Preliminary
In May, an eight-minute air battle made the world re-recognize Made in China.
The Pakistan Air Force used the J-10CE to shoot down Indian Rafale fighter jets in 8 minutes. The unit price of these French fighter jets was as high as US$280 million. Indonesia, far away in Southeast Asia, originally ordered the Rafale, but now it urgently stepped on the brakes.
The Indonesian side is rumored to purchase Chinese-made warships and submarines!
A US$5 billion bill hits China
Radar locked, missile launched, leader plane fell, wingman plane panicked, 8 minutes, 8 aircraft, clean and tidy!
The Indian-Pakistan air war in May, like a heavyweight bomb, sparked a huge wave in the global weapons market.
The Pakistan Air Force managed to achieve an astonishing battle damage ratio of 8: 0 by virtue of the Chinese-made J-10CE fighter and Thunderbolt-15 missiles.
Even more shocking to the world was the shooting of the French-made, $2.8 billion single-cost "Arsenal" fighter aircraft.
This is air warfare, this is simply a free but effective global advertisement!
Who can imagine, this is not only India's face red, even far in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is completely unable to sit.
The Jakarta Globe directly named the J-10C, not only does its combat capability match the "Gusty Wind", but its price is only one-third of the latter's, or even lower.
In the budget year-on-year Indonesia, anyone knows how to choose, the Indonesian Deputy Defense Minister Da Vento also opened the door to meet the mountain, the performance of the J-10 in the conflict in India and Pakistan, is an important reason for Indonesia to seriously consider the model.
As a result, we saw a crazy purchase list, including 42 second-hand J-10B fighter jets, 7 second-hand frigates, 3 second-hand Type 039A submarines, no less than 10 022 missile boats, and at least one battalion of Eagle Strike-12 supersonic anti-ship missile.
Combined with the previously confirmed 42 second-hand J-10Bs, the order totaled more than 20 warships and submarines, making it the largest single arms sale in China's military and industrial history, even exceeding China's 15-year arms trade with Pakistan.
The United Kingdom's Defense Weekly can't afford to point out that the total value of the order is more than $3.1 billion, and if combined with subsequent maintenance contracts, the final amount could break through $5 billion, becoming a milestone in China's military industry exports history.
Don't sell parts, sell systems
Many people may think that Indonesia isn’t just buying a few aircraft a few ships, what’s wrong?
If you think so, it would be too small to see this game.
Interestingly, Indonesia did not buy a few weapons at all, but a whole set of integrated maritime and air combat systems.
It's like when you buy a mobile phone, someone only sells it to you, and someone even gives you a complete set of App Store, iCloud, and after-sales services. Which one do you choose?
What China's military industry is now playing is the advanced gameplay of "military version of Apple Ecology."
The J-10B can coordinate with the Air Police-500 early warning aircraft to form a closed circle of "discovery-lock-attack".
The 039A submarine cooperates with the 054 frigate to build a joint underwater and surface defense network.
In addition to the CM-302 anti-ship missiles on the shore, the entire defense network can cover the entire South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca.
For the typical archipelago country of Indonesia, this is simply a “counter-symptomatic medicine” that quickly solves the defensive difficulty of coordinating offshore forces distributed over hundreds of islands.
This systematic procurement also means long-term binding, once Indonesia fully introduces Chinese equipment, future upgrades, maintenance and even tactical adjustments, will prefer the Chinese solution, which is not only an arms purchase, but a "deep binding" strategic cooperation.
The logic of China's military trade has quietly shifted from "selling equipment" to "selling the system" or even "selling trust."
By providing a complete system, long-term services, and technical cooperation, China actually deeply binds a country's combat capabilities with China's standards. This method is not a simple transaction, but a strategic cooperation based on mutual trust.
"No strings attached"
Then the question is, why is the Chinese model so attractive?
Is it just a high price ratio?No, much more than that.
Imagine your F-16s lying down, the U.S. says “human rights issues,” parts don’t give, what’s your mood?
The United States has suspended the supply of F-16 components on human rights grounds, causing half of Indonesia's fighter jets to lie down!
And France, selling "Gust" is even more excessive. It even has to take care of how and when Indonesia uses it. It means that Indonesia has spent money but cannot control its own defense. Who can bear this?
At this time, a sentence from China seemed particularly pleasant: "No political conditions attached."
China's military industry has never "played tricks" on these issues, which is a real bonus for a country like Indonesia that emphasizes sovereignty and independence.
Indonesian President Prabhupada said when he announced the decision, “As a sovereign country, we have the right to choose the defense equipment that best suits us.”
This phrase marked the softest and most proud places in the heart of many developing countries.
Indonesia has always listed "no alliance", and diplomatically it is the middle line of "no one is guilty, no one is close", but this large-scale purchase of Chinese equipment is a bit of a "paranoid" meaning.
No reason to guess, security anxiety is real, AUKUS made Indonesia feel the pressure from the south, and the Philippines with the U.S. military closer, the east is not stable, at this time, China is not only Indonesia's largest trading partner, but also most willing "without additional conditions" to provide military cooperation, Indonesia will of course seriously consider!
Southeast Asia is changing.
This potential arms sale by Indonesia is not only a breakthrough in China’s military industry exports, but also a change in the strategic pattern of Southeast Asia.
The first domino fell, but the next domino couldn't stop it.
Even more worrying, this could trigger a regional chain reaction, Thailand has already purchased Chinese submarines, Malaysia is also in talks with the Chinese side on shipyard projects, and Singapore, although close to the western camp, will not ignore the choice of neighbors.
Indonesia's lead in purchasing China equipment may become a fulcrum for leveraging the direction of arms procurement across Southeast Asia.
From Indonesia's own perspective, this "multi-source" weapons procurement strategy is actually a clever balancing act. The United States 'F-16, Russia's Su-30, France's Rafale, Turkey's Khan, and now with China's J-10, the Indonesian military's equipment is like a "Wanguo Brand Exhibition Hall."
This strategy is seemingly chaotic, in fact, to maximize the guarantee of autonomy, no one thinks of a single.
But this multi-procurement also has a natural evolutionary trend, who has more compatible systems, more convenient maintenance, and higher cost, who can win in the future "additional orders".
At present, China’s advantages are becoming increasingly evident.
In the past, there were only a few players from the United States, Russia and Europe on the chessboard in Southeast Asia. Now, China is not only on the table, but also beginning to re-set the rules.
The Chinese weapons coming out of the victory are becoming the real choice for more and more countries.
Indonesia, on the other hand, may really become the "Pakistan Railway of Southeast Asia"-not just because it has bought dozens of fighter planes and dozens of ships, but because it is choosing to share security, technology and future with China.
conclusion
Indonesia's choice is not a simple military purchase, but an expression of trust by voting with its feet.
When power wins respect, when the model brings win-win, the outline of a multipolar world is quietly clear.
This game of chess has just begun. Where do you think the next step will be?