Indonesia has inked a $300 million contract to acquire a dozen Anka airplane drones from Turkiye's state-run defense major Turkish Aerospace Industries, the archipelago's Defense Ministry said.
Indonesia has bought 12 surveillance and reconnaissance drones worth $300 million from Turkish Aerospace to be used by its military to beef up the nation's defenses, the country's Defense Ministry said.
The ministry added that the 12 Anka drones will give more teeth to the capabilities of Indonesia's tri-services. The UAVs are scheduled to be supplied to Jakarta before November 2025.
Furthermore, Indonesian defense personnel will receive training about how to operate these drones. Also, related equipment and logistics support, including a maintenance package, are part of the agreement.
The drones come with a "warranty period of 600 flying hours".
Turkiye's First Drone Airplane
With the signature of modern-day Turkiye's founding father Kemal Ataturk on its front, the Anka drone is a long-endurance UAV that can remain in the sky for nearly 30 hours and carry out surveillance and reconnaissance missions from a height of 9,100 metres.
Indonesia has been looking to bolster air power, especially given the slew of military contracts of late. Before the drone deal with Ankara, Jakarta purchased second-hand Mirage fighter jets from Qatar.
This was followed by an order for 42 Rafale warplanes from France in a deal valued at $8.1 billion. The first batch of French-manufactured combat jets is set to arrive in Indonesia in 2026.
Like Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur purchased these defense systems to fulfill its operational requirements.