History between Indonesia and France Cooperation
Good relations between two countries are usually based on mutual respect visits between officials from the two countries, on a bilateral or bilateral basis multilateral.
France is one of the modern countries in the world and is located in the Western Europe along with the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. France official name is La Republique Francaise or the French Republic. French Revolution took place in 1780 marked as a shift from the French system absolute monarchy to a republic whose aim is to uphold sovereignty and human rights
For Indonesia, France is one of the important relations that is in Western European region. Likewise with the French state, according to the French state,Indonesia's position is considered important because Indonesia is one of the influential country in the ASEAN region, and with the existence of reforms making Indonesia one of the most democratic countries in the world, because ,Therefore France sees that France must increase partnership cooperation with Indonesian.
French President François Mitterrand's first visit on the 16th September 1986 which was warmly welcomed by Indonesian President Suharto agreed on cooperation agreements in the trade and industrial sectors of Indonesia France (IFCCI) which has officially opened with the aim of collecting French and Indonesian business groups to develop relations on an ongoing basis professionals between the two countries
Indonesia's defense cooperation with France basically has divided into several sectors of cooperation, one of which is regarding cooperation military engineering in this case related to joint training and development military personnel, Mutual Protection on Classified Information namely regarding intelligence, cyber security, military cooperation in which this sector is being improvedr egarding military cooperation in maintaining security both land, sea and air, and the last is regarding cooperation in the procurement of equipment,logistics and defense industry.
Cooperation in the procurement of equipment, logistics and the defense industry have reached an agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in Paris, France 11 July 1996. Note of the agreement or MoU is continuously renewed through a process review every 5 years. Through the memorandum of understanding, cooperation regarding procurement of equipment, logistics and defense industry between Indonesia with France continuing to experience development, especially in 2012 it has agreed to establish the Indonesian France Defense Dialogue (IFDD) as a dialogue forum that examines every collaboration that has been carried out every year to come then become a forum for the two countries to convey their improvement ideas cooperation in the future.
Ministry of Defence Prabowo Subianto hopes for the defence cooperation continuity with France
Indonesian Minister of Defense (Menhan) Prabowo Subianto during a meeting with the Minister of the Armed Forces of the French Republic H.E. Sébastien Lecornu, Saturday (11/6), in Singapore, hopes that there will be new initiatives and steps that can be taken into consideration or action by the two governments for the continuation of mutually beneficial defense cooperation in the near future.
The meeting between the two Ministers of Defense was held on the sidelines following a series of activities at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue 2022 in Singapore. In this meeting, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto expressed his gratitude to H.E. Sébastien Lecornu who has played an important and active role in the success of bilateral relations between the two countries.
Furthermore, Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto emphasized that Indonesia and France had established strong defense cooperation, especially in the field of defense equipment. The two countries have also established defense cooperation through educational exchanges and seminars in the framework of capacity building where both parties can share information and experience as lessons learned.
Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto also hopes that the acquisition of new defense equipment from France will increase Indonesia's defense capabilities through Transfer of Technology and joint venture activities. In the context of implementing defense industry cooperation, Indonesia and France have signed several MoUs on 10 February 2022 in Jakarta. (Bureau of Public Relations of the Secretariat General of the Ministry of Defense)
Indonesia bought dozen of French Fighter Jet “Rafale”
Indonesia has agreed to purchase 42 generation 4.5 Rafale fighter jets from France through the signing of a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation.
The initial progress of the procurement of fighter jets from the Dassault Avation manufacturer was by acquiring six units on the initial contract. Meanwhile, another 36 units are claimed to be following in the near future.
"We will acquire 42 Rafale aircraft. Starting today the first contract is for six aircraft, which will be followed in the near future for 36 aircraft with the support of weapons training and the required simulators," Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said after witnessing the signing of the contract with French Defense Minister Florence Parly at the Ministry of Defense, Jakarta, Thursday (10/2/2022).
Even though it has signed the contract, in fact Indonesia must be patient to be able to catch up with other countries that have already operated the Rafale. This is because the six planes in the new initial contract will be delivered in the next 56 months after the active signing of the contract.
"It's a long process. This means that when Prabowo is no longer the defense minister, this plane has become our defense force," said Prabowo's spokesperson, Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak, Friday (11/2/2022).
The purchase of this aircraft is also urgent. Bearing in mind, the condition of the readiness of Indonesian combat aircraft has suffered setbacks in recent years.
Secretary General of the Ministry of Defense Marsdya Donny Ermawan Taufanto said that Indonesia currently only relies on 33 F-16 aircraft which are more than 30 years old.
Even though the delivery of the Rafale is still a long way off, the Indonesian Air Force has started to square off to prepare prospective pilots for the jet which has the ability to maneuver in the sharp uphill motion.
"We are preparing several pilots but we haven't determined the number yet," said KSAU Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo at MABES AU, Jakarta, Friday (4/3/2022)
Fadjar said that the preparation of prospective pilots included determining the criteria for recruiting. He ensured that the Indonesian Air Force would appoint soldiers who were deemed fit to ride the Rafale.
Later, prospective Rafale pilots will undergo training in France, the Rafale manufacturing country. Apart from France, this exercise will also be held domestically. "The training itself will be carried out in France and domestically," he added.
Dassault Rafale’s Pros and Cons
Quoted from Kompas.com, the Rafale can be used for a variety of missions including interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence. This is why the Rafale is known as the “ömnirole” (all-rounder) fighter made by the Dassault aircraft manufacturer.
The aircraft, which appeared for the first time in 2001, has been used by the French Air Force (AU) and Navy (AL), the Indian Air Force, the Egyptian Air Force and the Qatar Air Force. Until the end of 2021, it was recorded that 237 Rafale aircraft had been produced.
In this combat operation, two types of Rafale aircraft are known to be active, namely the ordinary type which takes off and lands from standard aerodromes on land, and those based on aircraft carriers.
Until now, France has not intended to equip its fighter arsenal with the F-35 JSF, although the Rafale itself is still a 4th generation fighter, one level below the F-35 which is already in the 5th generation category.
Unfortunately, this aircraft does not fully have the capability as a stealth aircraft, aka stealth aircraft, so that it is not caught on the enemy's air defense (hanud) radar screen.
Indonesia ordered on the right time
Meanwhile, the former Air Force Chief of Staff (KSAU) Marshal (Purn) Chappy Hakim assessed that the purchase of 42 fighter jets from the Dassault Aviation manufacturer was carried out at the right time.
According to him, the purchase of this 4.5 generation fighter jet is appropriate because fighter aircraft companies in the world are currently intensively doing warehouse clearance.
"Now is the right time to buy fighter jet aircraft. All fighter aircraft factories on the surface of the earth are in the middle of a warehouse sale, aka selling their products on sale," said Chappy
Chappy said, in the last two decades, the designers or manufacturers of advanced fighter aircraft are currently in two choices, continue to develop fighter aircraft or switch to a new vehicle called drone or unmanned aircraft.
On the other hand, Chappy said, the purchase of 42 Rafale jets was a record for Indonesia in bringing in warplanes from abroad.
"The process of purchasing as well as the number of 42 advanced fighter jets can be said to have broken the record for the number of purchases of combat aircraft in the history of Indonesia after 1965," said Chappy.
In line with the purchase, Chappy underlined that the existence of fighter aircraft is one of the subsystems of the air defense system which is an integral part of the national defense system. Thus, he said, the process of procuring fighter aircraft was essentially an effort to increase the capability of the national air defense system.
"In this case, the fighter aircraft element is once again only one of the other national air defense sub-systems," he stressed.
On the other hand, cooperation in the procurement of the main weapons system (alutsista) for the TNI shows that the Indo-Pacific region has strategic value in future geopolitical dynamics. As a result, the Western bloc countries namely the United States, Britain and France wanted to be involved in the vortex of regional geopolitical dynamics.
Chappy Hakim suspects these 2 things. Moreover, the political temperature in the Indo-Pacific region is indeed heating up, one of which is due to the dispute over the South China Sea area between China and Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei Darussalam.
Indonesia also has an area bordering the South China Sea, namely the North Natuna Sea. Tensions also arose in the area because security forces, such as the Indonesian Navy, frequently caught sight of the activities of Chinese fishing vessels. "Thus, this procurement plan cannot be separated from the dynamic context of the regional strategic environment.
And Indonesia is considered as one of the country's strategic partners to be able to take part in the region," said defense observer Anton Aliabbas, Monday (14/2/2022).
REFERENCE
Laporan Akhir Penelitian Kerja Sama Industri Pertahanan Indonesia dan Perancis Dalam Memenuhi Minimum Essential Force Tentara Nasional Indonesia written by Utaryo Santiko and Maria Davina Agustien
