Indonesia scraps plan to buy Mirage fighter jets from Qatar

JAKARTA - Indonesia has ditched a controversial plan to buy 733 million euros (S$1.06 million) worth of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets previously used by Qatar, the defence ministry spokesperson said late on Feb 10.

"There is no purchase of Mirage jets. Even though it was planned, it has been cancelled ... meaning there is no active contract," spokesperson Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak said in a statement, but did not elaborate.

In January, the ministry said the deal to purchase the 12 fighter jets was delayed due to fiscal constraints and that the military would order a retrofit for its existing Sukhoi and F-16 aircraft instead.

The planned purchase garnered controversy when it was announced in 2023, as lawmakers said the second-hand jets were old.

Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, the frontrunner to win Indonesia's presidential election on Feb 14, has been criticised about the deal by rival candidates during campaigning.

But he defended the purchase during one of the presidential debates, saying the second-hand jets were still good for another 15 years and were needed while the country waits for its new jets to arrive.

Prabowo has overseen the military's efforts to modernise its ageing fleet, which include purchases of Rafale fighter jets, drones from Turkish Aerospace and fighter jets and transport helicopters from US companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

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