Austria confirms Indonesia wants to buy its Eurofighters

News reports in Austria say Indonesia has written an official letter to buy 15 Eurofighters from Austria.

The letter was from Indonesia’s Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto to his Austrian counterpart Klaudia Tanner. The Austria Defense Ministry has confirmed that the letter was received. The letter was dated Jul. 10.

Subianto has also stated in his letter that he understands the issue of the Eurofighter in Austria is sensitive due to a corruption probe into the purchase of the 15 aircraft. He added that the sale offers opportunities for both sides.

Austria had previously said it wanted to retire those fighters starting from this year and replace them with another type of aircraft such as the Gripen or F-16.

Back in 2017, Austria launched a probe into the purchase of the fighters, alleging that Airbus had paid brides during the competition.

Indonesia is looking to replacing its F-5 with new fighters and had signaled that it intends to buy the Su-35. However, the deal to buy the Russian fighters has never been signed.

The South East Asian nation had also indicated last year that it intends to buy two squadrons of F-16s this year.