Yes, while i'm not really knowledgeable in military radars and electronics (only basic PESA-AESA, datalinking, avionics kind of stuffs) my short look on their websites and product profile videos impressed me a little bit, i feel that they take their work more seriously that the like of Thales and they really wanted to sell their best latest stuffs to us, also, i'm interested if we can use their service to help with our plan for network-centric warfare. I'm still unsure about the RBS-15s or the Kongsberg NSM tho, but looking at their specs made me kinda interested, especially NSM with it's trajectory configuration, and also it's test firing video, seems to pack quite a punch for it's size.
Exocet is a go-to AShM, it is not particularly special in any way, but it works, it's reputation is well established and already have the bragging right of being "battle-proven", it also could be ordered in one package with the VL MICA (i prefer Aster tbh, it have more room for growth and more variant), so the Navy bought Exocets for the familiarity and convenience, perhaps also because they are still hesitant to try out new things.
I assume that SAAB are the best in support equipments like radars, software and electronics, something like that, and their small arms products also revolve around the support role, most famously the Anti-Tank role, where NLAW and Carl Gustaf could be a great addition to TNI-AD's stockpile, as we currently short on effective one-shot AT missiles , and versatile recoilless guns like the Carl Gustaf will be a nice (basically necessary) thing to equip every infantry battalions, while for reusable launcher ATGMs, i prefer Javelin more (we need all these in thousands, much cheaper than tanks, could one-kill it, only with these infantry strong army could make sense), but for MANPADS, i liked the South Korean Chiron more than RBS-70s and Mistrals.
Standardization of airframes is logical thing to do in logistical point of view, as marketed performance is not the only attribute of an aircraft and not the only thing considered in their purchase, even the Americans realized this and went on with the single airframe F-35 concept (far from perfect! but at least they threw enough cash into the project so it could work eventually) even though they are more than capable to maintain their massive and diverse selection of aircrafts.
I don't really want the Gripen tbh, and i prefer F-16Vs more (if it's can really be proven that their electronics is THAT good, and still can be relevant in 20-30 years, as i worry about their old airframe design), but Gripen's hard marketing (and they really took it to a great length specifically for their potential customer) and video demonstrations pressured me to reconsider it over the F-16s, i can't help it lol. They marketed themselves as low cost in the long run model that able to operate efficiently even in improvised airstrip, ideal for operation from inner Kalimantan dan Papua.
I think we should really optimize out F-16s airframes' number and integration of latest techs, preferably at least 64 F-16Vs (new and upgraded airframes). TNI AU seems to like US' stuffs (or western stuff in general), so there's nothing to worry about their "tendency". But of course, we have to wait until the government finally come to their senses regarding the defense budget, when it will be around 1.5% of GDP. Flankers are here simply because the Air Force wanted to have a second option if the US embargoed us again, there are no guarantee they will not dictate how we use their weapons, like in Pakistan's case where they are not allowed to use their F-16s against India.
Indonesia is somewhat leaning towards the west in military hardware, even South Korean stuffs we bought is largely based on western models, the only part of TNI not leaning towards the west is the Marines, who are diehard fans of Russian amphibious vehicles and AK series/derivatives. Furthermore, upcoming acquisitions are dominated by western hardwares (of course duh), like the acquisition for 4 tankers already goes to KC-46 Pegasus, and the AEW&C is still undecided but already narrow down to 3 candidates, Wedgetail, SAAB Globaleye, and C295 AEW&C. I prefer the Wedgetail, but many pointed out that C295 is the most likely to be chosen, as PT DI is very familiar with the model and getting ToT could be much easier. With this path of development, i hoped Indonesia could catch the US' eyes and be considered a strategic partner in Asia-Pacific for them, so that there will more option to their weapons and less worry for embargoes. Being a simply "casual customer" or straight up US puppet are both dangerous
Wait, am i straying too far from the topic? ah, sorry, it's night and i'm sleepy while i write this reply, anyway i'm simply sharing my view and opinion.
