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TNI AU and technology parity awareness
For Indonesia today, the concept that should prevail is “technology parity” or having the latest technology coupled with a better man behind the gun.
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In a busy assembly hangar of PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) stands a new light transport airplane. (JP/Marguerite Afra Sapiie)
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f we look through the macro lens, the development of jet fighters is moving at a speed nearly comparable to the advancement of smartphones. The Cold War legacy, which was marked by size, speed and destructive power, has been gradually replaced by more maneuverable, smarter and more efficient capabilities; packed in a multirole platform corresponding to wider duty calls. This way, quantity builds up and arms races become irrelevant.
For Indonesia today, the concept that should prevail is “technology parity” or having the latest technology coupled with a better man behind the gun. Indonesia recognized this call 71 years ago, when it established the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU).
Our visionary founding fathers were aware of the need to have a separate air force less than a year after independence. It even came a year earlier than the United States, which only decided to turn the US Army Air Force into the separate US Air Force in 1947.
Such awareness emerged beyond the mere patriotic spirit of a newly born country, but also reflected strategic and technological comprehension that materialized through the formation of a state aircraft maker, which is now known as PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI).
The Air Force played a pivotal role in the initial efforts to form an indigenous aerospace industry. The recent 71st anniversary of the Air Force should therefore encourage the nation to revive its strategic and technological vision.
As the legal umbrella for such a vision, Law No. 16/2012 on the defense industry stipulates two main agenda items of our defense industry: self-sufficiency and capability strengthening, two visions that actually contradict each other.
Self-sufficiency is a long and more expensive journey full of trial-and-error, which sacrifices defense capability in the short term in an endeavor to build a sovereign and capable defense industry. On the other hand, “stronger now” is easier to achieve through off-the-shelf acquisition, which inflicts significant opportunity costs for a sovereign defense industry, as the industry is denied participation in building defense capability.
