Aircraft industry for commercial and military purposes

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)