SBY seeks to boost defense spending

SBY seeks to boost defense spending

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

In a bid to create a strong and modern military, President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is contemplating up to a five fold
increase in defense spending to an "ideal level" of 3-5 percent
of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the current 1
percent.

Speaking at the opening of a seminar on developing the
national defense industry on Wednesday, Susilo described the
country's defense system as "under-strength, under-funded and
under-capacity" to confront the various potential threats facing
the archipelago.

"The time has come for this country to have sophisticated
weapons system," said the retired army general, without
specifying any time frames.

"Political will alone is not enough, because the aim of
achieving an ideal defense system will also depend on the
availability of funds, which in turn will depend upon the
country's economic performance," he added.

He explained that one of the benefits of having a modern
military was the ability of the nation to better cope with major
natural disasters such as the tsunami in Aceh, where the country
was forced to rely on foreign military because of the Indonesian
military's limited equipment, especially helicopters.

"Our Air Force could only get nine aircraft into the air to
help (tsunami) survivors, evacuate victims, and distribute aid,
while foreign forces, within a matter of minutes, were able to
supply twice as much military equipment, and were able to
immediately carry out relief efforts," he said.

"Poor weapons systems are also causing difficulties for our
soldiers in quelling the guerrillas in Aceh. If we had more
sophisticated weaponry, I'm sure our security operations would be
more effective there," he said, at time when his top ministers
are heading to Finland for peace talks with leaders of the Free
Aceh Movement (GAM) in a bid to seek a peaceful solution to the
decades-long conflict.

The defense budget of the world's fourth most populous country
is considered low even compared to smaller neighboring countries
such as Thailand and Malaysia, which a few years ago had already
achieved a defense budget of more than 2 percent of GDP.

Indonesia has a 400,000-strong military. But much of its
military equipment is in poor condition. For instance, Indonesia
has two squadrons of Hercules aircraft, but only 40 of them are
airworthy. This is often used by the TNI as a reason for their
slow response in sending troops and humanitarian aid to remote
areas hit by security disturbances or natural disasters.

Some experts at the seminar suggested that the country should
start reducing its dependence on foreign supplies of military
equipment by pushing local companies to produce such supplies.

President of Bandung-based arms producer PT Pindad, Budi
Santoso, gave a presentation on the company's capability in
developing a certain type of rocket as well as modern tanks, but
they were facing funding constraints.

"We are now seeking partnerships with foreign companies," Budi
said.

It has been reported that some eastern European countries, as
well as neighboring ASEAN countries, had proposed cooperation in
developing defense industries, but the ministry's director
general of defense strategy, Sudrajat, repeatedly said that "all
the deals required us to provide huge funds."

For the 2005 fiscal year, the government has allocated Rp 21
trillion (US$2.3 billion) for defense expenditure, accounting for
only 6 percent of the state budget.