Indonesian Air Force planned purchase of Boeing Indonesia’s planned purchase of F-15ID fighter jets is in advanced stages and awaiting final sign-off from the government, the Indonesia’s defense minister said on Monday. Speaking after meeting his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin in Jakarta, Prabowo Subianto said that Boeing had agreed to the financial offer proposed and he was confident the package was affordable. In February, the U.S. State Department approved the potential sale of Boeing F-15ID aircraft and related equipment to Indonesia in a deal valued at up to US$13.9 billion. Indonesia has been seeking to overhaul its ageing air fleet for some time, which currently includes U.S.-made F-16 and Russian Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30 jets.
The Government of Indonesia has requested to buy up to 36 F-15ID aircrafts; 87 F110-GE-129 or F100-PW-229 engines; 45 AN/APG-82(v)1 AESA Radars; 45 AN/ALQ-250 Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability Systems (EPAWSS); 48 Advanced Display Core Processor (ADCP) II digital computers; 80 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS); 92 Embedded Global Positioning Systems (GPS)/Inertial Navigation System (EGI) security devices; 40 AN/AAQ-13 LANTIRN navigation pods; 40 AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATP); 156 LAU-128 launchers; and 40 M61A “Vulcan” gun systems. Also included are Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) (P5 CTS); MS-110 Recce Pods; AN/ASG-34 Infrared Search and Track International; AN/ALE-47 counter-measures dispenser; AN/PYQ Simple Key Loaders; Night Vision Goggles (NVG) and support equipment and spares.
The Boeing F-15EX Eagle II is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. In 2018, the USAF and Boeing discussed the F-15X, a proposed single-seat variant based on the F-15QA to replace USAF F-15C/Ds. Improvements included the AMBER weapons rack to carry up to 22 air-to-air missiles, infrared search and track, advanced avionics and electronics warfare equipment, AESA radar, and revised structure with a service life of 20,000 hours. Also known as Advanced F-15, both single and two seat variants were proposed, called F-15CX and F-15EX respectively. One reason for this decision is that only two–seat F-15 models remained in production.
The U.S. Air Force opted for the F-15EX to maintain fleet size as F-22 production ended, the F-35 was delayed, and its F-15Cs aged. Although it is not expected to be survivable against modern air defenses by 2028, the F-15EX can perform homeland and airbase defense, no-fly zone enforcement against limited air defenses, and deploy standoff munitions. In August 2020, the U.S. Air Force announced plans to replace F-15Cs in the Florida and Oregon Air National Guards with F-15EXs. On 7 April 2021, its official name Eagle II was announced. The FY2021 defense appropriations bill funded F-15EX procurement at $1.23 billion for 12 aircraft; making 20 aircraft funded and ordered to-date. By May 2022, the USAF had orders for 144 F-15EXs; it has proposed reducing its orders to 80.
