Indonesia seeks foreign lender for T-50 lead-in fighter trainer programme

The Indonesian Ministry of Defense (MOD) has begun a search for foreign lenders to fund the acquisition of six additional T-50i Golden Eagle airframes for its lead-in fighter trainer (LIFT) programme.

An approval to obtain the foreign loan was approved by the country's finance ministry, after consulting with the Indonesian MOD and the Ministry of National Development Planning (Kementerian Perencanaan Pembangunan Nasional: BAPPENAS).

A document provided to Janes by an industry source indicates that a limit of USD240 million has been set for this foreign loan allocation.

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) disclosed in a financial regulatory filing on 16 July that it has secured a “contract” to supply the Indonesian Air Force (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Udara: TNI-AU) with the aircraft type.

The aircraft are meant to be deployed as intermediate jet trainers for cadet pilots transitioning from airscrew-propelled aircraft to type certification training for fighters.

However, Janes has since verified with the Indonesian MOD that the contract mentioned is preamble in nature and will only be in force once the initial payment is secured.

Additionally, Janes understands from a separate source at the MOD that this initial payment will be obtained via an allocation from Indonesia's 2022 defence budget, and it will be made out to KAI by the end of 2021. The remainder of the contract amount will be funded with proceeds from the foreign loan that is still being sourced.