Armando Siahaan & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – The government and the House of Representatives have agreed on a plan to cover the Rp 50 trillion ($5.6 billion) shortfall needed to modernize the nation's military's arsenal.
Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro had said Rp 150 trillion would be needed over the next five years for the upgrade, but the government could allot only Rp 100 trillion.
"The House and the government have agreed to fulfill the need to upgrade the weapons," lawmaker Mahfudz Siddiq said. "Some of the extra Rp 50 trillion will be taken from the revised state budget, and we shall also seek domestic and foreign loans."
Mahfudz, head of Commission I, which oversees defense, said the government would step in with Rp 11 trillion, but only Rp 2 trillion had been made available thus far. The other Rp 9 trillion is expected to come from the revised 2011 state budget, and the remaining Rp 39 trillion from multi-year loans.
Mahfudz said the House expected the government to synergize the armaments modernization with efforts to revitalize the domestic defense industry.
Military chief Adm. Agus Suhartono said the military planned to spend Rp 600 billion of the initial Rp 2 trillion on restoring existing weapons and the rest on buying new ones.
The agreement comes weeks after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said there was a dire need to modernize the military's armaments. He said an upgrade was needed to maintain national defense and security and for disaster relief and peace-keeping.
The government has received some praise for its efforts in bolstering national defense in the past year, especially over its announcement of unprecedented spending through 2015. Analysts say the Defense Ministry also deserves credit for its effort to revitalize the domestic arms industry.
"These two policies are unprecedented and ground-breaking and will surely strengthen the country's defense," said Andi Widjajanto, a military expert from University of Indonesia. He said the government also had done a commendable job improving soldiers' welfare, as evidenced by pay raises.
The military on Wednesday received three new attack helicopters. It follows the arrival of four Russian-made Sukhoi jet fighters, which were handed over at a ceremony at the Pondok Cabe Airbase in Tangerang, attended by Purnomo and Russian Ambassador Alexander Ivanov.
Under a $300 million contract, signed in 2007, Russia recently completed the delivery of three Su-30MK2 and three Su-27SKM fighter jets to Jakarta, in addition to two Su-27SK and two Su-30MK fighter jets purchased in 2003. Indonesia now has 11 modern military helicopters, including six MI-17V-5s previously purchased from Russia.