STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. The Indonesian Navy on Wednesday deployed KRI Makassar-590, which will serve as a base ship, from Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, to Batam to carry out preparations and strengthen personnel and materials for the Garuda Shield 2022 joint exercise.
In addition, the Navy also deployed three other warships (KRI Bung Tomo-357, KRI Frans Kaisepo-368, and KRI John Lie-358), one AKS Panther HS-1311 helicopter, five Marine Corps LVT-7 tanks, one mechanized infantry company, and two amphibious reconnaissance teams.
Indonesia and the United States are set to hold their largest military exercises in August, dispelling worries about a rift in their relationship over China’s growing investments in the South-east Asian country. During a one-day visit to Jakarta on Sunday, U.S. Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley said the planned exercises – slated for Aug. 1 to 14 in Baturaja, South Sumatra – will involve more than 4,000 troops from both the army and naval forces.
The joint exercise will reportedly be attended by military personnel from 14 friendly countries, viz. the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia. He added that the exercises will practice interoperability, tactics techniques and procedures. Indonesian General Andika Perkasa said the upcoming Garuda Shield 2022 – the 16th edition of the war games – will involve seven Apache and four Blackhawk helicopters, 41 armored vehicles and 618 weapons.
He also said the joint exercise will increase the military personnel’s skills to face challenges. Gen. Mark A. Milley also said that Indonesia is a key partner of the superpower, because it has a strategic role in the Indo-Pacific region. To that end, he said the United States wants to strengthen military cooperation with Indo-Pacific countries, including Indonesia. The U.S. highest-ranking military officer said his side wanted to cooperate with Indonesia in the Asia Pacific region. “We are here to help and support Indonesia and other countries in the region as much as we can. We are ready to continue closer ties in the future,” he said on Sunday.
Indonesia could soon become the second Southeast Asian nation to order the potent Indian-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, according to an Indian media report. India’s FinancialExpress.com reported on July 19 that Indonesia was in the final stages of talks for the possible order of the shore-based anti-ship variant of the BrahMos weapons system.
For Indonesia, the benefits of acquiring this powerful new weapons system are not hard to discern. While the country’s navy has operated the ship-based Russian-origin Yakhont supersonic anti-ship cruise missile since 2011, the purchase of the more advanced BrahMos system would represent a significant upgrade to its maritime deterrent capability in the waters around the Natuna islands.
The Natuna islands’ waters overlap with China’s expansive “nine-dash line” claim, and which over the past decade have seen repeated incursions by Chinese fishing boats and maritime militia vessels. Above all, the purchase, which could see other Southeast Asian nations move in Indonesia’s footsteps, would be yet another sign of the regional arms buying spree that has been prompted by China’s maritime assertiveness.
Over 4,000 troops from a dozen countries will join an annual joint military exercise between Indonesia and the United States next month amid simmering tensions in the South China Sea, according to officials.
The “Super Garuda Shield” exercise will be held in Sumatra and Kalimantan from Aug. 1 to 14, involving such countries as Australia, Japan, South Korea and Britain. Ground drills and beach-landing exercises are being scheduled.
Indonesia will dispatch 2,000 soldiers, and the United States over 1,100 personnel to the exercise that dates back to 2009, Gen. Andika Perkasa, commander of the Indonesian military, told reporters Sunday.
U.S. Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark A. Milley paid a courtesy visit to the Indonesian Armed Forces Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Sunday afternoon. The first visit in the last 14 years was aimed at strengthening cooperation with the Indonesian military. Milley expressed his appreciation and gratitude, noting that Indonesia is an important country, both on a regional and global scale, as a country with the largest Muslim population.
Milley called the Indonesian military a strong and professional military that has been a friend to the U.S. military for many years. Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) Commander Andika Perkasa said the visit demonstrates that the Indonesian military is a U.S. priority. Andika added that they discussed several issues in the meeting, including cooperation and joint exercises between the two countries’ militaries.
The Densus 88 anti-terrorism squad arrested 17 suspected terrorists, National Police Spokesperson Ahmad Ramadhan said on Monday. Thirteen suspects arrested in Aceh have links to Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), while the other 11 arrested in North Sumatra and Riau are members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Ramadhan did not explain in detail the arrests in North Sumatra and Riau, but the 13 terrorist suspects detained in Aceh on Friday were members of Jemaah Islamiyah (11) and Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (2).
The Densus 88 anti-terrorism squad arrested 13 suspected terrorists in Aceh on Friday, National Police spokesperson Ahmad Ramadhan said. The police identified the suspects as members of two terrorist groups: 11 suspects from Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and two from Jamaah Anshorut Daulah (JAD). The two terrorist suspects from the JAD network were involved in a suicide bombing at the Medan Polrestabes in 2019, while the 11 suspects from the JI group had roles in the group’s radical training.
The Indonesian government encourages cooperation with the Timor Leste government in the efforts to prevent terrorism in Southeast Asia. National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) Head Commissioner Boy Rafli Amar met with Timor-Leste President José Manuel Ramos-Horta to encourage this cooperation. The two agreed to the effort to prevent terrorism.
The BNPT established close cooperation with partner countries, governments, and people to prevent radicalism and terrorism, he noted through a written statement on Thursday. The misuse of religion by terrorists remains a trend. To this end, cooperation with religious organizations is necessary to align perception, given that terrorism is not part of religious teaching, he noted.
Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko on Monday said the Armed Forces had taken over the case related to the arrest of six suspected spies, including three foreign nationals, in North Kalimantan, who allegedly entered the Indonesian territory to scout for possible locations to build a bridge linking Tawau to Sebatik Island, partly within both Indonesia and Malaysia.
Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Coordinating Minister Mahfud MD in his Instagram account on Wednesday reiterated the government’s position against terrorist groups in Papua. “We still adopt a security strategy in civil order,” Mahfud said. He explained that the strategy was territorial, employing regular officers rather than special operations officers, but that monitoring has been increased.
China has asked the governments of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States to cancel the AUKUS pact after a new research released on Wednesday warned that uranium could be transported to Canberra under the trilateral arrangement. China on Wednesday released a research report entitled The Nuclear Proliferation Risk of the Nuclear-powered Submarines Collaboration in the Context of AUKUS, the first report published by Chinese academic institutes to objectively analyze the serious risks of nuclear proliferation and multiple hazards caused by the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine collaboration through detailed data and case studies.
Jointly released by the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association (CACDA) and the China Institute of Nuclear Industry Strategy (CINIS), the report said that the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine collaboration has seriously violated the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), marking a blatant act of nuclear proliferation. The report called on the international community to take joint actions to safeguard the global nuclear nonproliferation regime.
The United States has added Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei and Macau to a human trafficking blacklist that already counts Malaysia, alleging weak efforts to stop forced sex work or assist migrant laborers. In an annual report, the U.S. also added authoritarian-ruled Belarus to the blacklist and, in a rare criticism of a Western ally, put Bulgaria on a watchlist over concerns it is not taking trafficking seriously. “If you look at the report, you’re going to see a mixed picture of progress,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as he presented it on Tuesday. Blinken said that corruption was a “top tool” of traffickers who count on a blind eye from governments.
Elite forces of the Philippine and Indonesian armies have been sharing best practices in combat operations in their 10-day interoperability exercises in West Java which started on July 14.
In a statement, the Philippine Army said the Philippines was represented by teams from the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR) while Indonesia tapped its Komando Cadangan Strategis Angkatan Darat (Kostrad) during Training Activity Indonesia-Philippines (TA DOLPHINE XIV-2022).
“They continue to to sharpen their interoperability and capabilities in a range of military operations,” the statement read. “The bilateral activity focuses on the exchange of information, tactics, technics and procedures in the conduct of counterinsurgency operations,” it added.
During one of the trainings, Col. Samuel Yunque, FSRR’s chief of staff, discussed urban operations, focusing on the Battle of Marawi while Kostrad Deputy Intelligence Assitant Col. Muhammad Aidi shared lessons learned in their campaign against the Free Papua Separatist Movement in West Papua.
FSSR and Kostrad teams also shared lessons on Tactical Combat Casualty Care which culminated in a mission-planning and raid practical exercise. “Teams from both armies likewise held close-quarter battle drills,” the statement read (Red/many sources).
