Indonesian Aero News

[Ananda]

60 sets, and each set is 4 UAV, so 240 UAV total?
What does a JV actually mean?

Looking on the agreement the 60 set is initial currently the agreed upon number of TB3 that will be produce by this JV. No detail information on the scope of this JV yet. It could be from supporting MRO facility (like Baykar did with Marroco), or assembly plant like they are planning with Saudi. Repubilkorp sources told the facility will have abilities to also export the UAV. Still again it is not clear on detail yet.

Why would Indonesia require 240 navalized TBs?

In sense F-18 for example is like that. It is carrier borne fighter that being use also from land base. All F-18 export customers also still maintain that carrier borne capabilities. Building one version that can be carrier borne and land base operation seems also the choice for TB3.

The plan LHD or Garibaldi offering from Fincantieri shown Indonesia intention for drone carrier concept.

 

[T.C.P]

Why the Tb-3? IIRC this is the carrier version made for LHD and llight caarriers. WHy would Indonesia require 240 navalized TBs?

After a bit of research, it appears that TB-3s have much more capacity than Tb-2s, almost double the payload. So they are not just simply a TB-2 with foldable wings like I thought.

 

[Ananda]

Bit digging on the agreement, seems they are talk of 60 set TB3 and 9 set Akinci. The Indonesian side never put that 1 set equal to 4 UAV. That part coming from some Turkiye media interpretation.

So at this moment I'm back on the calculations of 60 TB3 and 9 Akinci as initial target for production in this JV. This is matter because that number means the facility will not that big. Heard that Republikorp will use facility in Batam Airport, thus they're not looking in my opinion big facility. That number still can be produce on existing facility or area available in Batam Airport.

240 TB3 and 36 Akinci on other hand need bigger facility, that perhaps can only be done in area as size DI ones. As DI also claiming they are using their facility for their own project with TAI for Anka, means (at least at this moment), Republikorp has to build facility using area on their own.

 

[Ananda]

PT. Pindad (Persero) - Apresiasi Kolaborasi Kerjasama Litbang Bom MK-81 Live, Pindad Serahkan Sertifikat Penghargaan

pindad.com

Air Force RnD head come to Pindad munition div to see the Mk-81 Bomb manufactured on that facility. This bomb will equip F-16, TA-50 and Super Tucano. In the photo it is also shown Russian style bomb that's aim for Flankers.

Geopolitics shown now increasing the need to build your own munition in country.

 

[Ananda]

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

IDEX 2025: PTDI berkolaborasi dengan Milkor dari Afrika Selatan untuk pengembangan UAV kecil dan sedang di Indonesia

AIRSPACE REVIEW - PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) telah menyepakati Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) dengan perusahaan pertahanan Milkor dari

www.airspace-review.com

During IDEX in Abu Dhabi DI sign NDA with South Africa MILKOR to become their partner on improving their light UAV Wulung and MALE UAV Black Hawk. Seems that MALE UAV got traction to be finish, after long hiatus due to stupidity of certain state RnD bureau.

Milkor eventough originate in South Africa,but seems it is part of SA MIC that's being lured to UAE to open shop there. I suspect basically this company already have UAE capital back up.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

IDEX 2025: PTDI berkolaborasi dengan Milkor dari Afrika Selatan untuk pengembangan UAV kecil dan sedang di Indonesia

AIRSPACE REVIEW - PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) telah menyepakati Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) dengan perusahaan pertahanan Milkor dari

www.airspace-review.com

View attachment 52317

During IDEX in Abu Dhabi DI sign NDA with South Africa MILKOR to become their partner on improving their light UAV Wulung and MALE UAV Black Hawk. Seems that MALE UAV got traction to be finish, after long hiatus due to stupidity of certain state RnD bureau.

Milkor eventough originate in South Africa,but seems it is part of SA MIC that's being lured to UAE to open shop there. I suspect basically this company already have UAE capital back up.

Please do not translate names...if we are not careful, foreigners may think we just have stolen that name from Sikorsky. Elang Hitam is a nice name which doesn't need to be translated.

 

[Ananda]

Russia Secretary of Security Council come to Jakarta yesterday to discuss defence Co-op with Indonesia. Yesterday also speculations on Su-35 procurement back to agenda.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

However MinDef denied Su-35 procurement is in the agenda on the meeting Yesterday.

While Boeing continue shown their effort to finalise F-15IDN contractual agreement with Indonesia. Somehow got feeling that with Trump in power, his administration will use Boeing deal as part of his effort to reduce Indonesia trade surplus with US. Something that I heard is increasingly possible.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

View attachment 52356

Russia Secretary of Security Council come to Jakarta yesterday to discuss defence Co-op with Indonesia. Yesterday also speculations on Su-35 procurement back to agenda.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

However MinDef denied Su-35 procurement is in the agenda on the meeting Yesterday.

While Boeing continue shown their effort to finalise F-15IDN contractual agreement with Indonesia. Somehow got feeling that with Trump in power, his administration will use Boeing deal as part of his effort to reduce Indonesia trade surplus with US. Something that I heard is increasingly possible.

View attachment 52357

Just a discussion about defence cooperation, nothing more than that.




Btw, in November 2022, 11 N219 were ordered, and the first of these 11 aircrafts should be delivered 28 months after signing the contract..... and this article is exactly from 27 months ago.

PT Karya Logistik Indotama beli 11 unit Pesawat N219 buatan PT DI

PT Karya Logistik Indotama (PT KLI) membeli sebanyak 11 unit Pesawat N219 buatan PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) dengan konfigurasi angkut penumpang beserta ...

m.antaranews.com

 

[Ananda]

DI says their N219 already ready, and I know the government already give them more capital to finish the production line. Will see then in couple of months if the line really ready.

They also says that their MALE UAV Elang Hitam will be ready for test flight within month or two. However when I see in the media of their announcements and media shown photo for that UAV, then questions come. Is this the same Elang Hitam ?




This is the photo of Elang Hitam, which basically have similar dimension with Chinese CH-4 or TAIS Anka.



This is photo from Detikcom on Elang Hitam at DI CEO announcement for the test flight. It's practically shrunken. Whether this just smaller size model or they actually shrink the UAV to make them more manageable is not clear. They claim the test flight will bring 300kg internal instruments capacities and 24 hrs test flights.

I don't have surprises if they shrink the UAV to make them more mageable (on instruments development) toward DI own capabilities. Still if they do that they should not embares to call it Elang Hitam Jr

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

DI says their N219 already ready, and I know the government already give them more capital to finish the production line. Will see then in couple of months if the line really ready.

They also says that their MALE UAV Elang Hitam will be ready for test flight within month or two. However when I see in the media of their announcements and media shown photo for that UAV, then questions come. Is this the same Elang Hitam ?

View attachment 52361
View attachment 52362

This is the photo of Elang Hitam, which basically have similar dimension with Chinese CH-4 or TAIS Anka.

View attachment 52363

This is photo from Detikcom on Elang Hitam at DI CEO announcement for the test flight. It's practically shrunken. Whether this just smaller size model or they actually shrink the UAV to make them more manageable is not clear. They claim the test flight will bring 300kg internal instruments capacities and 24 hrs test flights.

I don't have surprises if they shrink the UAV to make them more mageable (on instruments development) toward DI own capabilities. Still if they do that they should not embares to call it Elang Hitam Jr

The second photo is or a miniaturized model, or a total other UAV. The original Elang Hitam has a wingspan of 16 m, a length of 8,65 m and a payload/capacity of 300 kg, like you said comparable to the Anka or CH-4B. But this one is so much smaller, maybe even smaller than the Wulung, which has only a wingspan of 6,34 and a length of 4,42, with a payload of 35 kg.
I can not believe this tiny UAV can carry a load heavier than its own mass.

 

[Ananda]

Indonesia made iPhones a forbidden fruit — and triumphed over Apple

It's one of the largest companies in the world. That didn't stop the Indonesian government from banning Apple's iPhone 16 and gaining enormous investment pledges.

www.abc.net.au

This happen in same day, the moment Apple agree on further investment to allow their latest product back to Indonesia, Boeing increase campaign to finalise the F-15EX deal. This should be seperate commercial deal, but under Trump US administration can't rule out going to related somewhat.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

Until now the tailnumbers on Indonesia's T-50s started with "TT-50XX", like on this photo:
Aviation Photo #2382296: Korea Aerospace T-50i Golden Eagle - Indonesia - Air Force

But on this photo on Twitter, the T-50i of the next batch (six ordered), shows us "T-5020", and not "TT-5020".
Is this a mistake from KAI, or did TNI-AU requested this way?
https://x.com/hornetysfs/status/1894709843031883994

 

[Ananda]

This should be seperate commercial deal, but under Trump US administration can't rule out going to related somewhat.

Have light discussion with some Government Finance Guys last night. More on how economics and markets policies especially towards current International trade and financial market pressures and volatility. Related to China and US, basically they say we need Chinese Investments but also need US Trade. Securing US Trade under Trump increasingly become corner stone to Trump administration. Trump already begin to pressure Japan, Vietnam and reminding India.

Thus most probable one area to play is in defense procurement. So F-15EX seems going to have to procure along Blackhawk helicopter. While with China asside commercial Investment, 1-2 Naval procurement can happen. Seems this is in line with the rumours that Enthusiasts and online forums talk.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

IPTN posted recently a video on 11 March about the Elang Hitam UAV on Twitter. It seems they plan to have some test flights at Kertajati Airport. This thing hasn't flown yet, so it is unclear if they want to have the first flight at Hussein Sastranegara and then fly it to Kertajati, or disassemble the Elang Biru prototype and then move it to Kertajati by truck, to re-assemble it there and prepare it for the first flight.

The second option is in my opinion unpractical, time consuming and risky. It is also unclear when they want to have this first flight. This year, next year, before 2030? Hopefully they can finish this project and have it operational before 2045.

https://x.com/officialptdi/status/1899454465880772854

DI says their N219 already ready, and I know the government already give them more capital to finish the production line. Will see then in couple of months if the line really ready.



They also says that their MALE UAV Elang Hitam will be ready for test flight within month or two. However when I see in the media of their announcements and media shown photo for that UAV, then questions come. Is this the same Elang Hitam ?









This is the photo of Elang Hitam, which basically have similar dimension with Chinese CH-4 or TAIS Anka.







This is photo from Detikcom on Elang Hitam at DI CEO announcement for the test flight. It's practically shrunken. Whether this just smaller size model or they actually shrink the UAV to make them more manageable is not clear. They claim the test flight will bring 300kg internal instruments capacities and 24 hrs test flights.



I don't have surprises if they shrink the UAV to make them more mageable (on instruments development) toward DI own capabilities. Still if they do that they should not embares to call it Elang Hitam Jr

Btw, it is the real Elang Hitam UAV. Not a miniaturized model.

 

[Ananda]

Video on Elang Hitam UAV conducting ground taxi maneuver demo couple days ago. This is also shown performance of Austrian Rotax 915is engine.

is also unclear when they want to have this first flight.

The test flight will be conducted in Pangandaran Nusawiru airport within month or two from now. This airport has been place to use for testing UAV/Drones. As the airport in Java southern coast consider less air traffic.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

Video on Elang Hitam UAV conducting ground taxi maneuver demo couple days ago. This is also shown performance of Austrian Rotax 915is engine.



The test flight will be conducted in Pangandaran Nusawiru airport within month or two from now. This airport has been place to use for testing UAV/Drones. As the airport in Java southern coast consider less air traffic.

The prototype is at the moment still in Hussein Sastranegara, so i expect the first flight will be there, and only later the test program continues at Nusawiru, like they did with the N219.

 

[Ananda]

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

DI and Embraer sign agreement to choose DI as Acquisition parts center for Super Tucano and improve DI access to conduct MRO for the type. This after KAI hinting agreement with DI for assembly line on KA-1 family, which is basically Super Tucano rival.

This agreement not only provide DI to conduct MRO and supply chains sources, but also provide abilities to conduct modification. Seems pressure to Embrear on matter of Super Tucano parts support by TNI-AU push Embrear to make this agreement with DI.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

Here we have a video on Twitter of the assembly of the second A400M for TNI-AU, MSN 150. The first A400M is MSN 148.
https://x.com/Macaskeel/status/1901274434817970448

 

[Ananda]

https://www.kemhan.go.id/2025/03/28/menhan-tinjau-progres-kontrak-alutsista-di-pt-dirgantara-indonesia.html

Defense Minister visit DI to inspect the progress on MinDef projects. The mention project:
1. Multipurpose Helicopters,
2. F-16 upgrade,
3. N219.

For #1 it is not clear if this means Bell 412 or S70. DI already have long relationship with Bell, but Sikorsky also being informed has approach DI to have finalization project for S70 Blackhawk. For #2 it is also not clear yet whether the F-16 upgrade project will have LM as partner or TAI. There's enough chatters with local enthusiasts and online media that MinDef will use Turkiye Ozgur project to upgrade the F-16 rather then LM 'V' configurations.

MinDef also mentioned project for up to 80 CN 235/295, and this means all the talks of C27 or other Turboprop for TNI use is now come to nought. Airbus will be use as main Turboprop from A400 to CN 235/295 for overall TNI needs. This also means Turboprop need for specialized Airframes whether MPA or even ISTAR and AEW&C can potentially use CN235/295.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

https://www.kemhan.go.id/2025/03/28/menhan-tinjau-progres-kontrak-alutsista-di-pt-dirgantara-indonesia.html

Defense Minister visit DI to inspect the progress on MinDef projects. The mention project:
1. Multipurpose Helicopters,
2. F-16 upgrade,
3. N219.

For #1 it is not clear if this means Bell 412 or S70. DI already have long relationship with Bell, but Sikorsky also being informed has approach DI to have finalization project for S70 Blackhawk. For #2 it is also not clear yet whether the F-16 upgrade project will have LM as partner or TAI. There's enough chatters with local enthusiasts and online media that MinDef will use Turkiye Ozgur project to upgrade the F-16 rather then LM 'V' configurations.

MinDef also mentioned project for up to 80 CN 235/295, and this means all the talks of C27 or other Turboprop for TNI use is now come to nought. Airbus will be use as main Turboprop from A400 to CN 235/295 for overall TNI needs. This also means Turboprop need for specialized Airframes whether MPA or even ISTAR and AEW&C can potentially use CN235/295.

|"Saya juga menyoroti pentingnya percepatan pengadaan, termasuk rencana pengadaan 80 unit CN235/CN295 hingga 2029, ...."|

Ordering 80 pieces of CN235/C295.... that is maybe the same amount of CN235s IPTN made in almost four DECADES. So to even think about let IPTN build 80 in just four YEARS.....