Navy, minister to modernize weaponry

Lilian Budianto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 04/23/2008 1:07 AM  |  National

The State Ministry for Research and Technology agreed Tuesday to intensify cooperation with the Navy to help modernize the force's aging weaponry.

Under the agreement, the Ministry is required to conduct research to develop military weaponry, get involved in the maintenance and retrofiting of war machines, carry out hydro-oceanography surveys and engage in technology transfer from the countries with which the Indonesian Military (TNI) signs arms purchasing deals.

Research minister Kusmayanto Kadiman said after signing the memorandum of understanding that the TNI would have been able to benefit more from domestic defense technology if both had established the cooperation earlier.

"We have seven research institutions that can help the military develop and retrofit weaponry. The institutions have been working on several Navy projects and we hope the MOU signed today will facilitate more projects in the future," he said.

The research ministry has sent its staff to the Netherlands, where the Navy has signed contracts to obtain four speed vessels, to learn the construction process. Two of the ships will be built in the Netherlands and the others produced at home by state ship builder PT PAL based on research and development by the ministry.

Representing the Navy was its chief of staff Marshal Sumardjono.

The MOU signing came on the heels of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's call for the TNI to lean toward available local support for weaponry modernization.

The TNI has been facing an urgent need to modernize its weaponry as most of its war machines have been in use for more than 30 years. Budget constraints, however, have stalled the modernization plan.

Aging weaponry has been blamed for a series of air and sea accidents involving TNI soldiers. The latest accident occurred Feb. 3 when a 46-year-old amphibious tank sank during a military exercise near the East Java town of Situbondo, killing seven marines on board.

The government said it would not increase the defense budget to back replacement efforts but called on the TNI to turn to less costly local products, facilitating easier financing schemes than for foreign equipment.

Sumardjono said it was time the military empowered local suppliers, saying locally produced weaponry would be able to compete with foreign equipment if all institutions co-operated to develop local arms manufacturing.

"We hope the TNI will reduce dependency on imported weaponry in the future," he said.

Military observer Edy Prasetyono of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said a shortfall of weaponry and warships had adversely affected the Navy's performance in the country, which has the second longest coastline in the world.

"Illegal fishing is plaguing our country because the military does not have the vessels to monitor such a wide area," he said.

Indonesia with a coastline of 81,000 kilometers has only two submarines, while tiny Singapore has four and plans to buy two more. South Korea has 88.

The ministerial office has also cooperated with the Army and its arms manufacturer PT Pindad to help produce 150 armored vehicles via local financing sources. The vehicles are scheduled to be completed next year.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.