Indonesia is in talks to buy “nine or 10” Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia, an Indonesian defense ministry official told Reuters on Tuesday, without giving a timeline for any deal.

“We are still negotiating,” Leonardi, head of the defense facilities at Indonesia’s defense ministry who goes by one name, said by telephone.

“We are still bargaining, ‘how much do you want to sell them for?’.”

Indonesian defense minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said in May the Southeast Asian country would buy eight Russian Sukhoi Su-35 jets this year, but the planned purchase has not materialized.

Rival Western companies are still trying to wrest the deal to supply Indonesia with fighter jets away from Russia’s Sukhoi, two people familiar with the talks said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The award has not been finalised and it is seen as a test for efforts by Indonesian President Joko Widodo to enforce more transparency in big-ticket deals, they said.

Hundreds of companies including Lockheed Martin of the United States, Sweden’s Saab and Indonesian state weapons maker PT Pindad will be represented at an Indo Defence exhibition, which will be held in Jakarta from Nov. 2 to Nov. 5.

The country’s biggest annual defense show will come weeks after Indonesian warplanes staged large-scale exercises on the edge of a South China Sea area claimed by Beijing.

Reuters