[ad_1]
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General TNI (Purn) Prabowo Subianto, met with Vice President KH Ma’ruf Amin at the official residence of the Vice President located at Jalan Diponegoro Number 2, Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Thursday (3/9 / 2020) in the afternoon.
As quoted in the press release from the Vice President’s spokesman, Masduki Baidlowi, Prabowo personally came to meet with Kiai Ma’ruf with the intention of meeting. Because, since the inauguration of the Forward Indonesia Cabinet, Prabowo and Kiai Ma’ruf have never officially met.
“From 3:00 pm to 3:45 pm WIB, the defense minister and the vice president discussed extensively, especially about the food farm program to maintain food security,” Masduki said.
In addition, he continued, Prabowo also reported the plan to repair the main (Alutsist) weapon system. Prabowo revealed the plan to repair fighter jets, ships and tanks for the Indonesian Army, Navy and Air Force.
“The Defense Minister assessed that buying new was too expensive and could not be carried out immediately. So it would be great if there were repairs. He gave an example of Hercules, Sukhoi aircraft, including tanks and ships that had to be repaired. for Indonesia to become a strong country, “he said. Masduki.
However, he continued, Prabowo said the most urgent aspect was buying bullets. This is because Prabowo considered Indonesia to be short on bullets.
“Many Indonesians are good at shooting, but they don’t have bullets.”
Recently, it has been widely reported that Indonesia will purchase various defense equipment to strengthen national defense. More recently, Indonesia is reportedly interested in buying used warships or frigates from Germany, namely the Bremen F 214 Lubeck-class.
This frigate is the only Bremen-class frigate left in Germany. This plan arose after the purchase of the Iver Huitfeldt frigate was deemed to require a lengthy process.
When he met at the Jakarta Parliament Complex, Jakarta on Wednesday (2/9/2020), Deputy Defense Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono denied it.
“Not yet, not yet. We are all being thorough. We are preparing what our defense master plan looks like. From there (needs are seen). That is a speech. I have not done it, there has been no purchase,” he said Trenggono.
In addition, he said he would give priority to defense teams that have good strength. On the other hand, of course, there is a price to pay.
“Please plan to buy a new one, which is good,” Trenggono said.
The question of Indonesia’s interest in purchasing used defense equipment can be seen in documents received by the special defense website, www.janes.com. The letter states that acquisitions that must be prioritized between 2020 and 2024, such as TNI-AL, will meet the national security requirements outlined in phase III of the military restraint plan, Minimum Essential Force (MEF).
The Bremen class consists of eight freighters assigned by the German Navy between 1982 and 1990. These freighters are 130 meters long and can accommodate 219 crew members. The fertilizer can also fly up to two helicopters.
In terms of armament, the Bremen class is equipped with the RGM-84D Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher, the Raytheon Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missile, and four 324mm torpedo tubes. It is also equipped with the Oto Melara 76mm / 62 naval gun in prime position and two 20mm Rheinmetall guns.
In addition, the Ministry of Defense (Kemenhan) plans to buy an old Austrian fighter plane, the Eurofighter Typhoon. The plan was highlighted in a virtual discussion held by the Jakarta Defense Studios (JDS) on Wednesday (8/26/2020).
The head of the National Association of Private Defense Industry (Pinhantanas), Major General TNI (Ret.) Jan Pieter Ate criticized the measure of the Ministry of Defense under the leadership of Lieutenant General TNI (Purn) Prabowo Subianto, who plans to buy equipment used defense.
According to him, if the used defense equipment policy were prioritized, Indonesia’s defense would be left behind. Ate highlighted the purchase of the Eurofighter Typhoon that was produced a dozen years ago. The latest fact in Austria is that the fighter plane is no longer used. If purchased to strengthen TNI, you can question the strength of TNI.
“Why does Indonesia keep buying used products? Buy new technology, so that our indhan (defense industry) can catch up. We are talking about the sixth generation, stealth, big data, your enemy will not be against used products But it will feature the latest technology, “Ate said as quoted in the JDS statement.
He also touched on the concept of minimum essential force (MEF) that must be replaced because it is no longer relevant. According to Ate, MEF is a defense concept that does not represent Indonesia as a great nation.
He said that the MEF concept with the strategic plan (renstra) 2010-2014 and 2015-2019 resulted in a physical compliance that had only reached 63.19% and the availability of defense equipment was only 58.37%. Ate said that figure shows there is a gap in readiness to meet and use TNI defense equipment, reaching 41 percent.
“So far, the MEF has not met our needs. We are a G-20 country. Let’s get out of the MEF, we will reorganize the defense of a large country,” he said.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
(Friends / sef)
