Air Force exercise gets high marks

RAMBANG, West Nusa Tenggara (JP): An Air Force exercise code- named Operasi Badar 99 was declared a success with its closing on Friday.

Air Force Operational Command chief Air Rear Marshall Ian Santoso, who oversees eastern Indonesia, officially closed the one-week exercise.

"The success of the exercise proved that we have kept our professionalism amid the economic burden. This (exercise) is a signal that the Indonesian Air Force is always ready to defend the country's sovereignty."

He denied the exercise was intended to be a show of force to neighboring countries, such as Australia and East Timor, formerly the country's 27th province which recently seceded.

It takes two hours by car to reach Rambang village, the exercise site, from Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara.

"We didn't mean to conduct a show of force or anything. We just wanted to improve our jet fighter pilots' professionalism," the marshal reiterated.

The exercise involved several fighters, bombers and transport aircraft from five squadrons from Abdrulrahman Saleh Airbase in Malang, Juanda (Surabaya) and Iswahyudi (Madiun,) all in East Java, Hasanuddin Airbase in Makassar, South Sulawesi, and Ngurah Rai in Denpasar, Bali.

Ian Santoso said he was proud that none of the fighters missed their targets and all the maneuvers were done in line with instructions. (27/sur)