MOSCOW. April 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Indonesia is showing growing interest in arms trade with Russia, said Maxim Pyadushkin, the deputy director of the Russian Strategy Analysis Center.
"Indonesia has been following the policy of diversifying arms purchases in the past few years and intensifying the development of arms trade with Russia. It stands to reason that developing Russian-Indonesian arms trade is among the priorities that will be discussed during Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's current visit to Moscow," Pyadushkin told Interfax- Military News Agency on Monday.
While earlier, Indonesia bought mostly Western-made weapons, it has been displaying an interest in Russian arms since the late 1990s, Pyadushkin said. This change in interests was partly prompted by the U.S.' embargo on selling weapons to Jakarta in 1999, which was introduced due to Indonesian authorities' activity in the former Portuguese colony and current independent state of East Timor.
In 2000-2001, Moscow and Jakarta signed two contracts on supplying firearms for the Indonesian police. Under the first contract, Indonesia bought 4,000 Russian AK-101 and AK-102 assault rifles, and another 5,000 of the same under the second contract, Pyadushkin said.
In addition, Jakarta bought 12 BTR-80A armored personnel carriers and a unit of MI-2 Hoplite and MI-171 Hip helicopters from Moscow. In 2002, Russia signed a contract on the sale of eight MI-2 and two MI-171 helicopters. The deal was coordinated by the Moscow Helicopter Plant.
Indonesia is displaying a special interest in Russian warplanes, Pyadushkin said. Relevant negotiations between the two countries began back in 1997, but were later suspended due to a financial crisis in South East Asia.
A source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax-AVN that during the Indonesian president's visit to Moscow, the two countries plan to sign a contract on the sale of four SU-27 Flanker multifunctional jetfighters to Jakarta. The planes will be shipped to Indonesia as early as October this year. In the future, Jakarta intends to continue buying Russian fighter jets to increase its number to several dozen planes.
Pyadushkin said Russia could also sell Indonesia Igla portable anti-aircraft missile systems, Metis antitank missile systems, naval hardware, and other arms.
At the LIMA-2001 aerospace exhibition in Malaysia, Indonesian agents showed interest in Russia's new BE-200 amphibian plane, which was designed by the Taganrog-based Beriyev aviation research and technical center and is mass-produced in Irkutsk.