Indonesia Readies Mass Production of Drones
Kate Lamb
April 30, 2013
An unmanned drone is on display in a test flight in Jakarta. The drone is developed by the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and Research and Development Agency (Balitbang) at the Ministry of Defence.
JAKARTA, INDONESIA — Indonesia has announced that it will begin to mass-produce surveillance drones this year. Analysts say Indonesia's local drone development and production is part of a broader trend of rapidly modernizing militaries in the Asia Pacific.
Funded by the Defense Ministry, Indonesia initiated its surveillance drone development program in 2004. A collaborative effort between several government agencies, the Wulung, a type of unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, is ready to be mass-produced for the Indonesian Air Force this year.
The Wulung prototype was locally designed and produced, and initially will be used for non-military purposes, such as monitoring active volcanoes, spotting illegal logging and patrolling the country’s huge maritime area.
Covering a wide region
Samudro, a director at Indonesia’s Research and Technology Application Agency that jointly developed the prototype, said the drones will help Indonesia keep tabs on its 17,000 islands and multiple borders.
"To monitor our borders, to monitor our illegal fishing, to monitor the human trafficking, for example, and also for search and rescue," said Samudro.
The aircraft will be placed in the country’s vast border regions, with Papua New Guinea and East Timor to the east, and Malaysia and Brunei to the northwest.
While all current drones are unarmed, the Indonesia Defense Ministry says it has long-term plans for a weaponized model capable of shooting missiles or dropping bombs.
Limited range
The Wulung drone provides real-time recording to ground control stations, but can only fly for up to four hours and as far as 73 kilometers from its ground controllers.
In comparison, some U.S. drones can fly for more than a day without refueling and can be controlled via satellite from bases thousands of kilometers away.
With their sophisticated technology and complex supporting infrastructure, armed drones have come to define a new, very modern, form of warfare.
In trying to match global arms capabilities, Yohannes Sulaiman, an analyst from the Indonesian Defense University, said Indonesia’s local drone production is counterproductive and ego driven.
“It pushes the development back actually years behind other countries. It is all a matter of national ego. It is like the Indonesian way, I guess, proof that we are smart enough to build our own drones,” said Sulaiman.
Drones becoming ubiquitous
Most major militaries today operate some form of unarmed drones, purchased from major suppliers such as Israel and the United States. And with growing economic clout and geopolitical tensions, drone usage in the Asia Pacific is set to proliferate.
Richard Bitzinger, an ex-CIA analyst and senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said drone development in Indonesia is all part of a broader regional trend.
“I mean this is all part of a trend of ratcheting up military capabilities throughout the Asia Pacific. It is just as militaries replace older equipment, the newer equipment is just head and shoulders superior and endowed with new capabilities that these militaries beforehand did not possess," said Bitzinger. "And so I mean, for me alone, I don’t see drones alone as some kind of ominous game changer, but what I do see is an overall trend in military modernization, which is increasing the qualitative capabilities of regional militaries.”
China, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan all have UAV programs underway.
In 2011 the Asia Pacific spent $590 million on UAVs, which global consulting firm Frost and Sullivan estimates could rise to $1.4 billion in 2017.
Indonesia Readies Mass Production of Drones
Indonesian Surveillance Drones to Be Produced This Year: BPPT
By SP/Ari Rikin on 5:07 pm April 29, 2013.
Indonesian Army (TNI) officers observe Wulung, an unmanned aircraft, during a test at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, in East Jakarta, on Oct. 11, 2012. The drone is developed can be used for military purpose in area surveillance, forest fire management, rainmaking process as well as to replace a combat aircraft.(JG Photo/Safir Makki)
Technology from Indonesia’s Research and Technology Application Agency (BPPT) will be used to produce surveillance drones for the Air Force this year.
BPPT head Marzan Aziz Iskandar said the agency has been developing the Wulung, a type of unmanned aerial vehicle, since 2004, in collaboration with state-owned companies Dirgantara Indonesia and LEN Industri. He said the drone will be ready to be mass produced this year to fulfill the needs of one squadron of the Indonesian Air Force.
Aircraft manufacturer Dirgantara Indonesia will produce the drones using BPPT technology.
“The technology is Indonesia’s own creation and we expect this program to succeed. The innovation involves many stakeholders in design, production, funding, program and research and development sectors,” Marzan said on Sunday during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between BPPT, Dirgantara Indonesia and LEN Industri.
Representatives from the Defense Ministry also attended the event.
First Marshall Darlis Pangaribuan, the director of defense industry technology at the ministry, said the technology will complement the existing facilities of the three branches of the Indonesian Military (TNI).
“Besides for surveillance, our long-term purpose [for the drones] is also for offense,” he said.
The Wulung drone weighs 60 kilograms, with the capacity to carry an additional 25 kilograms, flies at 55 knots per hour, and has a wingspan of 6.34 meters. It can fly for up to four hours at a time at a maximum of 3,658 meters in altitude. The Wulung is also equipped with a surveillance camera which provides real-time recordings to ground control stations.
Indonesian Surveillance Drones to Be Produced This Year: BPPT - The Jakarta Globe
