Aircraft industry for commercial and military purposes

JAKARTA (JP): An Indonesian aircraft industry is being developed to meet defense needs aside from making profits, State Minister for Research and Technology B.J. Habibie said Saturday.

"The development of the aircraft manufacturer PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) is 80 percent aimed for commercial purposes and 20 percent for military goals," he said after a plenary session of the National Aeronautics and Space Council (Depanri) at the Bina Graha presidential office.

The meeting was presided over by the council's chairman, President Soeharto.

Habibie told reporters that the aeronautical industrial base could be turned to 80 percent military purposes and 20 percent commercial purposes when the country if the country were under threat of attack.

"When an emergency is intense, our aircraft industry can even be totally devoted to military purposes," said the minister, who is also president of IPTN.

He said the operation of IPTN should be supported by other companies operating under the supervision of the Agency for Strategic Industry Management (BPIS) and by privately owned firms.

BPIS, chaired by Habibie, supervises 10 state-owned companies, including IPTN and firms operating in the manufacture of steel, ships, military equipment, machinery, telecommunication equipment, explosives, railway equipment and electronic goods.

Habibie said that he has been appointed as deputy chairman of the council, whose members include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defense and Security, the Minister of Industry, the Minister of Transportation, the Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication and the State Minister of National Development Planning.

According to Habibie, it was the late President Sukarno who initiated the founding of the council in 1963.

Habibie also noted that IPTN is now conducting a feasibility study to develop aeronautical navigation satellites that will help planes during landing.

According to the minister, installing electronic devices at airports to help landing planes is uneconomical because of their high prices. Indonesia currently has 134 airports. (09)