RI to Honor Aircraft Contract with Australia

Jakarta (Antara) - Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has said Indonesia will honor its contract to procure nine Hercules C-130 planes from Australia, despite strained relations between the two nations over spying allegations. "The contract will be honored. The House of Representatives (DPR) has approved a budget for the procurement of the nine Hercules planes," he added after a discussion here on Friday. Five of the planes will be bought, while four have been offered as grants to Indonesia, he said. "We had to repair the planes' avionic systems, bodies and engines. The planes have now been repaired and belong to us. Technically, however, we need to bring the planes to Indonesia," he noted. The planes can be used for military and non-military operations, he added. Earlier, a media report quoted the head of defense facilities at the Defense Ministry, Rear Admiral Rachmad Lubis, as saying that the government had cancelled its plan to purchase six Hercules planes by Australia, as well as rejected four Hercules planes given as grants. Tensions between Indonesia and Australia increased after it was found that Australia had tapped the private cellphones of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, first lady Ani Yudhoyono and several Indonesian ministers in 2009. (*)