Prabowo Reveals Grand Plan to Transform Carrier RI Giuseppe Garibaldi

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – President Prabowo Subianto has revealed plans for the use of Indonesia’s first aircraft carrier, acquired from Italy, the Giuseppe Garibaldi. He announced the plan while chairing a Limited Meeting on the Development of Natural Disaster Management via video conference on Monday (7/9/2026).

“Thank God, the aircraft carrier from Italy will soon join our Navy’s fleet. We will refurbish it and convert it into a helicopter carrier and a carrier for drones,” he said.

According to Prabowo, the carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi could accommodate ten medium-class helicopters (similar to the Black Hawk and Mil Mi-17), each capable of carrying an average of four to five tonnes of water.

“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,” he said.

Furthermore, Prabowo said the government must allocate aircraft for weather modification. BRIN, he added, must study the most efficient substances to accelerate weather modification.

“And next, we must procure drones that can drop water. There are drones large enough to carry and drop 50 kilograms of water,” Prabowo explained.

The head of state went on to say that the presence of such facilities and infrastructure forms part of mitigation preparedness.

“Do not wait for an incident to happen; we must prepare long before it occurs,” he continued.