Indonesia’s Vice President Jusuf Kalla has finally spoken up on a plan by the Air Force to buy three AW101 helicopters for VVIP duties.
Photo: Sgt Ray Cooper RAF/MOD [OGL], via Wikimedia Commons
Kalla said the purchase was “excessive” and that five current Super Puma helicopters available for such duties are rarely used.
President Joko Widodo will make a decision on the purchase once he returns from the Climate Change Summit in Paris.
Meanwhile, Air Force chief Air Marshall Agus Supriatna defended his decision to import the three helicopters. Supriatna complained that state-owned aerospace and defense firm Dirgantara Indonesia had a poor record on delivering aircraft and its products were no different from imports as Dirgantara basically assembled its own helicopters under license.