It is official: Indonesia is now a Rafale operator. The first three Dassault Rafale fighters touched down at Roesmin Nurjadin Air Base in Pekanbaru, Sumatra, on 23 January 2026 — the opening batch of an eventual 42-jet fleet that will become the sharpest edge of Indonesia's air force.

"The aircraft have been handed over and are ready for use by the Indonesian Air Force," defence ministry spokesman Rico Ricardo Sirait said, confirming the delivery. A formal handover ceremony is to follow at a later date.

Three jets, an €8.1 billion bet

The trio that arrived represents barely the start. Indonesia's contract, signed in February 2022 by then-defence minister (now president) Prabowo Subianto, covers 42 Rafales in the latest F4 standard, worth roughly €8.1 billion.

That order did not land all at once. It was activated in three tranches: an initial six jets that came into force in September 2022, a second batch of 18 in August 2023, and the final 18 confirmed in January 2024. Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer, marked that last milestone with a statement from its chief.

Pilots already trained in France

The first jets are not just for show. They are intended to kickstart the training pipeline for Indonesian Rafale crews and build up operational conversion for air force pilots — a process that has already seen Indonesian aircrew sent to France to learn the type. Dassault has also handed over supporting infrastructure, including a dedicated simulation and training centre, so Indonesia can stand up the fleet rather than simply park it.

Indonesia receives its first Rafale fighters from France. (Video: Arab News)

Based in Sumatra, the Rafales are positioned in the strategically sensitive west of the archipelago, near the approaches to the Strait of Malacca — one of the world's busiest maritime chokepoints. More aircraft are expected to follow in rotations through the rest of the decade until all 42 are in Indonesian hands.

A fleet of many flags

The Rafale is the centrepiece, but Indonesia's fighter story has long been a tangle of competing ambitions. Jakarta has built a genuinely mixed inventory — American F-16s alongside Russian Su-27s and Su-30s — and for years tried to add more.

A 2018 deal for 11 Russian Su-35s, partly to be paid in commodities, withered under the threat of US sanctions and was quietly shelved. More recently, Indonesia was lined up to become an export customer for Boeing's F-15EX Eagle II, with US approval in 2022 and a memorandum signed in 2023. But in early 2026 — just as the Rafales were arriving — those talks faltered amid cost and a crowded shopping list.

That list still includes the future. Indonesia remains a partner in South Korea's KF-21 Boramae programme and has signalled interest in Turkey's TAI KAAN. Whether Jakarta can afford — and sustain — so many different types at once is the open question hanging over the whole effort.

For now, though, the milestone is real and concrete: after years of paperwork, tranches and false starts, French-built fighters are finally flying in Indonesian colours. Three down. Thirty-nine to go.

Sources: Dassault Aviation; The Diplomat; AeroTime; Air Data News; Janes; Defense Mirror.