Indonesia's Prabowo trots globe to cut fighter jet deal

Minister weighs costs and diplomacy on trips to US, Austria, France and Turkey

20201110 Prabowo U.S. Air Force F-16

U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons taxi upon landing at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida on Sept. 12, 2018. They are one option for Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, who recently traveled the globe looking for alternatives to his country's aging fighter jets. (Source photos by Reuters and Getty Images) 

KOYA JIBIKI and SHOTARO TANI, Nikkei staff writers

JAKARTA -- Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto last month spent more than two weeks on a mission to solve a long-standing riddle of how Indonesia will replace its aging fighter jets.

Subianto, who flew to the U.S., Austria, France and Turkey, was also bargain hunting as Indonesia is constrained by a limited state budget and because his defense ministry had its funding slashed when COVID-19 demanded tax revenue be spent elsewhere.

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