Navy must be given priority: Expert

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 03/17/2008 12:29 PM | National

An expert said Saturday that Indonesia must focus on its Navy development to keep the country from falling prey to conflicts of interest among countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

Military observer Edy Prasetyono of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said Indonesia's defense was essentially a maritime defense.

"Indonesian defense strategy must give priority to the development of the country's Navy, proportionally supported by its Army and Air Force," he said here during the launching of his book Indonesian Submarines, co-written by the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry's head of research, science journalist Budiman.

Edy said Asia-Pacific countries had been focusing on developing navies since the cold war ended late in the 1980s.

Asia-Pacific countries are projected to spend some US$108 billion on navy development within the next 10 years due to increasing trade volumes.

"They will buy or produce about 840 various kinds of vessels," Edy said, adding the development was also influenced by the increasing volumes of ocean trade.

At the moment, the Indonesian Navy is behind compared with its neighbors, Edy said, adding that with a coastline of 54,716 kilometers, Indonesia has only has two submarines while city-state Singapore has four and plans to buy two more. Malaysia does not have a submarine at the moment but it plans to buy two Scorpene submarines to be stationed in the Sepanggar gulf in Sabah.

Australia, Taiwan, Japan and China have six, four, 18 and 57 submarines, respectively. South Korea, with 88, has the most submarines in the region.

Edy said the shortfall in submarines had implications on the Indonesian Navy's performance.

"Submarines offer a tough deterrence power," he said.

In his book, Indroyono wrote of both the history of submarines and stories of Indonesian submarine crew.

He said submarines played a significant role in the country's military occupation of West Papua in 1962.

"At that time we had 12 Whiskey-Class submarines made in the Soviet Union," he said, adding that submarines became less known in Indonesia as their numbers decreased.

Former Navy chief Adm. (ret) M. Arifin suggested the government purchase mini-submarines which are more affordable.

"Mini-submarines could be an alternative to fulfill our need for the next five years," he said.

Edy said the government and legislature have to increase the defense budget.

"I believe they can do this as long as they have the political will."

Following the skyrocketing global oil prices, the Finance Ministry has proposed budget cuts of 15 percent for all government offices, including the Defense Ministry. (alf)

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