JAKARTA (Reuters): Indonesia has bought 12 new drones from Turkish Aerospace worth US$300 million, its defence ministry said on Tuesday (Aug 1), the latest in a series of purchases aimed at modernising the country's ageing military equipment.
The deal comes after Indonesian President Joko Widodo in July warned his cabinet to maintain a "healthy" budget as he highlighted outsized spending by the country's security agencies, including the defence ministry.
In January, Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto sealed an $800-million deal to buy 12 Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets, which drew criticism as they were considered too old. Indonesia in February also bought 42 Rafale fighter jets for $8.1 billion, which will be disbursed in phases over several years.
At 134.3 trillion rupiah ($8.89 billion), the defence ministry has the biggest allocation from the country's total budget this year, according to government data.
The deal with Ankara-based Turkish Aerospace was finalised in February and the drones are expected to be delivered within 32 months of the signing. It also includes training and flight simulators, the defence ministry said in a statement.
