Signing of Indonesia-German tank deal postponed

MBT Leopard 2 Revolution

(Foto MIK)

Jakarta - The planned signing of a deal for Indonesia‘s purchase of more than 150 German tanks was postponed Wednesday as the two sides were still negotiating, a Defence Ministry official said.

Indonesia now hopes to sign the contract and a separate technical agreement with German defence company Rheinmetall on Saturday, said Major General Ediwan Prabowo, the head of the defence facilities agency at the ministry.

"It‘s still being negotiated," Prabowo said. "The plan is to sign it on Saturday but it all depends on the negotiation and any agreement that can be reached."

He described the sticking points as minor and included issues such as the timing of delivery, after sale maintenance support and a technology transfer.

Deputy Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said last week that the deal had been completed and the subsequent agreement would only be related to future maintenance and a transfer of technology.

Prabowo said there were no pending political or legal issues, saying the German government fully supported the deal.

Indonesia wants to buy 100 main battle tanks Leopard A24, including its upgraded version MBT Revoulution, and lighter Marder tanks from Rheinmetall.

Prabowo said Indonesia wanted the first batch to be delivered this year, but Rheinmetall had not given assurances because it would take some time to build tanks suited to Indonesian specifications.

The tank purchase was opposed by human rights groups in Indonesia and the Green and left-wing parties in Germany who argued that the military was committing human rights violations in the Papua region, the scene of a low-level separatist conflict.

The Defence Ministry dismissed the criticism on Tuesday, saying the purchase was part of the government drive to modernize its under-equipped military.

"Indonesia is a sovereign and civilized nation," said Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Bambang Hartawan.

IFV Marder 1A3 (Foto kenyot10)

"We need to upgrade our defence capabilities like other countries have done, in terms of human resources and equipment," he said.

The military was accused of gross human rights violations under the rule of autocratic former president Suharto.

Activists said that despite a series of reforms following Suharto‘s downfall in 1998, there has been little accountability for past and recent abuses committed in Papua.

The government has allocated a defence budget of 156 trillion rupiah (16.4 billion dollars) for the 2011-14 period, allowing it buy hardware such as modern fighter aircraft, submarines and tanks.

Unlike neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia does not have main battle tanks. Its military has long relied on ageing French-made AMX-13 and British-made Scorpion light tanks.

The country‘s main weapons company, PT Pindad, has developed and produced light armoured personnel carriers and the government hopes it would eventually be capable of making tanks similar to the Leopard, in cooperation with Germany.

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