Not 24 hours after authorizing the purchase of French Rafale fighter jets, Indonesia was lucky enough to buy F-15 EX from the United States (US).
Quoted by AlfaFreedom.com from the Washington Times, the US State Department has agreed to sell F-15 EX or F-15ID fighter jets to Indonesia.
And Indonesia is very likely to be able to have around 36 units of the F-15 EX or F-15ID fighter jets.
The contract value for the procurement of the F-15 EX or F-15ID fighter jets costs around 14 billion US dollars.
“The State Department signed an agreement to sell Indonesia up to 36 F-15ID fighters and related equipment in a deal worth nearly $14 billion.” write source.
“The State Department signed an agreement to sell Indonesia up to 36 F-15ID fighters and related equipment in a deal worth nearly $14 billion.” he added.
With this, the presence of the Rafale fighter jet and the F-15 EX or F-15ID is getting closer to reality.
And of course the presence of the Rafale and the F-15 EX or F-15ID will make the Indonesian Air Force even stronger.
The presence of the Rafale fighter jet to Indonesia is also part of the cooperation between Asia-Pacific relations.
The F-15 EX aka F-15ID fighter jet that Indonesia wants to buy is apparently not arbitrary.
Quoted by AlfaFreedom.com from Defense Security Asia, among the newest capabilities that complement the F-15EX is the AN/APG-82 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar.
This radar is said to have been developed by the Raytheon company, which can detect more targets and from a more distant position.
The F-15EX aircraft is also said to be able to carry up to 22 AIM-9X or AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles.
Quoted by AlfaFreedom.com from 19fortyfive, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist and military expert who specializes in special operations, who is also a veteran of the Hellenic Army (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army Headquarters), and a graduate of Johns Hopkins University who previously leaked specifications. F-15 EX that Indonesia wants to buy.
He said the F-15EX was intended to bridge the world of 4th and 5th generation fighter jets.
"The aircraft is equipped with an upgraded cockpit, electronic warfare sensors and data fusion capabilities.
This update means that the 4.5 generation aircraft can effectively operate and survive in the 5th generation battle space.
Furthermore, with a top speed of Mach 2.5, the F-15EX will be the fastest jet in the US Air Force fleet.
The F-15EX has an operating ceiling of 70,000 feet and an effective range of about 1,300 miles," Stavros wrote.
The former U.S. soldier also leaked the payload capacity of the F-15 EX that Indonesia wants to buy, although Boeing itself has not announced it.
"Although Boeing has not disclosed the exact payload capacity (it should be around 30,000 lbs or the number of hard points and internal weapon space of the F-15EX, the latest version of the aircraft, the F-15 Advanced Eagle, can pack quite a lot of payload), a blow.
In the escort modification, the aircraft can carry 16 AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs), four AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile heat-seekers; and two AGM-88 Air-to-surface High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) at 11 hard points under the wings.
In precision strike packages, the aircraft can carry 16 Small-Diameter Bombs (SDBs), four AIM-120 AMRAAM, two AGM-88 HARM, one 2,000 lbs Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM, and two fuel tanks).