Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Mohamed Ali outlined the country’s future development and procurement plans, including the possible purchase of the Bayraktar Akinci and Anka drones from Turkey. The Defense Ministry endorsed the proposal, highlighting technology transfer that would allow for local production of the drones.
The Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) drones will be manufactured in Indonesia in cooperation with PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI), bringing major benefits to the country’s defense industry.
These developments are in line with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s emphasis on the importance of unmanned weapons systems in adapting and responding to technological advances and disruptions, a message he underscored during a visit to the Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java, with Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto in January 2024.
Drone technology has been in development since the Cold War, but gained prominence and fame during the recent Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict in 2020, in which both reconnaissance and suicide drones manufactured by Turkey and Israel were used. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 has further increased the popularity of small drones, including commercial drones, which are now being widely used not only to target personnel but also to destroy armored vehicles, potentially rendering the deployment of main battle tanks obsolete.
These drones gave the smaller Ukraine a considerable advantage over the much larger Russian military, sinking multiple Russian naval vessels, launching strikes deep into Russian territory, and causing billions of dollars of damage to the Russian economy. Additionally, the presence of these drones had a psychological impact on ground forces facing relentless attacks from small suicide drones.
Given unfolding events, it is imperative to quickly get up to speed on unmanned technology, especially for a country like Indonesia that sees great potential in developing unmanned technology for military applications. Case in point is the medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) Black Eagle drone, which was first unveiled on Dec. 30, 2019.
Despite being a priority under President Jokowi, the drone program’s prospects are unclear: Laksana Tri Handoko, chairman of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), expressed concern in February 2023 about the military aims of the project, citing a possible boycott, similar to what Indonesia experienced when developing a domestic radar.
