As defence minister, Prabowo Subianto made some hefty military purchases in recent years, but fiscal constraints have reined in spending. The programme Insight looks at the prospects for Indonesia’s armed forces with the ex-general as president.
Indonesia n President Prabowo Subianto delivering a speech during his inauguration in the Parliament building in Jakarta on Oct 20. JAKARTA: Indonesia has gone on a spending spree to modernise its military as a self-imposed deadline for upgrading its defence forces looms large.
“Much of our defence equipment is obsolete,” said Khairul Fahmi, a military analyst at Jakarta-based Institute for Security and Strategic Studies. China’s “nine-dash line” claim in the South China Sea overlaps with Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone near the oil and gas-rich Natuna Islands. Progress on the MEF, due for completion this year, has also been slow. The Indonesian military has met 65 per cent of its modernisation target as at last year.
In July last year, Jokowi urged his Cabinet to maintain a “healthy state budget” and highlighted high spending by security agencies including the defence ministry. Known as the Archipelagic Trident Shield, the 25-year plan is aimed at acquiring cutting-edge military equipment, with an emphasis on combining warfare capabilities across the navy, air force and army as well as investing in cybersecurity.The project is projected to cost US$125 billion, and the finance ministry has already approved a fifth of its funding.
“There’s concern that if defence spending is increased to more than 0.8 per cent or over the psychological number of 1 per cent of GDP, there’ll be issues with accountability. What if such a huge budget isn’t used efficiently?”Under the Jokowi administration, the country also trod lightly to avoid provoking China while asserting its “legal maritime rights”. “This is what Jokowi has been doing. This is what Prabowo will have to do as well,” said Storey.
Then there is Aukus, the security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States that is set to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. When Aukus was first announced in 2021, Indonesia was also concerned that it “might trigger an arms race in the region”, said Storey.
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