Outgoing commander of Indonesian Military (TNI) Gen
utgoing commander of Indonesian Military (TNI) Gen. Moeldoko says that the TNI plans to purchase US-made CH-48 Chinook helicopters in 2016 to be operated by the Army.
'The funding is not coming from this year, [it's] from 2016,' he said in Surakarta, Central Java, on Thursday night.
He however declined to mention how many units would be purchased but said the modern multi-purpose helicopters that cost around US$30 million each would be used as a defense arsenal system in the Army and would be used to move Army personnel and resupply them in various operations.
'The helicopters will be used for personnel transportation because of their high mobility and transportation capacity. It can transport a platoon of personnel,' he said as quoted by kompas.com.
Moeldoko said he saw the helicopters' high mobility when Singapore and China used them to supply humanitarian relief to Aceh during the tsunami natural disaster in 2004.
'Buying the Chinook is expensive, but human lives are more expensive,' he said. (rms)(+++)
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