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Would-be Indonesian military chief committed to new aircraft
Indonesian Military commander candidate Gen
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ndonesian Military commander candidate Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo has said he is committed to bringing in new airplanes, instead of receiving grants of aircraft from other countries, in the upcoming procurement period.
'I have communicated with the House of Representatives Commission I [which oversees defense, intelligence and foreign affairs] that airplanes must be new. In the future, all airplanes we want to procure must be new ones, except those which have been procured,' he said as quoted by Antara news agency on Thursday.
Gatot was speaking after undertaking a fit and proper test as part of his nomination for the Indonesia Military commander post at the House's Commission I on Wednesday evening.
Gatot said aircraft were different to primary defense weaponry system (alutsista) components for land operations, which could be directly repaired onsite if damage occurred. If an aircraft was damaged or stalled during operation, it could crash, as occurred in incidents affecting several aircraft belonging to the Indonesian Military, he went on.
'This is why I and the House's Commission I have made a commitment that all airplanes we want to procure must be new,' Gatot said.
A Hercules C-130 aircraft crashed in Medan, North Sumatra, on Tuesday, killing 142 people.
Gatot said all outdated weaponry system components must be replaced with new ones so the Indonesian Military's operations could run smoothly.
Indonesia is still operating 12 Hercules aircraft manufactured in 1964 and 12 others that were produced in 1975 and after.
Gatot said it was impossible for the Indonesian Military to stop operating the Hercules aircraft although they were old. 'If we ground them, what aircraft can we use to support our operations?' he said. (ebf)(++++)
