Indonesia to buy 11 Su-35 Flanker jets from Russia.

According to the information released by The Jakarta Post on Aug. 4., Indonesia is going to barter its resources, including coffee, to acquire the Russian Su-35 supermaneuverable fighter aircraft.

The whole deal is to be directed by an Indonesian state-owned company – PT Perusahaan Perdagangan, collaborating with Rostec. The Parties in question, as The Jakarta Post reports, have signed a memorandum of understanding, assuming that Indonesian agricultural commodities would be traded for the Russian fighter aircraft, specifically 11 examples of the Su-35 jets.

Jakarta, in exchange, is to provide Russia with, among other goods, coffee, palm oil, or tea, as the Indonesian Trade Minister, Enggartiasto “Enggar” Lukita, stated, during his official visit to Russia which ended on Aug. 5.

The aforesaid deal is a clear sign that Russia is trying to find a variety of workarounds in order to mitigate the effects sanctions have on its economy. Indeed, during our recent trip to Moscow for MAKS 2017, high prices could have been noticed in case of commodities, the trade exchange of which has been limited by the EU or the US, e.g. apples.

The Indonesian officials interpret the above situation as a major opportunity also to expand and deepen the collaboration with Russia beyond the trading area in fields like tourism, student exchange, energy or technology – according to the statement made for The Jakarta Post by the Indonesian Trade Minister.

The Sukhoi Su-35 is a Russian jet fighter considered to belong to the 4++ generation, with its supermaneuverability capabilities demonstrated during this year’s edition of the Moscow MAKS Aviasalon.

Image Credit: Jacek Siminski