Modernised weaponry defense needed, says Indonesian president Jokowi

[AFP] ☆

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo wants to modernize Indonesia's primary weaponry defence system (Alutsista) to develop the Indonesian Military as a regional maritime force, respected throughout the East Asia region.

"To develop the country's defence force, we have to be able to fulfil our Alutsista needs in an integrated way across Indonesia's three defence components [Army, Navy and Air Force]," he said during the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Indonesian Military (TNI) at Indah Kiat Port in Banten on Monday, as quoted by tempo.co.

A Global Firepower (GFP) report entitled 2015 World Military Strength Rankings reveals that as a maritime country, the TNI has the 12th largest maritime weaponry system - 171 vessels of various types. This indicates that Indonesia is a country with a strong maritime weaponry system in comparison to other Southeast Asian countries.

Unfortunately, the TNI does not have any destroyer vessels and frigates, the GFP says.

The TNI ranks 36th in terms of largest number of land vehicles, with 468 tanks, including heavy and light models, it reports.

The figure is lower than two other ASEAN member countries: Myanmar, which has 569 tanks and ranks 32nd, and Thailand, with 722 tanks and ranked 26th.

In terms of air weaponry, the GFP report finds that Indonesia has the 30th most warplanes, with 405 planes of various types. In Southeast Asia, this figure is lower than Thailand, which has 573 aircraft and ranks 20th.

In terms of military budgets, Indonesia ranks 30th in the world with a US$ 6.9 billion (S$ 9.8 billion) budget, below Singapore that ranks 24th with a US$ 9.7 billion 2015 military budget.

Although it lags behind other countries in terms of weaponry systems, the GFP reveals that the TNI has a better position than most militaries in terms of number of soldiers ready to be deployed in battle.

"It ranks 10th in terms of largest number of soldiers after China, the US, India, Russia, North Korea and South Korea [and others]," said the GFP.

  ★ asiaone