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Lessons from Indonesia’s defense cooperation with the UAE
Like Indonesia, the UAE is a latecomer to defense industrialization, but arguably its capacity-building has proved more effective.
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Technicians check the avionics sensor on an NC-212 aircraft ordered by Vietnam at PT Dirgantara Indonesia in Bandung, West Java, in this photo taken in 2017. (Jakarta Post/JP/Arya Dipa)
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n June 30, Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and his United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterpart Mohammed Ahmed Al Bowardi signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen defense cooperation between the two countries. Underpinned by historically close bilateral ties and common cultural, religious and development bonds, the MoU represents a continuation of long-standing policies to jointly develop basic and increasingly complex systems.
This new Indonesia-UAE bilateral MoU takes the partnership to a higher level through a mutual commitment to exploit opportunities for complementary and harmonized defense industrialization as a precursor for enhanced security and prosperity.
The MoU follows up on earlier commitments in 2019 to enhance cooperation in defense industrial science and technology and capacity building, especially in human resources and information exchange, including sharing views on common challenges associated with Asian and Gulf defense and security.
Indonesia and the UAE have now agreed to expand defense industrial, trade and investment cooperation. A manifestation of these new ties is Surabaya-based shipbuilder PT PAL’s partnering with the UAE navy to jointly develop a Landing Platform Dock (LPD), a deal forged through the Indonesia and UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IUAE-CEPA). Cooperative agreements have also been inked between two other Indonesian strategic industries, aircraft producer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) and arms maker PT Pindad, and the UAE defense company, Calidus LLC.
PTDI has developed an international reputation as an aerospace subcontractor to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as Airbus. The Indonesian strategic aerospace industry has developed the CN235 transport aircraft, in collaboration with CASA of Spain, and also the indigenous N219 utility aircraft.
The tie-up with Calidus LLC is aimed at upgrading the N219 and the medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), named Elang Hitam (Black Hawk). A joint engineering, design and flight-testing work package is planned for each of these programs. The two companies have also agreed to jointly market the CN235 and N219 in Asia and the Middle East.
Indonesia may also benefit from future diversification of its aircraft development and manufacturing capabilities. For instance, PTDI has conventionally focused on civil or dual-use aircraft configurations.
