Military: Indonesian Military Chief Defends Israeli-Made Aircraft Purchase
Posted at 10-27-2006 at 06:35 PM
Indonesian armed forces chief Joko Suyanto Oct. 26 defended the planned
purchase of four Israeli-made unmanned drone aircraft from a Philippine company.
Suyanto said buying the unmanned planes had been planned since the rule of former authoritarian president Suharto — who stepped down in 1998 — but
gave no further details.
”The (purchase) process is ongoing,” Suyanto told reporters in East Java in comments broadcast on ElShinta radio.
”We need equipment that suits the mission that they are supposed to do for the armed forces.”
The purchase plan was questioned by some legislators last week, with some labeling the move “unethical” as Indonesia had no ties with Israel.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel but is buying the unmanned planes from Bina Putra
Sejati, a subsidiary of Kital Philippines Corp.
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