JAKARTA, June 14 (Reuters) - Indonesia confirmed on Wednesday it had bought 12 Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets previously used by Qatar, defending the nearly $800 million deal as a fast way to upgrade the air force after it was criticised by lawmakers who said the planes were too old. The defence ministry said in a statement that Indonesia had signed the deal for 733 million euros ($792 million) with Excalibur International a.s., a unit of Czech defence company Czechoslovak Group (CSG) in January. The country has long been seeking to overhaul its ageing air fleet which includes U.S.-made F-16 and Russian Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30 jets. The country secured a deal to order 42 Rafale fighter jets for $8.1 billion in February. A planned purchase of F-15 fighter jets is also in advanced stages and awaiting final sign-off from the government, defence minister Prabowo Subianto said last year.

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Persons: Tubagus Hasanuddin, Edwin Adrian Sumantha, Sukhoi Su, Prabowo Subianto, Ananda Teresia, Gayatri Suroyo, Peter Graff Organizations: Czechoslovak Group, Dassault Aviation, Indonesian Air, Thomson Locations: JAKARTA, Indonesia, Qatar, Czech, U.S, Russia, Jakarta