AFP / AFX, JAKARTA: Indonesian defence officials are in Russia scouting for a wide range of weapons to upgrade its poorly-equipped and embargo-hit armed forces, officials said.
Indonesian ambassador to Moscow Susanto Pujomartono told Agence France-Presse by telephone that a 16-member delegation led by Air Force Vice-Marshal Pieter Wattimena is in Russia.
Among the weapons being discussed are Sukhoi jet fighters, Susanto said.
Air Force chief Marshal Chappy Hakim has said the air force would like eight more Sukhois to add to the four purchased under the previous government of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Defence ministry sources, who declined to be named, said Indonesia is also looking at buying infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, ship-borne cruise missiles, frigates and submarines.
The heads of the Indonesian air force and the navy have already made separate recent visits to Russia, said the sources who requested anonymity because they did not have official permission to talk on the subject.
Susanto said the delegation is officially in Russia to attend a commission on technical military cooperation set up earlier by the two governments.
The armed forces have been looking for new suppliers to get around Western restrictions on military sales.
Indonesia's air force fleet, primarily US and British aircraft, has been hard hit by a US arms embargo.
The US imposed an arms embargo on Indonesia in November 1991 after Indonesian military massacred pro-independence protesters in East Timor. The sanctions were tightened in 1999 after militias backed by the Indonesian army killed about 1,400 people before and after East Timor voted for independence from Jakarta.
But the US is keen to restore full military ties with the world's largest Muslim nation to assist its global 'war on terror'.
Washington in February decided to resume training members of Indonesia's armed forces but restrictions on weapons supply remain.
'We hope that Moscow can provide soft credits if we buy weapons and other military equipment from Russia,' Wattimena was quoted by the state Antara news agency as saying before his departure for Moscow.
'We have long cooperated with the military in Russia. We have a long history of this and we are certain that the prospect for the future is bright,' he was quoted as saying.
During his visit Wattimena, the Defence Ministry's Director General for Armaments, has visited military installations as well as weapons manufacturers, Susanto said.
