INDONESIAN C-130 LIFT CAPACITY MAKING RECOVERY,

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000110 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, EAP/ANZ SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/APSA WALTON E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV MASS ID SUBJECT: INDONESIAN C-130 LIFT CAPACITY MAKING RECOVERY, BUT STILL NOT SUFFICIENT REF: JAKARTA 77 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Indonesia's C-130 fleet is old and only a modest portion of the planes are currently operational. Indonesia has made the rebuilding of its military lift capacity a top priority. U.S. assistance--in the form of foreign military sales and financing--are beginning to reverse the years of decline during sanctions. Indonesia is a vast country with serious needs in areas such as disaster relief and additional assistance will be needed to upgrade its operational capabilities in terms of lift capacity. END SUMMARY. CURRENT C-130 FLEET OLD AND NEGLECTED ¶2. (C) C-130 lift capacity is a problem for the GOI. Based on Mission's latest information, the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) has owned a total of 31 C-130 aircraft in several variants. Of these, four have crashed and two have been withdrawn from service. Eleven C-130 aircraft are currently in operation. The entire C-130 fleet is of U.S. origin. Seven of the planes were purchased through Direct Commercial Sales (DCS); the rest were purchased through Foreign Military Sales (FMS). None has been acquired through FMS since 1981. ¶3. (C) During the years of U.S. sanctions, the GOI was denied access to replacement parts and supplies. Due to this, the fleet was cannabilized to keep at least some planes operational. That trend is only beginning to reverse and the GOI will need more assistance. MODEST U.S. ASSISTANCE SINCE LIFTING SANCTIONS ¶4. (C) Since 2005 and the lifting of sanctions, the USG has sold the Indonesian Air Force approximately $16.2 million in parts and equipment via FMS. Of that, $3.4 million was for eight sets of C-130 wings, and $13 million was for engines, props and miscellaneous parts and equipment. ¶5. (C) The first batch of grant money provided under Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for the C-130 fleet will arrive this year from FY-2008 funding. This assistance, for periodic depot maintenance (PDM) of the C-130 fleet, will include equipment and training for the TNI-AU to build its capability so that it can perform complete PDM for Indonesian C-130s and possibly for other fixed-wing aircraft. GOI WILL NEED FURTHER ASSISTANCE ¶6. (C) These developments are consistent with the priority that the GOI has placed on increasing the TNI's lift capability. Indonesia is a vast country with serious needs in areas such as disaster relief. As noted reftel, for example, five TNI C-130 aircraft supported the recent Indonesian earthquake relief operations in West Papua, hauling food and supplies long distances to remote corners of that remote region. ¶7. (C) Indonesia is also interested in assuming a greater international and regional role, but it does not have the lift capacity to underwrite such an effort. It is reliant on international support for its UN peacekeeping stabilization duties and on USG support, most recently when U.S. military aircraft carried relief supplies from Indonesia to Burma after Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Additional assistance will be needed to upgrade Indonesia's operational capacities so that it can fulfill enhanced responsibilities. Mission will continue to seek opportunities to work with Indonesia in pursuit of this objective. HUME