Indonesia planning record high military spending in 2021

Indonesia's Ministry of Defence has submitted record high budgetary proposals for 2021 to the country's parliament. The proposed expenditure of IDR148.3 trillion (US$10.2 billion) is a 21% increase on the budget for 2020. The budget prioritises weapons purchases such as munitions, armoured vehicles, naval vessels, and military aircraft.

In July it was reported that the Indonesia Defense Minister, Prabowo Subianto, has written to the Austrian Defence Minister, Klaudia Tanner, offering to buy 15 second-hand Typhoon fighter jets owned by Austria. Typhoons are manufactured by a consortium of companies which include Airbus, Leonardo and BAE Systems, and any sale would require authorisation by Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Representatives from Eurofighter visited Indonesia in 2015, bringing a full-scale replica plane and, according to The Jakarta Post, offered to move manufacturing lines from Spain to Bandung if Indonesia decided to purchase Eurofighter planes.