Indonesia-Russia military ties going strong

August 19, 2013 Elena Domashneva, special to RBTH Asia Pacific

Russia and Indonesia share a long history of military and technical cooperation. Russia has delivered 12 Sukhoi fighters to Indonesia since 2003; a further four deliveries are pending. Find out more.

The USSR began selling arms to Indonesia almost immediately after the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1950. In those early years, Indonesian naval and air force personnel were sent to study in the Soviet Union. However, the relations soured in the mid-1960s for political reasons.

The parties attempted to resume contacts in the early 1990s, but a number of factors prevented them from re-establishing close contacts until the 2000s.

For example, talks had been on about deliveries of Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighters to Indonesia since 1997, but the first examples of the type were not delivered until 2003.

Russian and US presence in Indonesia

The resumption of Russian-Indonesian military contacts was largely facilitated by a split between Indonesia and the USA.

Washington had been running a protracted embargo on arms sales to Jakarta, accusing Indonesia of human rights violations in East Timor.

The full ban on arms sales, including spares, was on from 1999 to 2005.

The USA has since repaired ties with Indonesia, but Jakarta now knows better than to put all its eggs in one basket. Indonesia is diversifying its arms imports, looking both to the USA and Russia.

In 2011, the USA agreed to deliver 24 used Lockheed Martin F-16 C/D Block 25 fighter jets to Indonesia, free of charge.

In late 2012, the countries launches talks over deliveries of Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters and Boeing AH-64D Apache attack helicopters.

This pragmatic approach allows Jakarta to safeguard its imports, while maintaining neutrality in the gunpowder keg of a regional environment.

Russian arms sales to Indonesia

Russia has delivered 12 Sukhoi fighters to Indonesia since 2003; a further four deliveries are pending.

Moscow has also sold Jakarta Mil Mi-35 and Mi-17 helicopters, BMP-3F infantry fighting vehicles, BTR-80A armoured personnel carriers, and AK-102 assault rifles.

An intergovernmental commission for military technical cooperation was set up in 2005; in 2007, Moscow extended a $1 billion credit line to Jakarta for purchasing various Russian military hardware.

Over the past several years, military cooperation between Russia and Indonesia has expanded beyond arms trade.

In 2011, the Russian and Indonesian navies practiced anti-piracy counteraction in their first ever joint exercise.

Russia and Indonesia also continue multilateral cooperation in the ASEAN format. In July 2004, Russia and ASEAN signed a declaration on joint counteraction to terrorism.

The ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus Counterterrorism Exercise will be held in Indonesia on 9-13 September.

ASEAN and Russia also hold annual meetings and work group sessions on maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, military medicine, peacekeeping operations, and humanitarian mine action.

Cooperation potential

At the Indo Defence Expo & Forum held in Indonesia in 2012, Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro invited Russia to get directly involved in developing the Indonesian Armed Forces.

This proposal opens further opportunities for cooperation. Moscow has already offered Jakarta to help develop its air defences.

At present, the Indonesian air defence troops have only short-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems.

Viktor Komardin, deputy head of Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport, says Moscow can both sell individual SAM systems to Jakarta and help it set up a comprehensive air defence network.

Says Edy Prasetyono, vice dean at the faculty of social and political sciences at University of Indonesia: "Indonesian-Russian military cooperation has not made any significant progress not only in military sale, but also in other areas of military cooperation such as military exercise, training, and education. There are a lot of areas that the countries can develop further: anti-terror measures, disaster relief operation, and personal exchange. Both Embassies in each capital need to have more intensive interactions to identify common interests and formulate operational policy of how to achieve them".

"Indonesia now has a defence industry bill by which development of the defence industry will be conducted through international cooperation. Thus, there is a room for Russia to cooperate with Indonesia especially in developing particular weapon platforms. The two countries need to negotiate on this particular area," he adds.