Prabowo Prepares Indonesia's First Aircraft Carrier to Support Disaster Response

President Prabowo Subianto has revealed that Indonesia’s first aircraft carrier, acquired from Italy, will soon dock to strengthen the Indonesian Navy’s defence capabilities. The carrier’s capabilities will also be harnessed for disaster management.

“Alhamdulillah, soon the aircraft carrier from Italy will join our Navy’s ranks. We will refurbish it and convert it into a helicopter and drone carrier,” said Prabowo during a limited meeting on disaster management at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday (7/9/2026).

According to Prabowo, the carrier will be capable of carrying ten medium-sized helicopters. He stated that the helicopters it can transport include Black Hawks and Mi-17s, which can each carry an average of four to five tonnes of water for responding to forest and land fires.

“So if we have ten helicopters, they can immediately head to the areas with the most fire hotspots. This will also greatly help our response,” said Prabowo.

Prabowo further explained that many aircraft have been allocated for weather modification operations. He also asked the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) to study the most efficient substances for accelerating weather modification.

Beyond the aircraft carrier, helicopters and aeroplanes, Prabowo also called for the procurement of drones capable of spraying water.

“There are some quite large drones that can carry and drop 50 kilos of water. If 50 kilos times ten drones, that equals one helicopter. Oh no, no — 50 times 10 is 500, half a tonne, yes,” said Prabowo.

“But if these are positioned at the front lines, it will be very useful. So we are preparing to handle mitigation; we must not wait for incidents to occur. Preparations must be made well in advance,” he added.