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18 August 2014
Think Tank: Oz and Indonesia
By Graeme Dobell

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When Australia thinks strategy, it quickly comes to Indonesia.

So it was when the Howard Government was mulling the 2000 Defence White Paper. The National Security Committee of Cabinet was grilling the defenceniks: ‘If Indonesia can’t invade us, why should we buy all these military toys?’

One official produced a map, pointed to the archipelago and island chain arcing across Australia’s north, and asked: ‘What do you see?’

‘That’s Indonesia.’

‘Yes, sir, today it’s Indonesia. Just think what it’d mean if Indonesia broke up and instead this map showed three new Bangladeshes and a couple of new oil-rich Bruneis.’

I’ve heard various versions of this yarn, but having asked some who should have been there when it supposedly happened, I get no confirmation. It’s a tale yet to achieve the truth it deserves, illustrating how Indonesia directs Australia’s regional dreams or dominates its nightmares.

The vision of a splintering Indonesia goes to the nightmare side of current Australian imaginings. On Suharto’s fall, the horror was of Indonesia succumbing to centrifugal forces as Yugoslavia did after Tito. Instead of that nightmare, Indonesia conjured up a dream experiment—one of the world’s most ambitious efforts at political devolution and regional autonomy.

The doomsayers in Jakarta see little more than a devolution of corruption, setting a course to splinter the Republic. Joko Widodo’s arrival is an extraordinarily positive answer to that lament. Devolution meant an engineer who created a furniture business could become mayor of Solo in 2005, then step up to be elected Jakarta’s governor in 2012, and next month will be sworn in as Indonesia’s seventh president. Indonesians have elected ‘one of us’ as their leader; that democratic expression of the idea of ‘us’ is a powerful unifying force.

As the previous column noted, add a great caveat to the statement that Indonesia and Australia are neighbours with absolutely nothing in common. We now share something vital and defining—democracy. Add to that a further fundamental point—both agree on the regional and strategic importance of a unified and strong Indonesia. Indeed, the fact of a democratic Indonesia should help Australia accept its relative decline—stress relative—compared to the growing wealth and power of its giant neighbour.

Stressing Australia’s belief in a unified Indonesia is a point worth making. It ain’t always been so. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Canberra would have been happy with bits of Indonesia splitting away: because of fears about Indonesia turning to communism; when the CIA was shipping arms to support regional rebellions in Sumatra and Sulawesi; during Konfrontasi when British and Australian soldiers were fighting Indonesian troops; and when the Dutch were trying to hang on to West Papua.

Australia’s leading role in the one successful bit of splitism—the creation of East Timor— doesn’t fit with the mindset of the 1950s and 60s. Right up to the moment that East Timor voted for independence, Australia was sincere—in statement and belief—in calling for East Timor to remain within the Republic. The great irony is that Jakarta’s elite is convinced Australia was always plotting against it in Timor; that conviction misreads the clash between popular sentiment in Oz and Canberra’s judgement of national interest.

Australia’s commitment to a coherent rather than a fractured Indonesia is expressed in one phrase that is pregnant with meaning for Canberra strategists. That’s the statement that any military threat to Australia will come ‘from or through’ Indonesia. The idea has a long history in Australian thinking, dating from that moment of existential fright delivered by Japan in WWII. It’s a powerful idea that can shift in shape and colour. Thus, the 1947 Strategic Appreciation noted (PDF):

Having established herself in Indonesia, Russia could attack the mainland of Australia under cover of land based aircraft. Hence, it follows that Australia is vitally interested in this line of approach.

The most famous expression of ‘from or through’ was Paul Dibb’s 1986 Review of Australian Defence (PDF):

In defence terms, Indonesia is our most important neighbour. The Indonesian archipelago forms a protective barrier to Australia’s northern approaches. We have a common interest in regional stability, free from interference by potentially hostile external powers. At the same time, we must recognise that, because of its proximity, the archipelago to our north is the area from or through which a military threat to Australia could most easily be posed.

Australia wants an Indonesia strong enough not to be porous or splitable, but uninterested in using its strength for anything nasty.

The Oz dream is to go beyond ‘from or through’ to find (PDF) ‘a shield to Australia’s north.’ Australia will stand with ASEAN in the fervent wish for Jokowi’s huge success.

Graeme Dobell is the ASPI journalist fellow.

Pacific Sentinel: Think Tank: Oz and Indonesia
 
. .
18 August 2014
Think Tank: Oz and Indonesia
By Graeme Dobell

AUS_Indo_Map.png


When Australia thinks strategy, it quickly comes to Indonesia.

So it was when the Howard Government was mulling the 2000 Defence White Paper. The National Security Committee of Cabinet was grilling the defenceniks: ‘If Indonesia can’t invade us, why should we buy all these military toys?’

One official produced a map, pointed to the archipelago and island chain arcing across Australia’s north, and asked: ‘What do you see?’

‘That’s Indonesia.’

‘Yes, sir, today it’s Indonesia. Just think what it’d mean if Indonesia broke up and instead this map showed three new Bangladeshes and a couple of new oil-rich Bruneis.’

I’ve heard various versions of this yarn, but having asked some who should have been there when it supposedly happened, I get no confirmation. It’s a tale yet to achieve the truth it deserves, illustrating how Indonesia directs Australia’s regional dreams or dominates its nightmares.

The vision of a splintering Indonesia goes to the nightmare side of current Australian imaginings. On Suharto’s fall, the horror was of Indonesia succumbing to centrifugal forces as Yugoslavia did after Tito. Instead of that nightmare, Indonesia conjured up a dream experiment—one of the world’s most ambitious efforts at political devolution and regional autonomy.

The doomsayers in Jakarta see little more than a devolution of corruption, setting a course to splinter the Republic. Joko Widodo’s arrival is an extraordinarily positive answer to that lament. Devolution meant an engineer who created a furniture business could become mayor of Solo in 2005, then step up to be elected Jakarta’s governor in 2012, and next month will be sworn in as Indonesia’s seventh president. Indonesians have elected ‘one of us’ as their leader; that democratic expression of the idea of ‘us’ is a powerful unifying force.

As the previous column noted, add a great caveat to the statement that Indonesia and Australia are neighbours with absolutely nothing in common. We now share something vital and defining—democracy. Add to that a further fundamental point—both agree on the regional and strategic importance of a unified and strong Indonesia. Indeed, the fact of a democratic Indonesia should help Australia accept its relative decline—stress relative—compared to the growing wealth and power of its giant neighbour.

Stressing Australia’s belief in a unified Indonesia is a point worth making. It ain’t always been so. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Canberra would have been happy with bits of Indonesia splitting away: because of fears about Indonesia turning to communism; when the CIA was shipping arms to support regional rebellions in Sumatra and Sulawesi; during Konfrontasi when British and Australian soldiers were fighting Indonesian troops; and when the Dutch were trying to hang on to West Papua.

Australia’s leading role in the one successful bit of splitism—the creation of East Timor— doesn’t fit with the mindset of the 1950s and 60s. Right up to the moment that East Timor voted for independence, Australia was sincere—in statement and belief—in calling for East Timor to remain within the Republic. The great irony is that Jakarta’s elite is convinced Australia was always plotting against it in Timor; that conviction misreads the clash between popular sentiment in Oz and Canberra’s judgement of national interest.

Australia’s commitment to a coherent rather than a fractured Indonesia is expressed in one phrase that is pregnant with meaning for Canberra strategists. That’s the statement that any military threat to Australia will come ‘from or through’ Indonesia. The idea has a long history in Australian thinking, dating from that moment of existential fright delivered by Japan in WWII. It’s a powerful idea that can shift in shape and colour. Thus, the 1947 Strategic Appreciation noted (PDF):

Having established herself in Indonesia, Russia could attack the mainland of Australia under cover of land based aircraft. Hence, it follows that Australia is vitally interested in this line of approach.

The most famous expression of ‘from or through’ was Paul Dibb’s 1986 Review of Australian Defence (PDF):

In defence terms, Indonesia is our most important neighbour. The Indonesian archipelago forms a protective barrier to Australia’s northern approaches. We have a common interest in regional stability, free from interference by potentially hostile external powers. At the same time, we must recognise that, because of its proximity, the archipelago to our north is the area from or through which a military threat to Australia could most easily be posed.

Australia wants an Indonesia strong enough not to be porous or splitable, but uninterested in using its strength for anything nasty.

The Oz dream is to go beyond ‘from or through’ to find (PDF) ‘a shield to Australia’s north.’ Australia will stand with ASEAN in the fervent wish for Jokowi’s huge success.

Graeme Dobell is the ASPI journalist fellow.

Pacific Sentinel: Think Tank: Oz and Indonesia

doesn't know, but the best thing we can do is to strengthen our self, getting stronger economically and militarily, this way we can pursue our National interest with more leisure and freedom.

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Kompas Online, credit @kensama
 
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Happy Independence Day :smitten:

ALeqM5ipls8hm0334NQgFi3BkWZENm07Tg


SURABAYA, INDONESIA - AUGUST 17: Indonesian men compete for a prize in climbing a greased pole called Panjat Pinang as Indonesians Celebrate the 69th National Independence Day on August 17, 2014 in Surabaya, Indonesia. Indonesia became an independent nation on August 17, 1945 having previously been under Dutch rule.

:laugh:
 
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Erase that picture bro, or you will get negative rating from me...(or I can ask thread banned for you in Think Tank Secret Thread/ my last victim is shuntmaster who get banned all the time now after my report) It is better to use whatever thread or Arabic Coffee shop thread to get "Madocaft" attention by tagging her, and start conversing with her in personal way, instead of being off topic with that kind of picture....

:butcher:

@Black Flag
 
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KRI Usman Harun and KRI John Lie in Portland

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KRI Bung Tomo in Malaga
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Erase that picture bro, or you will get negative rating from me...(or I can ask thread banned for you in Think Tank Secret Thread/ my last victim is shuntmaster who get banned all the time now after my report) It is better to use whatever thread or Arabic Coffee shop thread to get "Madocaft" attention by tagging her, and start conversing with her in personal way, instead of being off topic with that kind of picture....

:butcher:

@Black Flag

Sorry buddy, if that kind of pic make you upset, I won't post it again. Since its already posted, you can go ahead and give it a negative rating before mods delete it. You can also ask mod to ban me, I will take it like a man. :-)

And no, I'm not going to stalk madokafc and send her personal messages. My comments on her is just fun. You are being too serious. :laugh:
 
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Sorry buddy, if that kind of pic make you upset, I won't post it again. Since its already posted, you can go ahead and give it a negative rating before mods delete it. You can also ask mod to ban me, I will take it like a man. :-)

And no, I'm not going to stalk madokafc and send her personal messages. My comments on her is just fun. You are being too serious. :laugh:

Thanks for not posting that kind of picture again. There is a "delete" tool in the left side of the post, so the poster can always delete their own.
 
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Old pics
Indonesian KC-130B and Su-30 conduct air refueling
US made meets Russian made, if this was a **** movie, the title would be : Interracial Aerial Gangbang :D
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Indonesia increases defence budget 14%
Jon Grevatt, Bangkok and Craig Caffrey, London - IHS Jane's Defence Industry
17 August 2014
Outgoing Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has announced a 2015 defence budget of INR95 trillion (USD8.1 billion), a year-on-year increase of 14%.

The proportion of GDP that defence has been allocated in 2015 remains relatively low at about 0.8% and the budget increase mainly reflects Indonesia's continuing economic expansion (estimated at about 5.7% in 2014).

Yudhoyono, who will step down in October to make way for president-elect Joko Widodo, said in his annual budget speech on 15 August that the military expenditure will be directed at continuing the modernisation of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and consequently the country's defence industrial base.
Indonesia increases defence budget 14% - IHS Jane's 360
 
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(Google Translate)

11 August 2014

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Recent Developments IFX fighter jet project

PT DI Indonesia (PTDI) is developing two types of original work of the nation aircraft. The aircraft is designed for passenger transport and combat purposes. So how about the continuation of the aircraft project ?.

Director of Technology and Development PTDI Andi Alisjahbana N219 describe a new type of passenger aircraft ready to be introduced to the public (roll out) at the beginning of 2015 the next three months or about March, N219 will undergo initial test flight (first flight).

"Roll out the beginning of 2015 was run out 2-3 months to roll out a new first flight," he told reporters during the event RITECH Expo 2014 BPPT office Jalan MH Thamrin Jakarta, Saturday (08/09/2014).

After the test flight, the new N219 can obtain certification from the Ministry of Transportation as the regulator. Targeted certification no later than February 2017 out this important certification as a requirement for mass production. Andi confirmed until now, Indonesia has not yet made the original aircraft which have passed the certification of the MoT test.

"N250 can not be produced because it has not been certified," he explained.

N219 is an advanced propeller plane sons and daughters of the nation's work. The aircraft is capable of carrying passengers and goods more than similar aircraft such as the Dornier 228-202. The Dornier aircraft has been used by the airline Susi Air. N219 aircraft also priced much cheaper than the Dornier but it uses the latest cockpit technology.

"We want to target $ 4.5 million. Dornier recently purchased for $ 8 million," he said.

As for the manufacture of fighter aircraft, PTDI with the Ministry of Defence and South Korea entered the Engineering Manufacturing Development phase. EMD process started this year and last up to 10 years into the future. This is the final process of EMD aircraft certification Korean Fighter Xperiment / Indonesian Fighter Xperiment (KFX / IFX).

"This is our new start this year and finish in 2025," he said.

Andi justify the EMD process was delayed due to some problems. One is the difference demanders single engine (South Korea demand) and double engines (Indonesian request).

Finally agreed under the KFX / IFX will wear a double engine. KFX / IFX is a 4.5 generation aircraft. The aircraft has the above technologies F16 and F18 but under F 22 and F35 aircraft. This aircraft does not have the technology most, though not as sophisticated anti-radar aircraft F22 or F35.

"Generation 5 he used radar technology can not be detected. Lot of technology that is used so that the radar can not detect. Generations 4.5 approach to it, but it's not as sophisticated," he said. (Detik)
 
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