The Indonesian Military (TNI) showed off its most sophisticated primary weaponry system (Alutsista) on Tuesday to impress its outgoing and incoming supreme commanders as part of its 69th anniversary celebration at the Navy'€™s Ujung Eastern Region Fleet (Armatim) Command.

It was a sentimental farewell for President Susilo Bambang Yudho-yono. In the past 10 years, the four-star retired general has always presided over such ceremonies.

President-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, who was also at the ceremony, will take over from Yudhoyono as president and TNI supreme commander on Oct. 20.

Thousands of invitees attending the ceremony witnessed a parade that included the TNI'€™s new combat equipment, the Main Battle Tank (MBT) Leopard bought from Germany and three Multi Role Light Frigates (MRLFs) bought from the UK, namely the KRI Bung Tomo-357, the KRI John Lie-358 and the KRI Usman Harun-359.

The latter was controversially named after two marines who were hanged in Singapore after they perpetrated bombings there during the confrontation era in the 1960s.

The Army paraded the likes of Marder tanks, Mistral rockets and a French-made Caesar 155mm Cannon.

The Air Force paraded sophisticated fighters, including the CN-235 MPA, the T-50i Golden Eagle, the Sukhoi SU-30 MK2, the CN-295, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the Hercules C-130 and the Super Tucano.

In total, the Army paraded 192 Alutsista units, the Navy 195 units and the Air Force 139 fighters.

The parade, which cost Rp 20 billion, also included military martial arts, 18,580 troops, fighters flying overhead and warships sailing past.

In his address, Yudhoyono advised Jokowi to follow in his steps to develop the TNI.

'€œThe TNI has to be capable and ready to maintain the sovereignty and integrity of the NKRI [Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia] as well as deal with non-traditional security threats such as natural disasters, pirates, terrorism, transnational crime, cyber attacks and people smuggling,'€ the President said.

He said modern and comprehensive weaponry development would improve the TNI'€™s posture and improve the nation'€™s dignity and independence.

'€œSince 2006, we have improved the national defense industry to fulfill the TNI Alutsista needs,'€ Yudhoyono said.

He said that during his first five years in office, the focus was on revitalizing Alutsista, which could no longer function well. During the next five years, he said, the focus was on increasing the size of Alutsista and modernizing it.

Jokowi, who also attended the ceremony on Tuesday, agreed with Yudhyono and said the TNI was a pillar of the nation.

'€œIn the parade we can see the Alutsista and it gives a sense of pride to us all. The people must be proud of this,'€ Jokowi said after the ceremony.

He said he wanted to continue to improve TNI'€™s professionalism alongside improvements in the qua-lity and quantity of Alutsista. He also promised to be consistent in mo-dernizing Alutsista.

'€œI have repeatedly said that if the economy is good, the budget for the TNI could be increased to twice or three times as much,'€ said Jokowi, adding that soldier'€™s salaries also needed to be increased.

Popular

HSBC’s The Redefining Treasury Asia Pacific reveals shift toward real-time treasury

NU in deadlock over Yahya chairmanship

Why rules of corporate reputation are still ignored in Indonesia