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Indonesia's Petir missile enters world stage
Self-sufficient: PTSB engineers inspect the Petir turbojet missile, which was built without foreign assistance after one year of development
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span class="caption">Self-sufficient: PTSB engineers inspect the Petir turbojet missile, which was built without foreign assistance after one year of development.
Indonesia has proven that its engineering experts constitute a force to be reckoned with in the world community when it comes to producing weapons.
Lack of experience was not a drawback for the country's engineers when it skillfully crafted Petir, a domestically made guided missile.
The sophisticated missile, produced by PT Sari Bahari (PTSB), has been intensively developed over the year by Indonesian missile specialists without the assistance of foreign experts.
The Indonesian professionals, who are graduates from universities in Japan, Britain and Australia, have tested several times a prototype of Petir, which will be the embryo of future cutting-edge missile building.
Results of aerodynamic tests conducted by PTSB experts have led to the production of Missile V101. The missile is powered by a turbojet engine with a cruising speed of 260 kilometers per hour (kph) and a range of more than 45 km.
PTSB president director Ricky Hendrik Egam said the name Petir (lightning) was adopted to connote the speed of the missile, which is being prepared for a tryout by the Research and Development Agency of the Defense Ministry in October.
'This is only an initial step. We're also developing a missile that will have a cruising speed of 500 kph. Its distance coverage will certainly be greater at around 60-70 km. This segment hasn't yet been filled in Indonesia,' Ricky told The Jakarta Post on Sept. 10 in Pakis district, Malang regency.
At present, only the Indonesian Navy is operating missiles with almost the same range.
Garnering attention: A member of the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres) for security and defense affairs, Gen. (ret.) Subagyo Hadi Siswoyo (right), discusses the locally built Petir missile with PTSB president director Ricky Hendrik Egam (second right).
The Petir missile is equipped with GPS, antiradar and antijamming suites. The missile is designed to be launched from various platforms, such as trucks and warships.
PTSB previously manufactured live bombs and dummy bombs.
' Photos by Wahyoe Boediwardhana
