Indonesia agreed to buy F-15EX fighter jets from Boeing in a deal estimated at $14 billion, though financial terms weren't disclosed. The analyst questions whether the purchase makes strategic sense against Russian and Chinese aircraft, and notes Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's ties to Raytheon, which won a $3.1 billion contract for F-15EX radars.
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Hello everyone and welcome to Geopolitical Trends. As geopolitical analyst, I ask, why is Indonesia purchasing fighter jets from the US? In this video, I'm going to provide you my brief analysis as to the real reason for why Indonesia is embarking on this venture. So let's dive in into this fascinating development. So Indonesia has struck a deal now, or an agreement that is, with the US aircraft maker Boeing. And, and you'll find out why Boeing. So to buy about 24 F-15 fighter jets. Now there are some other sources where I found they were about 36, so the numbers are not very, very, uh, sort of, uh, certain. Uh, depends again on whom you ask. So, and the reason why they're buying this, uh, fighter, those fighter jets, that is to modernize Indonesia's military fleet. This is what the Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said yesterday. So the Minister of Defense announced on Instagram— this is where the announcement was made— the signing of a— and I put this in quotes— memorandum of understanding, an MOU, for the purchase of 24 F-15EX, end of quotes. So Boeing, also the company that is, said in a statement that the deal, and I put it in quote here, will give Indonesia the ability to dominate the skies, end of quote. No, no, no, that's a lie, because how do you expect the F-15 to compare it to Su-35, the Russians, or Su-54, or the Chinese, I think, J-20? F-15 is not gonna cut it. So, and yet Boeing had to make the hypes about its products. Of course, that's just the norm for sales pitch, that is. So neither side, Boeing or Indonesia, had disclosed the value of the deal, which is, by the way, awaiting a formal approval by the United States government. Well, the deal is already made. What they're waiting for is nothing but formality. Some papers to be signed. So, and the reason they did not want to disclose, because in Indonesia— here is my reason for why. And by the way, stick to the end of this video because I am going to disclose the value of this deal for you. You'll be surprised. And the reason why they don't want to disclose it, because in Indonesia, if Indonesian people find out the cost, they will be sort of livid as to how come the government is going to spend money on weapons instead of using the money for domestic program. That is the reason why they didn't want to disclose. And if I am to guess, it was at the request of Indonesian government. So, and as I said earlier, stick to the end of this video, it will be short anyway, and I will disclose to you the exact value of this deal. Well, how this happened to begin with, this deal and so forth, Well, if you recall, last fall in November, US Defense Secretary of State Lloyd Austin traveled to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, to negotiate the deal. So Austin, Lloyd Austin, said at that time that the agreement would strengthen cooperation with the US armed forces and be an important addition to Indonesia's F-16 fleet. Well, it's all good, sounds good, but if you know, Lloyd Austin, the Defense Secretary, sits on the board of Raytheon, so he's gonna have to push for the sale of something also for Raytheon. That is the reason why. So, so the— and as a matter of fact I'm gonna share info with you about how the US Air Force on June of last year awarded the Raytheon, which the Secretary of Defense sits on its board, it rewarded Raytheon Technologies a contract that is worth about $3.1 billion for the production, modernization, and support of APG-82 Eagle version radars for Boeing F-15EX, which is the same fighter jets that Indonesia is buying. So, and of course, this deal wasn't just for the Air Force, US Air Force, it was also for other foreign and domestic F-15s. That's, that's the interesting aspects of it. And by the way, the F-15s is the latest version of the fighters deployed by McDonnell Douglas. So there are so many companies playing into this. All this is good and all that, but that is not the reason why Indonesia is considering or have signed the deal. My thinking or my analysis suggests that Indonesia is concerned about what is about to take place with Papua New Guinea. As you may know, the US has signed an agreement, military, to have the US presence over there. So we all can see maybe Indonesia is thinking about, we better just be prepared just in case. And by the way, this F-15s, which as I said developed by McDonnell Douglas, is a subsidiary of Boeing, you know, and it's only used by about 6 countries. That's about it in the world. So not many have it. So Jakarta's military fleet currently includes US F-16s, and other Russian Su-35 jets. So, interesting. If you think about what's in Indonesia right now, well, you have about 4,000 US military personnel and Indonesian troops also taking part in major joint exercises in the Pacific over the— over 2 weeks, which they took last year. So, so, but there's still the presence of US military personnel over there, and this is within the, the context of, uh, uh, sort of strained relations between China and the United States. Everything that's going on in that part of the world now will have to be within the context of the strained relations between US and China. Of course, Washington will have to disclose that it is concerned about China's growing presence in the region and also Beijing's military exercises around Taiwan. Well, we're doing the same. I mean, come on, come on. So, so as part of the modernization of its military air fleet, Indonesia, which has established itself as a leading economy in Southeast Asia, uh, has ordered, by the way, 42 that was last year, I believe. Yeah, last year has— or I was aware of the deal for that— has ordered about 42 Rafale jets. Rafales are, uh, uh, production of France. Yeah, for about $8 billion. So this is why now Indonesia, in order to please the US, will have to purchase the fighter jets from the United States. And like I said that earlier, I will tell you the value because this is my conclusion for this short, concise video. So the value of the fighter, the F-15 fighter jet deal to Indonesia is worth $14 billion. So just think about it, $14 billion. So let me know what you think about this deal. Leave me some comments in the comment section. I always like to read your feedback. And by the way, if you like the content of this video, please hit that like button and don't forget to subscribe. I will truly appreciate it. As always, remember, geopolitics impact your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, bye-bye.
