacy in Southeast Asia, as Indonesia would be the first country in the region to purchase a modern, multirole fighter jet manufactured entirely in China.
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