S

tate-owned weapons producer PT Pindad has formed a joint venture with the French-German company Junghan Defense to build a factory to produce detonation fuses.

“The project will begin this year, and we plan to invest US$5 million for the starting fund. In the future the total investment in the factory will be $20 million,” Pindad president director Silmy Karim told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Pindad is one of the state-owned companies that is accompanying President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on his visit to four European countries.

According to the plan, Pindad will build the fuse factory in Bandung, West Java, but the finishing process for the fuses will be in another Pindad facility in Malang, East Java.

Silmy acknowledged that it required high-technology to produce fuses and was extremely complex. “The most important thing is that the project is part of defense cooperation between Indonesia and Germany as well as defense diplomacy,” he said.

Previously the company has engaged in joint production with several weapons producers in Germany such as Siemens, MAN Diesel and Turbo and Rheinmetall.

Pindad produces automatic rifles, pistols, grenade launchers, munitions and military vehicles. The Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police are its biggest customers.