Budget constraints shrink Indonesia's military might

Budget constraints shrink Indonesia's military might

Berni K. Moestafa and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Once the big brother amongst Southeast Asian military forces,
the Indonesian Military (TNI) now suffers from acute budget
constraints which are crippling its arsenal and diluting its
might.

With a defense budget of 1 percent of gross domestic product
(GDP), the TNI guards an area nearly six times larger than its
next biggest neighbor Malaysia, which has a defense budget of
about 2 percent to GDP.

"Ideally we should have a defense budget of 3.8 percent to
GDP, but anything beyond 2 percent now is great," said Director
General for Strategic Defense at the Ministry of Defense, Maj.
Gen. Sudrajat on Friday.

TNI's budget, he said, was heavily burdened by soldiers'
salaries and squeezed even more due to maintenance costs.

Indonesia has some 297,000 active military members with
400,000 in reserve. Under the 2002 state budget, they must
survive the year on Rp 9.3 trillion (about US$1 billion).

While soldiers continue to get paid, not all of TNI's military
equipment receive proper servicing. Shortage of spare-parts and
inadequate maintenance is damaging TNI's arsenal, with vehicle
parts often getting cannibalized.

Data from the TNI shows that it owns 117 ships with only 30
percent operational, and 220 aircraft with just 45 percent
operational.

"The drop in serviceable equipment is costing us our
mobility," said TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin on
Friday.

For instance, he said, instead of flying troops into conflict
zones, the TNI must ship them.

Although the TNI no longer technically handles domestic
security, rapid troop deployment remains necessary to counter
armed groups in conflict-torn regions like Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam or Maluku.

In addition to the domestic budget constraints, a partial
military embargo by the U.S. government, as a result of the East
Timor violence, prevents maintenance of military equipment such
as the sophisticated and costly F-16 Fighting Falcon jetfighters.

"We purchase some of the spare-parts through third countries,
but at higher prices," Sjafrie said.

Sudrajat said the TNI planned to phase out its dependence on
foreign military equipment by producing most of its military
equipment here. "It's a long term project though, we're looking
at 30 to 40 years from now."

He said President Megawati Soekarnoputri's recent visit to
Slovakia and the Czech Republic was aimed at tapping their
military technology.

Small arms and tank spare-parts from Slovakia, and aircraft
spare-parts and radar technology from the Czech Republic, were
examples he gave of the negotiations that were ongoing.

Analysts however, said Indonesia lacked a clear defense plan
to guide its military industry development.

"We have a defense plan, but it was done in 1982," one analyst
said.

Military observer Salim Said stated that the government should
update its defense plan to identify new threats and develop the
military around those.

A starting point could be the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR) decree No. VII/2000, under which the TNI surrendered most
of the domestic security affairs to the National Police.

Analysts have said that if the TNI's only job was to deal with
external threats, the government should have built up the air
force and the navy instead.

But neither the air force nor the navy can expect greater
funding, if the government goes by its present budgeting policy.

The government spends its defense funds based on the number of
personnel in each of the armed forces, said Air Force spokesman
Commodore Imam Wahyudi.

With 230,000 members, the Army is the clear beneficiary of
this policy. The Air Force has 27,000 members and the Navy
40,000.

Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS) said that presently, Indonesia's neighbors posed
no threat.

The closest threat, the dispute over the Sipadan and Ligitan
islands with Malaysia remains, but its handling through diplomacy
has lowered the risk of any open conflict.

"The first line of defense is always diplomacy," Kusnanto
said.