F-16 fighter jets to begin journey to Indonesia following US regeneration work | World Defense

F-16 fighter jets to begin journey to Indonesia following US regeneration work

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F-16 fighter jets to begin journey to Indonesia following US regeneration work
By: Mike Yeo
08 Dec 2017

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Lt. Col. Beau “Strap” Wilkins, 514th Flight Test Squadron F-16 test pilot, makes a high-speed pass in an Indonesian F-16C Fighting Falcon at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on Nov. 21 during a functional check flight on the aircraft. (Alex R. Lloyd/U.S. Air Force)


MELBOURNE, Australia — The U.S. Air Force has completed regeneration work on the last of 24 Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft for Indonesia, ending a five-year program that has brought the former U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard jets up to modern standards.

The jets will now be delivered to Indonesia via a five-day trans-Pacific flight and will require midair refueling and two overnight stops from the Ogden Air Logistics Complex in Utah, which regenerated the Block 25 aircraft and upgraded them to Block 52ID standard.

The aircraft, consisting of 19 single-seat F-16Cs and five F-16D two-seaters, were drawn from former U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard aircraft that had been withdrawn from service and stored at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group boneyard located at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.

These were offered to Indonesia in 2011 under the U.S. Excess Defense Articles program, with the upgrade package including the installation of a new modular Mission computer, Link 16 data links, Raytheon AN/ALR-69 radar warning receivers, Terma AN/ALQ-213 Electronic Warfare Management Systems and BAE Systems AN/ALE-47 Countermeasures Dispenser Systems under a Foreign Military Sales package worth $750 million.

The aircraft’s AN/APG-68 radar is also being upgraded with enhanced capabilities under the upgrade program.

Deliveries of the first aircraft to Indonesia began in mid-2014, with further deliveries in 2015, 2016 and March this year. One F-16C was written off in April 2015 when its undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft caught fire during takeoff at Halim Perdanakusuma air base near the capital Jakarta, reportedly due to the poor condition of the runway.

The Indonesian F-16s are currently serving with the Indonesian Air Force’s 3 and 16 squadrons alongside the survivors of eight Block 15 F-16A/B aircraft acquired in the 1980s.

Indonesia recently announced it will be acquiring the Lockheed Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod for its F-16s, and the country has been cleared to acquire both the Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder and AIM-120 air-to-air missile.

The Southeast Asian country, which comprises of a vast archipelago with more than 17,000 islands, has requirements for more fighters although it favours the Russian Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker, which it is negotiating to buy under a partial barter scheme. Indonesia already operates the older Su-27 and Su-30 versions of the Flanker in its Air Force.

https://www.defensenews.com/air/201...08.17&utm_term=Editorial - Daily News Roundup
 

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Indonesia begins receiving final batch of used F-16 fighters
by Bilal Khan
12.12.2017

The Jakarta Post reports that the Indonesian Air Force (Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Udara: TNI-AU) has begun receiving its final batch used F-16C/D Block-25 on Tuesday, December 12.

Originally, the TNI-AU was to receive six ex-U.S. Air Force (USAF) F-16C/Ds (the final batch from an order of 24 aircraft in 2011). However, two of the fighters experienced engine troubles and had to be grounded at Hawaii. Air Commodore Samsul Rizal told the Jakarta Post that those F-16s will undergo repair work.

Indonesia ordered 24 ex-USAF F-16C/D Block-25s through the Excess Defence Articles (EDA) program in 2011. Under the $750 million U.S. deal (designated Peace Bima-Sena II), the F-16s were refurbished and upgraded with subsystems from the Block-50/52. The original contract notice did not specify if new radars (e.g. AN/APG-68v9) or the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) were also being procured.

In 2015 and 2016, Indonesia ordered 30 AIM-9X-2 high off-boresight air-to-air missiles (HOBS-AAM) and 36 AIM-120C7 beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles (BVRAAM), respectively. The procurement of these munitions could indicate plans on the TNI-AU’s part to further upgrade the F-16s.

The Block-25 was among the USAF’s Pratt & Whitney (PW)-powered F-16C/Ds, along with the Block-32, 42 and 52. These were inducted in fewer numbers than the General Electric-powered Block-30, 40 and 50, hence making their availability on the surplus market relatively uncommon.

The TNI-AU also operates nine F-16A/B Block-15 OCU from an original order of 12 under the Peace Bima-Sena I program in 1989-1990.
In tandem with the F-16s, the TNI-AU is also planning to procure 11 Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E fighters from Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation. Under the $1.14 billion deal, Russia agreed to procure $570 million in commodity goods from Indonesia and invest $400 million in the country’s aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul industry. The Flanker-Es will join the TNI-AU’s 11 Su-30MK/MK2 and five Su-27SK/SKM.

https://quwa.org/2017/12/12/indonesia-begins-receiving-final-batch-of-used-f-16-fighters/
 
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