The world’s largest archipelagic country, Indonesia is located astride major maritime channels and is thus integral to the Indo-Pacific region. Since Indonesia require the modern defenses to counter the diverse conventional and non-conventional threats to its enormous maritime jurisdiction, the issue of drawing a strategy in the context of the contemporary political transformation for the 21st century arises. It is for such reason that the modernization of Indonesia’s defense cannot simply revolve around the capability to procure new equipment. Instead, it involves the formulation of a security concept that needs to be military, political and economic in nature.

Geographically, Indonesia is situated at an important position in view of the pattern of trade and power play across the globe. It is located at the junction of the Indian and Pacific oceans, a region that accounts for about one third of the global seaborne trade. The controlled waterways of Malacca, Sunda and Lombok are very important channel for the international fleet that transport a large portion of the world’s crude oil and products. Having said that, Indonesia being located at the crossroads of Asia Pacific region and keen to promote trade, any upheaval in the country could well affect the world trade adversely, hence, its defense forces are vital for both national and regional security.

Indonesia’s military is known as Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI). They mainly depend on outdated weapons and equipment’s; most of which were acquired during the Cold War period.

It identifies threats on all fronts that Indonesia must deal with. Classical challenges include sovereignty issues especially in the South China Sea combined with non-traditional ones which like piracy, terrorism and cyberwarfare. These threats call for enhanced defense structure that would adequately cope with the various threats. Indonesian needs defense modernization to safeguard independence and dominion over the region.

Indonesia’s military is known as Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI). They mainly depend on outdated weapons and equipment’s; most of which were acquired during the cold war period. Outdated equipment has been a tradition with the TNI, resulting in it often not having the operational preparedness or capability to deal with the emerging threats. For example, the Indonesian Air Force has had problems with outdated fighter planes and few air defense systems; the Navy needs an update because their fleet is old and does not adequately defend Indonesia’s large territorial waters.

Most importantly, Indonesia has faced a long-standing problem of inadequate funding limiting its defense modernization process. The fact is that the activity in this area has gradually increased only in recent years, but compared to other countries of the region, for example China or India, the budget simply hardly reaches the required level. The budget constraint makes difficult the choices to do improvements of existing equipment’s, acquisition of new technologies, and personnel necessities.

In addition, the growth and limitations of production and having to rely heavily on foreign suppliers for development of modern weapons form part of the challenges of the Indonesian defense industry.

Modernization of Indonesia’s defense forces has been in the progress in the recent years. The government has begun various programs that seeks to improve on the capacity of the TNI regarding the procurement of modern assets and the establishment of an efficient and competitive Indonesian defense industry.

The MEF program is one of the components of this modernization push, which was launched in 2010. It also provides a perspective to guarantee the Indonesian military has a minimum of the level force capability is needed to protect the country’s security strength efficiently.

During the MEF program, Indonesia has committed to buying new fighter jets, submarines, and naval ships. For example, the purchase of the Sukhoi Su-35 fighter aircraft and the Chang Bogo-class submarines that are built in South Korea are part of the efforts to build the capacity of both the Air Force and the Navy. Also, in the framework of the modernization plan, it also presupposes the update of the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces with high-tech artillery and armored vehicles. These acquisitions are supposed to enhance the weightage and mobility of the TNI so that it can effectively address current security threats.

One of the key ingredients of Indonesia’s defense modernization concept was the buildup of an independent domestic defense industry. The government of Indonesia has realized the fact that it is vulnerable with its over reliance of its suppliers and its policy to establish a strong industry producing top notch equipment has gained merit. In this connection, the government has offered incentives in form of the promotion of the joint venture and technology agreements with overseas defense manufacturers.

One of the key ingredients of Indonesia’s defense modernization concept was the buildup of an independent domestic defense industry.

On the aspect of building the domestic defense industry there is also the question of outsourcing jointly with domestic enterprises to develop small arms, ammunition and other vital elements of the military equipment. State-own company, namely PT Pindad is already involved in developing out home-grown weapon systems while state-owned company of PT PAL Indonesia is involved in constructing navy vessels such as frigate, submarines, etc. In this regard, increased self-sufficiency and reduced costs of equipment procurement are of interest for the domestic economy as well as the emergence of new workplaces, motivated by the development of a potent national defense industry in Indonesia.

In the process of acquiring new equipment for its armed forces, Indonesia also aims to boost its cybersecurity structures, analytical and spying capabilities. The emergence of cyber threats is a particularly dangerous problem in the context of national security, and Indonesia has become a frequent victim of cyber incidents in the recent years. However, to address this challenge, the government seeks to enhance the capabilities in relation to cyber security by creating BSSN, the National Cyber and Encryption Agency that will protect infrastructure and information.

Indonesia is also deploying ISR systems to improve the awareness and situational of the countries in the region. Purchase of UAVs and better radars will give TNI fresh information in particular intervals, enhancing effectiveness of their decisions. These are essentials for new technologies acquisition to update the Indonesian defense force ability and capability to respond to the existing threats.

Optimizing Indonesia’s defense is not only limited to the enhance the military capabilities but also to enhance regional cooperation and relationship. In the ASEAN, Indonesia is an active member of the organization’s security related capacities including the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum. Furthermore, Indonesia has also increased it defense cooperation with important partners which include United States of America, Australia and Japan. Since then, many of these partnerships have led to cooperation in military exercise, training exercises, and technology sharing or sale which provide a comprehensive boost in Indonesia’s defense strengths. Through forging of good diplomacy and military ties, Indonesia will be in a better position to comprehend the various security issues within the Indo-Pacific region.