Podcasts

Our Research Coordinator & Head of Defence, Anastasia Febiola S, emphasised the importance of the development of domestic defence products to fulfil TNI AL’s operational needs. Furthermore, relevant stakeholders must set a scale of priorities in terms of implementing defence projects to achieve an effective, efficient, and adaptive naval strategy.

In our latest webinar, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Jan Pieter Ate highlighted significant progress of domestic shipyard companies, which have started to expand their military-related capabilities. However, M. Ate mentioned a challenge that TNI AL might encounter, such as limited capacity of shipyard facilities and main naval bases to support TNI AL operations.

In our latest discussion, Rizal Darma Putra highlighted maritime security threats that could possibly disrupt Indonesia’s sovereignty. Furthermore, the current issue of budget constraints might hinder the Indonesian Navy to acquire the integrated weapons systems needed to establish an effective naval strategy. Thus, M. Putra encouraged the Indonesian Navy to prepare mitigation and contingency plans to overcome such challenges.

In our latest discussion, Edna Caroline emphasised that the current Minimum Essential Force (MEF) target has been reduced due to budget limitations. Thus, Ms. Caroline argued that the Indonesian Navy’s presence and control are lacking due to such a challenge.

In our latest webinar, Alman Helvas Ali discussed the current state of Indonesian naval forces and the challenges they are currently facing. It might be difficult for Indonesia to increase its naval capabilities with the existing fiscal constraints.

Our Director, Alban Sciascia, explained how defence investment will not only strengthen Indonesia’s defence posture, but also contribute to the country’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery effort by providing jobs for the domestic defence industry through Transfer of Technology (ToT) and offset programs.

Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Jan Pieter Ate highlighted that to support defence investment, Indonesia must have a long-term modernisation plan to purchase defence equipment until 2045. In addition, Indonesia must also increase its defence spending to provide more opportunities for the domestic defence industry to receive transfer of technology.

In our latest webinar held on November 9, Tazar Marta Kurniawan explained that there is a need for co-production of defence equipment in order to increase local defence companies’ production capabilities and capacities.

Alman Helvas Ali explained that looking at the case of India and Brazil, offsets from weapons procurement could create tens of thousands of jobs in Indonesia and would benefit both domestic state-owned and private defence industry actors. He also emphasised that defence industry actors should keep in mind that they are business entities and should aim for profit to survive.

Our Research Coordinator & Head of Defence, Anastasia Febiola S., raised some questions about how Indonesia can boost foreign and domestic investments in its defence sector amid fiscal restrictions and geopolitical uncertainties. At the same time, the government must ensure that defence spending will benefit both private and state-owned defence companies in the country.

In our latest webinar, AFM Wajariman explained how Indonesia could maximise offsets from foreign arms procurement if it is able to buy weapon systems/platforms in large quantities. Additionally, AFM Wajariman mentioned several considerations within the Ministry of Defence in selection what kind of weapon systems/platforms it should develop domestically.

In our latest discussion, Novan Iman Santosa highlighted two important factors in maintaining a good defence investment climate in Indonesia: long-term order certainty and procurement plan consistency. Ideally, if these two factors are met, investors will be more interested in supporting the advancement of the Indonesian defence industry.

During our latest webinar, Alman Helvas Ali discussed the challenges and how Indonesia can attract foreign investors to help advance its domestic defence industry. It will be difficult for Indonesia to increase defence investment with the existing budget constraints.

Maritime Domain Awareness, or MDA, is the capacity to know what happens over, under and on the surface of the water. This capacity is important for several reasons: first, by knowing what is happening, the authorities could optimise measures to mitigate threats and risks and, by de facto, to protect a country’s sovereignty, as well as its resources and maritime domain users. MDA is even more important nowadays, as many cases of countries that do not respect the sovereignty of other states recently arise, leading to conflict.

In our latest webinar, Nurhayadi, highlighted that several years ago, the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs worked alongside other ministries to carry out a 30-day operation at sea, and that was the time when the authorities were able to catch the perpetrators responsible for doing waste disposal. However, despite being successful in catching the perpetrators, Indonesia still frequently encounters up to four hours delay in receiving satellite data to this day, which has been hampering investigation and efforts to arrest the perpetrators.

In our latest webinar, Col. Bakamla Hudiansyah Is Nursal, argued that based on discussions held in Bakamla, many countries with more experiences in maritime strategic thinking have built up their MDA capabilities. Indonesia, as the world’s largest archipelagic state, should do the same. However, a lack of transparency within ministries and agencies involved remains an issue, which has not been resolved yet.

In our latest webinar, Sayed Fauzan Riyadi, stated that he has classified six regimes of maritime governance, starting from the Traditional Regime; followed by four regimes in between, which are: Coastal State, Port State, Flag State, and Archipelagic State; and there is a regime of High Seas or Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. For example, if Indonesia is seen as a Port State, meaning that Indonesia is a country that is responsible for ensuring the safety of its ports. Then, in the process of securing the port, the CIQs (Custom, Immigration, Quarantine) must be harmonised with other countries, and it could not possibly be implemented without a thorough port management system.

In our latest webinar, Andi Raihanah Ashar, highlighted the tough responsibility of relevant stakeholders to manage various institutions, which actually could be done by determining a clear chain of command, and how to utilise the best assets, at the best moment, at the right time. Furthermore, the solution that can be considered by the government is to detect the electronic signature of each ship through radio frequency signal detection.

Consideration needs to be given to CTLCO (Countertrade, Local Components, and Offsets) programmes within defence spending which can benefit all parties, including local actors. In this sense, the government has a significant opportunity to evaluate the potential economic value that can be obtained from defence spending, which can also support the development of industrial sectors in the area and embrace local communities amid the current economic difficulties.

In our webinar titled “Defence Industry Impact on Local Government and Communities”, Wildan Arief, highlighted that PT Dirgantara Indonesia strives to contribute strongly from the knowledge side, where the high-tech industry serves as a learning centre for students and the surrounding community. Furthermore, PT Dirgantara Indonesia can participate in improving the regional economy in three ways, including by creating jobs, expanding new business opportunities for local residents, and increasing the growth index in the industrial area.

In our webinar titled “Defence Industry Impact on Local Government and Communities”, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Jan Pieter Ate, argued that the contribution of the defence industry towards regional governments could be in the form of security and stability for the local administration and communities. Furthermore, the central government could communicate with the regional authorities, in terms of domestic defence industry capability, so that the local authorities can have a role in the development of the defence industry.

In our webinar titled “Defence Industry Impact on Local Government and Communities”, Kukuh Tri Sandi, argued that the East Java Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) supports the development and modernisation of the defence industry through human resource capacity building. A number of ways to do this is by increasing the competitiveness in vocational schools and training centres.

In our webinar titled “Defence Industry Impact on Local Government and Communities”, Andreas Wangsanegara as the Director of PT Pudak Scientific, highlighted that the company’s contributions to the local economy are by creating and using skilled labour, providing job opportunities, internships, as well as conducting joint research with educational institutions, thus producing high-value added output.

In our webinar titled “Defence Industry Impact on Local Government and Communities”, Alman Helvas Ali, stated that Indonesian defence industry has a lot of potential to increase its contribution to the national economy, including high-tech mastery, a small number of defence or non-defense industries that are part of global supply chains, and how to create a domestic supply chains.

Jakarta’s concerns regarding the proliferation of nuclear-powered submarines, might be directed to the establishment of the AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) alliance and Canberra’s plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. However, it is also important to take into consideration the evolution of the security environment, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, where tensions in the region have continued to rise in recent weeks. At the same time, Indonesia also needs to operate major weapons systems that have a deterrent effect, in order to protect its sovereignty and national interests.

In our latest webinar, Ristian Atriandi Supriyanto, stated that Indonesia’s strategic environment has become increasingly complex with the emergence of AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) and QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) alliances, as well as competitive interactions between superpowers in the Indo-Pacific region. M. Supriyanto argued that the most obvious impact is the increasing density of foreign military traffic passing through Indonesian territory, including nuclear-powered submarines.

In our latest webinar, Col. Agung Karyanto, highlighted that Indonesia would continue upholding its commitment of zero-nuclear policy, including to not develop nuclear energy for military purposes, when dealing with the evolution of security context in the Indo-Pacific region. In terms of nuclear-powered submarine proliferation, M. Karyanto argued that Jakarta would need to address the issue through ‘special’ policy.

In our latest webinar, Alman Helvas Ali, stated that diesel-electric submarines have limitations in terms of endurance compared to nuclear-powered submarines. However, the former still have advantages over nuclear-powered submarines, especially in terms of noise from machinery vibrations. Such cases can be seen from the naval fleets of developed countries such as the United States, where they are not only relying on passive sonar to detect diesel-electric submarines, but they are also using low frequency sonar arrays.

In our latest webinar, VADM Muhammad Ali, highlighted that the Indonesian government should choose and implement the right strategy in dealing with threats or possible intrusions – including other country’s submarines – especially noting its geographical conditions. Furthermore, with the escalation of tension in the South China Sea, nuclear-powered submarines passing through the area become one of Indonesia’s main concerns.

Curie Maharani Savitri explained that the reasons preventing Indonesia from embracing an A2/AD posture are not only due to the failure of obtaining the necessary technology, but also politically based. The posture to be adopted in the coming months will also depend on how the government will ponder over the AUKUS alliance.

Novan Iman Santosa argued that even though Indonesia has no intention of surveying the South China Sea, long-range capabilities are a necessity to conduct continuous and efficient patrols across the country.

Alman Helvas Ali reasoned that whether threats originate from AUKUS and/or China, Indonesia ought to modernise its forces, and particularly the navy by obtaining adequate submarines and major surface combatants.