TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Head of the Defense Information Bureau of the Secretariat General of Indonesia's Ministry of Defense, Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait, stated that the procurement of multirole M-346F fighter jets from Italy is not related to the procurement of other platforms.
He mentioned that the acquisition of 12 fighter jets from Italy is a separate program based on the operational needs of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), particularly for advanced pilot training on modern aircraft technology.
"(Is it related to the grant of the Giuseppe Garibaldi aircraft carrier?) It is not related to other platforms," said Rico via WhatsApp message on Thursday, July 23, 2026.
In March 2026, Indonesia received a grant for one Giuseppe Garibaldi aircraft carrier from Italy. The approval for receiving this grant was then decided by the House of Representatives (DPR) in a plenary meeting of Commission I with the Ministry of Defense on Monday, July 20, 2026.
Discourse regarding the contract for the purchase of defense equipment in the grant of the Giuseppe Garibaldi aircraft carrier surfaced on social media, especially on X-former Twitter.
In his post, account controller @aledeniz mentioned that Italian authorities submitted a decision to parliament that would allow the ship to be transferred to Indonesia at no cost.
The account controller continued that, in the attached document, the Italian government informed its parliament that the cost-free transfer was intended to support several future contracts.
"(Purchase of) 6 submarines and 6 aircraft with a total value of 1.53 billion euros," posted the X account @aledeniz, as seen by Tempo on Monday, March 2, 2026.
However, the Ministry of Defense denied the statement. According to Rico Sirait, the Giuseppe Garibaldi aircraft carrier grant is not tied to any obligation to purchase defense equipment.
He explained that before the plan for the grant of the aircraft carrier, the Indonesian government had already established cooperation and procurement of defense equipment with the Italian authorities.
"Thus, there is no obligation to purchase defense equipment in this grant," said Rico on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.
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