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