Navy gets patrol aircraft

Navy gets patrol aircraft

BANDUNG: The Indonesian Navy received a NC-212 maritime patrol
aircraft on Thursday from state aircraft maker PT Dirgantara
Indonesia. The aircraft was the fourth of six aircraft set to be
handed over to the Navy.

Two more aircraft will be completed by next year, said Rear
Admiral Pieter Wattimena during the handover ceremony in Bandung.

Each aircraft cost the Navy US$8 million.

The aircraft is equipped with a sophisticated camera and radar
for surveillance purposes against, for example, foreign intruders
or illegal foreign boats.

The demand for maritime patrol aircraft is high as Indonesian
waters are prone to poaching by foreign boats. A government
official Indroyono said in the function that some 1,500 illegal
boats operate in the Arafuru sea that brings annual losses of
US$2 billion to the state. -- JP