Komando Gabungan Wilayah Pertahanan
Penghebatan dan pembagusan kekuatan pertahanan RI di era SBY yang akan berakhir beberapa bulan ke depan, akan “dipuncakpasskan” dengan pembentukan Komando Gabungan Wilayah Pertahanan (Kogabwilhan). Model pertahanan ini adalah komando integrasi matra AD, AL dan AU dalam ruang wilayah masing-masing dengan kemampuan reaksi cepat bersengat lebah jika ada yang berani mengancam dan mengganggu teritori.
Konsep pertahanan seperti ini sejatinya akan mengurai Java Centris dalam pola pemusatan kekuatan militer RI. Lihat saja selama ini dimana sih alamat Divisi I dan II Kostrad. Lihat saja dimana lokasi pangkalan utama AL dan komando kekuatan Marinir berada. Meski beberapa skuadron jet tempur ada di luar Jawa tetap saja pergelaran kekuatan militer dan alutsista ada di jantungnya Indonesia, pulau Jawa. Bahkan seluruh MBT Leopard dan Tank Marder yang akan datang dalam waktu dekat masih juga diletakkan di Jawa.
Mengingat luasnya wilayah tanah air kita dan untuk merespon cepat pengamanan teritori Indonesia, sangat dibutuhkan model pertahanan wilayah gabungan. Kogabwilhan berbeda dengan Kowilhan yang dibubarkan pertengahan tahun 80an. Kowilhan lebih berorientasi pertahanan darat meski membawahi Kodau dan Daeral di wilayahnya. Maklum saja jumlah armada kapal perang hanya berkisar 80an, Marinir hanya 3 batalyon dan alutsista udara semacam pesawat tempur saat itu masih ditumpuk di Jawa dan hanya memiliki 3 skuadron.
Ada pemikiran bahwa lebih baik militer RI memperbanyak dulu jumlah alutsistanya baru kemudian membentuk Kogabwilhan. Mana lebih baik membangun rumahnya lebih dulu baru membeli perabotnya atau membeli perabotnya dulu baru membangun rumahnya. Sebenarnya kalau kita memandang suasana panen raya alutsista tahun ini dan suasana hiruk pikuk di MEF II (2015-2019) nanti maka sudah selayaknya kita bangun rumahnya lebh awal. Karena jika Kogabwilhan dibangun tahun ini maka isian perabotnya dalam rentang 5-10 tahun akan segera terisi dan terdistribusi.
Dengan berasumsi bahwa angggaran pembelian alutsista di MEF II mencapai US $ 20 milyar maka isian alutsista selama lima tahun ke depan diyakini akan mampu menampung kebutuhan perabotan rumah Kogabwilhan meski belum ideal. Jika diprediksi target pemenuhan kebutuhan alutsista Kogabwilhan adalah sampai tahun 2024 (MEF III) maka kebutuhan perabotan ideal itu akan terpenuhi. Salah satu indikator pendukungnya yang mesti dipenuhi adalah peningkatan belanja senjata alutsista dari US $15 milyar di MEF I menjadi US $ 20 milyar di MEF II dan US $ 28 milyar di MEF III. Angka-angka ini sangat realistis sejalan dengan perjalanan peningkatan kekuatan ekonomi dan kesejahteraan kita.
Itu sebabnya pesan jelas untuk pemerintahan yang baru nanti jangan mematahkan tunas yang sudah tumbuh. Jangan memutuskan skenario MEF apalagi menganggap MEF itu hanya menghabiskan anggaran negara. Justru yang mulai dipikirkan dan dieksekusi sekarang adalah mengurangi subsidi energi yang jumlahnya sudah mendekati titik didih alias membahayakan karena membebani Purchase Power bangsa ini. Kondisi dinamis kawasan, perebutan sumber daya energi fosil dan persaingan hegemoni AS versus Tiongkok sudah bermain di panggung Laut Cina Timur, Laut Cina Selatan. Tidak boleh ada inkonsistensi dalam program MEF.
Natuna yang diyakini akan masuk Kogabwilhan I membutuhkan 1 skuadron jet tempur. Demikian juga Biak yang segala fasilitasnya telah lebih dulu ready for use harus segera diisi dengan 1 skuadron jet tempur untuk mengamankan wilayah udara timur NKRI. Tak ketinggalan Kupang juga harus disediakan 1 skuadron jet tempur untuk “mengimbangi” lalulintas militer di seberang halaman depannya, Darwin. Dengan begitu kebutuhan perkuatan matra udara pada MEF II minimal ada tambahan 3 skuadron disamping pergantian skuadron jet tempur F5E Tiger.
Demikian juga dengan matra laut. Tambahan pasti 3 kapal selam Changbogo di MEF II jelas masih kurang. Bukankah pada periode itu 2 kapal selam Cakra Class sudah semakin sepuh. Kita ingin menyampaikah unjuk rasa kuat (sembari mata melotot), jangan mencla mencle dalam program paralelisasi pengadaan kapal selam. Untuk rentang waktu sepuluh tahun ke depan kita masih perlu kapal selam dari kelas selain Changbogo untuk menghantarkan kekuatan laut berlabel disegani. Termasuk juga penambahan kapal kombatan permukaan kelas korvet dan fregat untuk pengisian armada wilayah.
Pulau Jawa tetap merupakan instrumen utama pertahanan. Apalagi jika melihat semakin jelasnya perkuatan persekutuan militer negara asing di Darwin, Christmas dan Cocos yang semua lokasi itu dekat dengan Jawa. Kogabwilhan Jawa tentu adalah segala-galanya. Itu sebabnya jika skuadron F5E diganti dengan jet tempur kelas berat Sukhoi SU35 akan menjadi payung udara utama pulau Jawa. Ancaman terberat Jawa berasal dari selatan. Maka selain Sukhoi SU35 harus ada perkuatan armada laut berkualifikasi fregat dan destroyer serta kapal selam laut dalam yang mengawalnya.
Itulah gambaran perkuatan alutsista MEF II sembari kita membangun struktur Kogabwilhan tahun ini. Gambaran itu saat ini sudah berbentuk patron dan potongan kain. Tinggal kita menjahitnya satu persatu sehingga lima tahun ke depan kita sudah bisa memakainya dan “memamerkannya” pada tetangga sebelah. Maksudnya kita sudah punya baju baru untuk hulubalang yang layak sandang dan layak pandang. Karena sudah layak sandang dan layak pandang tentu penampilan baju militer ini akan mampu memberikan energi dahsyat kekuatan diplomasi RI ke segala arah. Kecerdasan diplomasi dengan baju militer yang kuat diniscayakan akan mampu meminimalisir niat jahat kekuatan asing terhadap kue teritori yang bernama NKRI.
*Jagvane
★ Analisis Alutsista
Bertujuan Untuk Menyiapkan Para Perwira Menengah TNI 
Bandung ★ PANGLIMA TNI Jenderal TNI Dr. Moeldoko didampingi Dansesko TNI Marsdya TNI Ismono Wijayanto dan para Asisten Panglima TNI serta Kapuspen TNI Mayjen TNI M. Fuad Basya, memberikan pembekalan kepada 134 Perwira Siswa (Pasis) Sekolah Staf dan Komando (Sesko) TNI Pendidikan Reguler (Dikreg) XLI tahun 2014 di Sesko TNI Bandung, Jawa Barat, Jumat (11/4).
Pasis Sesko TNI itu terdiri dari 64 Pamen TNI AD, 32 Pamen TNI AL, 31 Pamen TNI AU, dua Pasis Polri dan lima Pasis mancanegara dari Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Singapura dan Australia.
Pendidikan Reguler Sesko TNI itu bertujuan utamanya untuk menyiapkan para Perwira Menengah (Pamen) TNI terpilih sebagai kader-kader pimpinan TNI pada level strategis di masa mendatang yang bermoral, berwawasan kebangsaan, dan profesional dalam bidang manajemen strategis pertahanan negara serta memiliki jasmani yang baik.
Sedangkan sasaran yang ingin dicapai, antara lain Pasis Sesko TNI memiliki sikap dan perilaku yang baik, meningkatnya lingkungan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi, kemampuan manajemen, kemampuan strategi, kemampuan operasi, kemampuan dalam menyelenggarakan latihan TNI, dan terbinanya kesamaptaan jasmani.
Dalam pengarahannya, Panglima TNI mengatakan bahwa Pasis harus bisa mengembangkan kepemimpinan yang efektif yaitu gaya kepemimpinan yang dapat menyesuaikan dengan situasi dan kondisi yang dihadapi dan kebutuhan bawahan yang dipimpinnya.
“Pemimpin yang hebat tumbuh bukan karena menegakkan peraturan yang keras melainkan menebarkan pikiran dan semangat yang mengilhami pengikutnya,” kata Panglima TNI seperti dilansir dalam siaran pers Kadispenum Puspen TNI, Kolonel Inf Bernardus Robert.
Lebih lanjut, Panglima TNI memberikan tips kepada para Pasis mengenai cara mengatasi masalah dengan cepat, yaitu berani, biasakan dekat masalah, jangan membuat masalah kecil menjadi besar, selesaikan masalah sebelum masalah menjadi besar. Selain itu, identifikasi masalah dengan cepat, terlibat dalam proses, berpikiran positif, dan biasakan membuat rencana tindakan (action plan).
Diakhir pembekalan, Panglima TNI memberikan tali asih kepada para Pamen organik Sesko TNI yang diwakili tiga orang Pamen.
Meninjau Ruang Simulator Pesawat Boeing 
Bandung ★ Kepala Staf Angkatan Udara (KSAU) Marsekal TNI Ida Bagus Putu Dunia bersama rombongan Panglima TNI Jenderal TNI Moeldoko, Kepala Staf Angkatan Laut (KSAL) Laksamana TNI Dr. Marsetio beserta para pejabat Asisten Panglima TNI, mengunjungi PT LEN yakni perusahaan industri elektronika, Jumat (11/4). PT LEN yang berada di Jalan Soekarno-Hatta di Bandung itu antara lain memproduksi Radar maupun Simulator.
Setibanya di PT. LEN Industri, KSAU yang didampingi oleh Dankoharmat Marsda TNI Sumarno, Dankorpaskhas Marsda TNI M. Harpin Ondeh, S.H., Kadislitbangau Marsma TNI Amirudin Ahkmad, Koorsmin Kasau Kolonel Pnb Imran Baidirus, Kadisops Lanud Husein Sastranegara Letkol Pnb Herdy Arief S diterima langsung oleh Direktur Utama PT. LEN Industri, Abraham Mose.
Dalam kunjungan tersebut, KSAU beserta rombongan juga berkesempatan untuk menerima paparan singkat tentang perusahaan tersebut dan dilanjutkan meninjau ruang simulator pesawat boeing milik PT. LEN.
Kepala Penerangan Lanud Husein Sastranegara, Kapten Sus. Sundoko, dalam siaran persnya, mengatakan Panglima TNI Jenderal TNI Dr. Moeldoko beserta Para Asisten Panglima TNI melakukan kunjungan kerja ke Sesko TNI dalam rangka memberikan ceramah kepada Pasis Dikreg XLI Sesko TNI.
Three Bushmaster troop variants that were delivered to the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) in February 2014 
Thales Australia has secured sales of its Bushmaster protected mobility vehicle to Indonesia and Japan, marking the first Asian orders of the 4x4 wheeled armoured vehicle.
The sale to Indonesia was concluded, but not announced, in late 2013 and features three Bushmaster troop variants that were delivered to the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) in February 2014, a spokesman from the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) confirmed to IHS Jane's on 4 April.
The sale to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) was announced on 7 April and covers four units of the same design, with deliveries scheduled before the end of 2014, Thales Australia said in a statement.
A Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD) official told IHS Jane's that the four Bushmasters had been purchased to provide "land transportation for Japanese evacuees" in the event of an overseas contingencies, such as the January 2013 In Amenas hostage crisis in Algeria. Ten Japanese citizens were killed in the siege, which the official said had exposed a gap in the Self-Defence Forces Law in how the JGSDF was allowed to operate overseas.
Chris Jenkins, chief executive officer of Thales Australia, said: "This is the first time that Thales is providing platforms to Japan. Our aim is to be customer-focused and to offer Thales group's ... services and technologies to our customers in Japan. We look forward to working closely with the JGSDF as these vehicles enter service."
The Japanese MoD official said that the four Bushmasters would cost about JPY200 million (USD1.9 million) per vehicle and "will be focused on overseas transport operations in case of an emergency - either natural or man-made". He added that there would be no further purchases.
The acquisition of "protected carrier vehicles" was outlined in the MoD's supplementary budget for fiscal year 2013/14, which was released in December 2013. It was included in a section detailing "measures that facilitate the JGSDF to maintain and operate various equipment and defence facilities in a stable manner" and also included the acquisition of fire-control radar parts for F-15 fighter aircraft and soundproofing of homes and private facilities close to Japanese air bases.
The Indonesian contract is valued at AUD2.7 million (USD2.5 million) and the Japanese deal is expected to be worth around AUD3.6 million, with both including the provision of training covering vehicle operations, maintenance, and repairs.
The Indonesian deal progressed as a government-to-government deal overseen by the Australian Military Sales Office, which was established in 2012 to facilitate the export of platforms and components on behalf of Australia's defence industrial base. The sale to Japan is understood to be a commercial contract.
Other potential export orders for the Bushmaster include the Royal Thai Army, which has maintained its interest in acquiring the vehicle for use in the country's turbulent south, and Libya, which is reported to have expressed a requirement to acquire between 100 and 400 Bushmasters. A Thales Australia spokesman said: "I can't confirm anything about other potential exports for commercial reasons, but we continue to explore opportunities."
To date, the Australian Defence Force has ordered and taken delivery of a total of 1,052 Bushmasters, and exports include 86 vehicles supplied to the Dutch Army, 24 to the British Army, and 12 ordered by the Jamaica Defence Force in December 2013.
As it tallies votes from Wednesday’s election, Indonesia’s economic outlook is strong. What does that mean for the region? 
Despite a mild economic slowdown amidst China’s economic rebalancing and the U.S. Federal Reserve tapering—and despite a dip in Indonesian shares following a surprisingly weak performance by the favorites in Wednesday’s parliamentary election—the general direction of Indonesia’s economy seems clear: onwards and upwards. Since the Asian Financial Crisis and the fall of Suharto, Jakarta has learned lessons, expedited political reforms, and taken economic strides that today constitute a platform from which Southeast Asia’s largest country can continue to build on what it has achieved to date. That’s not to say corruption,infrastructure deficiencies and inequality do not remain problems for whoever takes the political baton after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, but Indonesia’s economic trajectory is bending sharply in the right direction.
Since the turn of the century, Indonesia’s economy has been one of the world’s best-performing and most consistent. Since 2001, the country has averaged 5.4 percent growth, far faster than the global average, despite the shocks of the global financial downturn. That growth has facilitated the fall of gross government debt from 95.1 percent of GDP in 2000 to around 26 percent today, the lowest of any ASEAN member-state except Brunei Darussalam, and enough for Fitch and Moody’s to grant Indonesia’s debt investment grade status. Indonesia has gone from being the world’s 27th largest economy in 2000 (nominal GDP) to the 16th largest today—an impressive leap in just fifteen years.
Much more is expected to come. Indonesia is forecast to have theworld’s seventh largest economy by 2030, surpassing the U.K. and Germany according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, andthe fourth largest in 2040 according to a Citibank report, trailing only China, India and the United States. While such projections are often over-reliant on extrapolating current trends, there is little doubt that Indonesia stands to benefit immensely from a rebalancing of the global economy towards the Asia-Pacific and from the demographic dividend of the country’s young population. The former will ensure relatively high ubiquity of capital, technology and demand in Indonesian markets, while the latter will ensure that the workforce will be able to maintain productivity and a low dependency ratio between workers and dependents, thereby setting the foundation for decades of robust growth and healthy public finances.
The regional implications of this economic rise will be very significant, even if gradual.
A bigger and more robust economy means that defense spending will continue to rise, albeit from an extremely low base. Indonesia currently spends less than 1 percent of its GDP on defense, at around $8 billion annually. In comparison, Singapore has a military budget of $12 billion, more than 4 percent of its GDP, while Australia spends $26 billion. By any measure, Indonesia lags well behind its neighbors relative to its size; however, its rapid economic growth has facilitated sharp annual defense budget increases, such as the 9 percent increase announced in August 2013. This much-needed growth comes as Indonesia attempts to increase defense spending to 1.5 percent of GDP by 2015, or a projected $14 billion, as sought by Yudyohono. While this target will not be met by next year, it at least recognizes Indonesia’s military potential and sets a spending benchmark.
Much of this defense budget growth, particularly a $15 billion kit announced in 2010, will be allocated to equipment procurement and modernization. The country’s 2010 Strategic Defence Plan outlined a modernization vision that included 10 jet fighter squadrons, 274 ships and a dozen submarines by 2024—a significant qualitative and quantitative leap from Indonesia’s current military capabilities, even if the targets do not seem entirely realistic. Nonetheless, recent purchases are congruent with the vision, such as the purchase of six Sukhoi Su-30MK2s that were delivered last September and which completed a squadron of advanced air-superiority fighters consisting of sixteen Su-27 SKM and Su-30 MK2 jets. Similar major procurements and orders have included dozens of F-16 and Su-35 fighters, advanced air defense systems from Thales, Boeing AH-64 Apache Longbow gunship helicopters and more than hundred world-renowned German Leopard tanks.
As it bolsters its military, Indonesia’s weight and importance in the region’s balance of power will only grow, particularly with respect to the U.S. and China. As Washington and Beijing seem set for an era of strategic rivalry across the Asia-Pacific, bringing Jakarta into one or the other’s sphere of influence becomes ever more appealing. For the U.S., greater security and economic cooperation with Indonesia, at the relative expense of China, helps strengthen and coalesce a grouping of states—which includes Japan, the Philippines and India—that is wary of China’s rise and territorial claims. China’s recent claim to the Natuna waters that are part of Indonesia’s Riau Islands could convince some Indonesian policymakers to lean towards Washington and hedge against Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea. On the other hand, the seeming inevitability of China’s rise to great-power status, amidst the uncertainty of the viability and extent of America’s Asia “pivot” and security guarantees, constitutes a good case for Indonesia to move closer to Beijing and leverage China’s unprecedented economic force and growing military heft.
However, the most likely strategic disposition, to use former Vice President Mohammad Hatta’s expression from 1948, remains having a “free and active” Indonesian foreign policy. As opposed to relatively passive non-alignment during the Cold War, Indonesia—on the back of rapid economic growth and growing power—is increasingly likely to see itself as entitled to a prominent role in the region and the world in its own right, and in light of its own interests and potential. Jakarta is therefore likely to seek prosperity and cooperation equally with both the U.S. and China, as opposed to creating any form of dependency on one power in the face of the other. Moreover, Indonesia might be uniquely positioned in trying to arrest any escalation in the region or prevent the entrenchment of a paradigm of strategic rivalry that could harm its own interests and development priorities.
This independent streak is likely to take Indonesian foreign policy beyond the Asia-Pacific. As recent engagement with the Middle East shows, Indonesia increasingly sees itself as an important actor in the Muslim World. In late January, the country signed a defense cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia—Jakarta’s first such agreement with an Arab state—which covered military industry cooperation, counter-terrorism and joint training. In 2012, Indonesia also co-sponsored UN General Assembly Resolution 67/19 on the statehood of Palestine, with foreign minister Marty Natalegawa delivering a strong speech in defense of the Palestinians’ choices and policies regarding Israel. This seems to be a natural extension of a more confident Indonesia more willing to articulate its population’s solidarity with Middle Eastern causes.
As for Australia, Indonesia’s economic rise will shift the power dynamic and importance of the bilateral relationship. Indonesian GDP, on the basis of purchasing power parity, overtook Australia’s in 2004 and is today thirty percent bigger, and that gap will only expand as Indonesia outgrows Australia by a ratio of 2 to 1, with the IMF predicting 6 percent growth for Indonesia to the end of this decade compared with around 3 percent for Australia. This will not only enhance Indonesia’s economic primacy over Australia and entrench Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s maxim of “less Geneva and more Jakarta,” it will also shift the balance of power within the relationship. Australia’s dominance and transactional approach to the relationship will have to give way to a more balanced and strategic one, as Canberra comes to terms with the fact that a burgeoning Asian power of more than 250 million people cradles Australia’s northern borders.
Indonesia’s economic rise will therefore pave the way for significant geopolitical change. The country’s economic growth engine is of such vigor relative to the rest of the world—perhaps surpassed only by China amongst the world’s twenty largest economies—that a military and strategic dividend for Jakarta is inevitable. Projected timeframes and Indonesian goals will shift with movements in the domestic and regional landscape, but the fact remains Indonesia will have more clout in the future than it’s ever had before.
Abdul-Latif Halimi is editor of The International Spectator.
Membutuhkan Penerbang Satu Setengah Kali Jumlah Pesawat 
Solo ★ Dua penerbang tempur TNI AU, Kapten Pnb Dwi Cahyadi dan Kapten Pnb Yudhistira dari Skuadron 15 berhasil lulus terbang Solo dengan pesawat terbaru TNI AU, T-50i Golden Eagle.
Mereka berdua adalah penerbang pertama hasil didikan di dalam negeri untuk menerbangkan T-50i yang baru saja diimpor dari Korea Selatan.
“Kita punya 16 unit pesawat T-50i yang baru datang tahun lalu. Agar bisa memenuhi kebutuhan operasi, diperlukan penerbang satu setengah kali jumlah pesawat, jadi minimal 24 penerbang,” kata Komandan Lanud Iswahyudi, Marsekal Pertama Yuyu Sutisna usai menginisiasi kedua penerbang itu dalam sebuah upacara di Lanud Adi Soemarmo, Solo, Jumat (11/4/2014).
Yuyu Sutisna memaparkan, saat ini TNI AU sudah memiliki enam penerbang T-50i yang dilatih di Korea. Enam penerbang inilah yang kemudian melanjutkan melatih pilot-pilot tempur yang berkonversi dari pesawat jenis lain. Seperti Kapten Dwi Cahyadi dan Kapten Yudhistira, sebelum ini masing-masing sudah mengantongi 900 dan 700 jam terbang dengan pesawat buatan Inggris, Hawk MK-53.
Upacara tradisi terbang solo dilakukan di Adi Soemarmo, karena sejak sebulan lalu Skuadron 15 yang berpangkalan di Iswahyudi, sementara dipindahkan ke Solo, sehubungan dengan perbaikan landas pacu di Iswahyudi.
The Iranian navy has a growing presence in Asia, a development many in the region could welcome. 
Iran has a significant history of long-distance seafaring in pursuit of trade with Asia. The presence, to this day, of wealthy and influential families of Iranian descent in some Asian countries, notably India and Thailand, is lingering evidence of early Iranian maritime ambitions in the region.
Tehran’s recent foreign policy has been aimed mainly at countering the isolation brought about through international sanctions, by prioritizing official contacts with a relatively small number of friendly nations, and demonstrating that Iran retains credible international reach. The Iranian leadership is, therefore, keen to demonstrate its country’s continuing blue water capability. Over the past seven years, Iran’s offshore naval force, the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN), has undertaken about 30 increasingly ambitious overseas deployments.
IRIN’s focus is firmly on offshore waters, as coastal operations are the responsibility of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN), which has a large inventory of fast attack craft armed with torpedoes and missiles.
For many years Tehran’s leaders favored the IRGCN, and IRIN was something of a poor cousin. Now, though, a change of policy has allowed the IRIN star to rise in the Iranian political firmament, with increased funding enabling the service’s capabilities to grow significantly in recent years.
Older, Western-built frigates, corvettes and fast attack craft have been upgraded, as have IRIN’s Russian-made Kilo diesel-electric submarines. In addition, a program of indigenous construction of both surface and sub-surface warships is underway.
Under this program, a Moudge-class frigate, Jamaran, was completed in 2010. Armed with both air defense and anti-shipping cruise missiles, this warship is very active in both Iranian and more distant waters. At least two more vessels in this class, which is an Iranian upgrade of IRIN’s aging, British-built Vosper frigates, are being built, as are a number of small and midsize submarines.
IRIN ships are increasingly well armed, with many now fitted with reverse-engineered, indigenous developments of 1970s and 1980s vintage Chinese and Western weapon systems. International naval technology advances at a rapid clip, and Iranian warships are therefore very likely to be technically inferior to the latest U.S. and European front-line warships, and would probably not survive long in any conflict with such vessels. Still, IRIN is a very strong force in a regional context. Not only is its order of battle larger than those of its neighbors, unlike adjacent naval forces it also puts in a lot of time at sea, and regularly ventures into distant waters
Particularly important IRIN assets are its three large, armed, helicopter-capable fleet replenishment vessels. These are the force multipliers that enable the service’s overseas deployments.
Since 2008, IRIN task groups have been deploying on training, defense diplomacy and anti-piracy missions in Middle Eastern waters, and in the lawless seaways off Somalia. Senior U.S. Navy officers have commented favorably on the professional and courteous manner in which the service conducts its operations.
Now Tehran has extended its naval horizons, with a new emphasis on Asian waters.
The perception, widespread in the West, of a world united in its efforts to thwart Iranian nuclear ambitions is not wholly accurate. Certainly, in pragmatic Asia, there has been little evidence of unbridled enthusiasm for the application of sanctions against Iran.
In Hong Kong, for instance, Iran National Day has continued to be marked by receptions, speeches and the publication of dedicated newspaper supplements.
When the sanctions regime was at its height, the maintenance of oil revenues was of supreme importance to Tehran. Crucially, Asian nations, notably India, China, Japan and South Korea, remained prime customers for Iranian crude oil. To some extent, cultural and diplomatic exchanges between these countries and Iran continued in parallel with this trade.
Iran showed determination, cunning and ingenuity in ensuring that the export of its crude oil to Asia continued. China provided discreet assistance by facilitating the transfer of a number of aging tankers to Iranian ownership, while the Japanese government reportedly provided risk cover for Japanese tankers that could not obtain insurance for cargoes of Iranian oil.
Moreover, Indonesia’s Batam Island, just off Singapore, was reportedly used as a transhipment hub by Iranian very large crude carriers, with Iranian oil being transferred to smaller ships for onward transport to Asian destinations.
The Iranians themselves reportedly employed a convoluted web of covert activity, involving front companies, multiple changes of Iranian-owned vessels’ names and registries, and the transmission of names and destinations of bogus ships.
Concurrently, Iran let it be known that it saw IRIN as being in the vanguard of efforts to maintain international maritime security, including in Asian waters. In a speech in 2013, for instance, IRIN commander Read Admiral Habibollah Sayyari stressed the importance of the north Indian Ocean and southeastern Asia to Iran, because of the commercial vessel traffic through the Straits of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb and Malacca. He also announced that two IRIN ships had deployed to the Chinese port of Zhangjiagang.
The arrival of IRIN warships at the port was significant on more than one front. First, Zhangjiagang is a major naval port, and is the home base of China’s South Sea Fleet. Second, it is a key node for China’s oil trade. Lastly, the stopover fuelled speculation that the task group might extend its voyage to include a visit to long-time Iranian ally North Korea, although there were no reports that this did in fact occur.
No joint Iran-China naval exercises were reported, but there were well-publicized contacts between senior personnel from both navies.
Since the introduction, late last year, of limited sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran’s agreement to accept constraints on its nuclear program, sales of Iranian crude to Asia have boomed, and both Japan and South Korea have reportedly made big, and much-needed, payments to Iran in recent weeks.
The introduction of a more liberal sanctions regime was closely followed by an IRIN deployment—including, unusually, a Kilo-class submarine—to India. The visit featured discussions on future naval cooperation between senior Indian and Iranian staff.
In another strategically significant development, while the IRIN warships were docked in Mumbai, Sayyari, the IRIN commander, was invited to an international maritime security symposium in Jakarta. While there he reportedly concluded agreements on future naval cooperation with the commanders of the Indonesian Navy, and the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force. This February then saw the unveiling of a feasibility study of a joint Iran-Indonesia $3 billion Java oil refinery project. The plan is for the refinery to process 300,000 barrels of Iranian crude per day.
Nearer home, IRIN is planning to ramp up its presence in the Caspian Sea, following the discovery, in 2012, of a new oil field in waters claimed by Iran. The Moudge-class frigate Damavand is at an advanced stage of construction at Bandar-e Anzali on the Caspian. IRIN is also reportedly intending to deploy light submarines to the sea, which is currently dominated by Gepard-class frigates from Russia’s Caspian Flotilla.
The scene may be set, then, for a regular Iranian naval presence in Asian waters. That might well enjoy significant support from Islamic communities within Asia. Regional desire for Islamic involvement reportedly led to Indonesian and Bangladeshi warships being assigned to the multinational UNIFIL force that conducts anti-arms smuggling operations off Lebanon.
Even beyond Islamic communities, the presence of Iranian naval vessels could prove rather less controversial than some might fear. Asian governments are, in general, comfortable with a benign foreign naval presence, which is seen as a stabilizing influence in an area that features both vital international shipping lanes and a mass of bitterly contested maritime territorial claims. Certainly Washington is trying to strengthen its Asian naval presence, while the Five Power Defense Arrangements continue to bring together warships of Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand Singapore and the U.K. for exercises in Asian waters, 43 years after its inception.
Foreign warships help deter piracy and other maritime crime, and as was demonstrated last year in the Philippines, they can make a substantial contribution to humanitarian relief efforts in a region prone to natural disasters.
Chinese weapon has full of opportunities to penetrate the Thai market, after artillery system by WS-1B and WS-32, China continues to offer S-20 submarines for Thailand. 
This transaction will be significant because Thailand has no previous experience using submarines. Although he expressed interest in submarine production by China, Thailand however still no official response regarding this invitation.
According to what China claims, submarine S-20 was designed by this country and production, but according to what was published, the S-20 is a copy of the Kilo class submarines from Russia. S-20 has a length of 66 m, a width of 8 m, height 8.2 m, as well water displacement of 1,850 tons when submerged water displacement of 2,300 tons, speed 18 knots/h, distance of journey speed 16 knots/h is 8,000 nautical miles.
S-20 crew of 38 people, independent operation time of 60 days and nights. This double hulled submarine can dive to 300 meters deep. Kilo S-20 similar not only in design but also in superficial details like the wings tail fins help train changes direction.
S-20 is equipped with acoustics stations system to detect changes in frequency, 1 sonar intercept receiver and sound-velocity measuring systems to measure the noise of the ship itself. In addition, the ship has the ability to drop a towed acoustics stations. S-20 is equipped with torpedoes, mine spreader system and anti-ship missiles.
China offered the S-20 submarine for Thailand for the move to be confirmed on the special relationship the defense sector is the establishment. Earlier China offered Thailand to buy multiple launch rocket system WS-1B and WS-32's.
Kanwa magazine (based in Canada) said, now the Royal Thai Army is considering ordering new multiple launch rocket system WS-1B and WS-32 (in Thailand this naming system is turn in DTI-1 and DTI-1G).
Kanwa adds, besides ordering multiple launch rocket system, Thailand has signed a contract on DTI-1G artillery system connecting with navigation system of China. With the combination of satellite systems, DT-1G rocket artillery will reduce the error to less than 50m circle.
According to information published by China, rocket artillery system caliber 302mm WS-1B manufacture by China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation (CPMIEC). WS-1B is the upgraded version of the WS-1 system with superior range (180km compared with 100km of WS-1 system).
Meanwhile artillery system WS-32 rocket built with the modern navigation technology in order to enhance the ability to attack targets accurately. Rocket chassis is mounted on 6x6 truck chassis with a total of 4 tubes. WS-32 system has a range of 60-150km.
Moscow ☆ Tuntutan bergabung kembali dengan Rusia tidak hanya datang dari wilayah timur Ukraina. Tuntutan serupa ternyata juga datang dari penduduk di Alaska. Alaska merupakan bagian dari teritorial Amerika Serikat.
Di laman White House (http://petitions.whitehouse.gov), muncul petisi yang meminta dukungan agar Alaska kembali bergabung dengan Rusia. Petisi yang diunggah pada 21 Maret 2014 membutuhkan 100 ribu tanda tangan untuk dapat diserahkan ke pemerintah Amerika Serikat untuk mendapat tanggapan.
Hingga, Kamis, 10 April 2014, sudah 40.952 orang yang menandatangani petisi yang diberi tajuk "Alaska Back to Russia". Itu artinya dibutuhkan 59.048 tanda tangan lagi hingga 20 April 2014.
Petisi ini mendorong dilakukannya pemungutan suara terhadap tuntutan mereka mengembalikan Alaska kepada Rusia. Penggagas petisi menjelaskan sejarah penemuan Alaska oleh sekelompok warga Siberia, Rusia, sekitar 16-10 ribu tahun lalu. Mereka melewati Selat Isthmus (sekarang Selat Bering).
Berdasarkan penelusuran dokumen sejarah, ekspedisi pertama ke Alaska adalah warga Rusia bernama Mikhail Gvozdez tahun 1732. Alaska merupakan koloni Rusia hingga 1867 di masa kekuasaan Raja Alexander II. Kemudian Alaska dijual ke Amerika Serikat setara antara US$ 7,2-120 juta saat ini.
Awal Maret lalu, kelompok pendukung Rusia di Donetsk, kota yang terletak di timur Ukraina, menguasai gedung pemerintahan dan memproklamasikan pengambilalihan pemerintahan. Ratusan orang juga mengibarkan bendera Rusia dan meneriakkan slogan-slogan menentang pemerintah Ukraina di sekitar halaman gedung.
"Para separatis itu mengumumkan pembentukan pemerintah baru yang dipimpin oleh Pavel Hubarev," kata Oleksiy Matsuka, editor surat kabar Novosti Donbassa.
Novosti Donbassa melaporkan sentimen terhadap Ukraina menyebar di negara yang penduduknya mayoritas warga Rusia. Insiden di Donetsk juga terjadi di Odessa di Sungai Hitam dan Luhansk, yang berbatasan dengan Rusia.
Maret lalu, Crimea meraih kemerdekaannya melalui referendum yang didukung oleh Rusia. Crimea kemudian bergabung dengan Federasi Rusia.
Tugas Bakorkamla Untuk Mengkoordinasikannya 
Jakarta ★ Pembentukan satu badan khusus untuk mengatasi tumpang tindih penegakan hukum di laut masih sulit diwujudkan. Sekarang ini setidaknya ada 12 institusi dengan kewenangan penanganan hukum di laut yang pada praktiknya kerap muncul gesekan.
Dalam menjalankan kewenangannya, seluruh institusi tersebut sebatas dikoordinasi oleh satu badan, yakni Badan Koordinasi Keamanan Laut (Bakorkamla).
“Belum ada ide besar untuk menjadi badan keamanan laut karena konsekuensi aspek legalnya harus dikaji lebih dalam. Tidak mudah,” kata Menteri Koordinator Bidang Politik, Hukum, dan Keamanan (Menkopolhukam) Djoko Suyanto seusai serah terima jabatan Kepala Pelaksana Harian (Kalakhar) Bakorkamla dari Laksamana Madya TNI Bambang Suwarto ke Laksamana Muda TNI Desi Albert Mamahit di Kantor Bakorkamla, Jakarta, Kamis (10/4/2014).
Banyaknya pemangku kepentingan, disadari menjadi satu kendala tersendiri dalam menangani keamanan di laut. Karena itu, selama ini sudah ada kajian-kajian untuk menyatukan banyaknya stakeholder tersebut dalam satu atap yang khusus menangani masalah ini.
Namun, kata dia, pembahasan belum mengerucut pada pembentukan suatu badan yang mempunyai aspek legal tinggi. “Harus dipikirkan lebih dalam, lebih tajam untuk membentuk badan semacam itu karena kalau tidak justru tak bermanfaat dan menimbulkan benturan antar lembaga satu dengan lainnya,” urai dia.
Djoko berharap, pergantian pemegang jabatan Kalakhar ini akan semakin meningkatkan peran koordinasi. Sehingga, kemungkinan adanya gesekan antar institusi bisa dihindari. “Mereka (institusi dengan kewenangan penegakan hukum di laut) harus disatukan. Itulah tugas Bakorkamla untuk mengkoordinasikannya,” tutur Djoko.(dam)
Eurofighter Thyphoon Usulan Baru Pengganti F-5 Tiger 
Jakarta ★ Kementerian Pertahanan dan TNI Angkatan Udara masih mengkaji calon pengganti pesawat tempur F-5 Tiger yang akan dikandangkan. Kepala Badan Perencanaan Pertahanan Kementerian Pertahanan, Laksamana Muda Rachmad Lubis, mengatakan empat pesawat generasi 4,5 atau mendekati kemampuan pesawat siluman atau antiradar yang dilirik adalah Sukhoi Su-35 buatan Rusia, SAAB JAS Gripen produksi Swedia, Dassault Rafale dari Prancis, serta Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet bikinan Amerika.
"Masih kami pertimbangkan dari sisi anggaran. Kami mempelajari yang paling menguntungkan pemerintah," kata Rachmad kepada Tempo di kantornya, Rabu pekan lalu. Rachmad belum bisa memastikan jumlah anggaran untuk membeli pesawat baru.
Sumber Tempo di Kementerian Pertahanan mengatakan sebenarnya ada usulan baru pengganti F-5 Tiger. Yaitu Eurofighter Thyphoon yang diproduksi bersama oleh Inggris, Spanyol, Jerman, dan Italia. Usul pembelian Thyphoon diajukan oleh PT Dirgantara Indonesia.
Menurut sumber ini, PT DI beralasan para produsen Thyphoon lebih mau berbagi ilmu atau transfer teknologi. Bahkan, sangat mungkin PT DI diberi lisensi memproduksi beberapa suku cadang. "Kalau pesawat buatan Amerika dan Rusia tak ada transfer teknologi," kata si sumber. Berdasarkan Undang-Undang Industri Strategis, pembelian alat utama sistem persenjataan dari luar negeri harus disertai dengan alih teknologi.
Direktur Teknologi Penerbangan PT DI Andi Alisjahbana tak mau berkomentar tentang usulan perusahaannya. Dia hanya mengatakan pengadaan persenjataan sebaiknya tak hanya melihat kecanggihannya. "Tapi diperhatikan pula kesediaan negara pembuat untuk membagi teknologi dengan industri dalam negeri," katanya.
Kepala Dinas Penerangan TNI Angkatan Udara Marsekal Pertama Hadi Tjahjanto menanggapi positif usulan Typhoon sebagai pengganti F-5 Tiger. Musababnya, Typhoon punya kemampuan relatif sama dengan calon pengganti lainnya. Hadi juga menilai pembelian Typhoon bakal menambah varian pesawat tempur Angkatan Udara. "Tapi keputusan pembeliannya berada di Kementerian Pertahanan." Sejumlah pilot tempur yang ditemui Tempo justru menilai pemerintah seharusnya membeli Sukhoi Su-35. Pesawat ini dianggap superior di udara dan menimbulkan efek gentar bagi negara tetangga.
