Indonesia The Navy
Navy personnel on parade in Jakarta
Marines practicing self-defense techniques
Courtesy Indonesian Department of Information
The Navy of the Republic of Indonesia (ALRI) became a
separate service in 1946, after the National Revolution
began. It
was initially stocked primarily with craft once operated
by
European or the Australian navies. Beginning in 1959, the
navy
began to acquire a large number of craft from the Soviet
Union
and East European nations. In the aftermath of the
abortive 1965
coup, however, the navy suffered a decline in influence
within
the armed forces and the nation because of suspected
involvement
in the coup attempt (particularly by the marine corps) and
because of its small size in comparison with the army. A
large
portion of its vessels of Soviet or East European origin
were
quickly rendered non-operational owing to a lack of spare
parts
and maintenance expertise. Until the late 1970s, the only
major
replacements were four frigates acquired from the United
States
Navy in 1974.
Since that time, the navy has embarked on an upgrading
program designed to develop a balanced fleet suited to
operations
in archipelagic waters. Over the 1978-92 period, it
purchased
submarines from the Federal Republic of Germany (West
Germany),
light frigates from the Netherlands and Britain, and fast
attack
craft from the Republic of Korea (South Korea). In 1992
the
Indonesian government announced plans to acquire
thirty-nine used
ships of various types from the navy of the former German
Democratic Republic (East Germany). The navy produced
numerous
small coastal craft in national shipyards as well. As of
1992,
the fleet was composed of more than sixty ships and
numerous
smaller vessels (see
table 32, Appendix).
The navy's mission was to act as a territorial force
responsible for the patrol of Indonesia's immense
coastline. The
vast majority of operational ships were stationed at the
main
naval base at Surabaya, Jawa Timur Province. Whereas the
1970s
saw an increase in the fleet's ship inventory, the 1980s
witnessed a major effort to improve the navy's armament
posture
through the purchase of the Harpoon weapons system and the
MK-46
torpedo. The 1990s were expected to be largely a period of
consolidation and training.
Structurally, the navy comprised the headquarters staff
at
Jakarta under the overall command of the navy chief of
staff, two
fleet commands (the Eastern Fleet in Surabaya, the Western
Fleet
in Jakarta), the marine corps, a small air arm, and a
military
sealift command. There were about 44,000 uniformed
personnel
serving in the navy in 1992, including about 13,000
marines. The
marines were organized into two brigades, one in Jakarta
and the
other in Surabaya, and were equipped with light tanks,
armored
personnel carriers, and antiaircraft guns. Some of the
marine
elements were believed occasionally to be attached to
Kostrad in
operational missions.
The navy has maintained a small air arm since 1958.
Headquartered at Surabaya, its personnel numbered some
1,000 in
the early 1990s. It was equipped primarily for naval
reconnaissance and coastal patrol duties, flying three
squadrons
of light airplanes, as well as several transports and
helicopters. The military sealift command coordinated the
navy's
logistical support systems.
In the early 1990s, naval warships generally were not
deployed to a particular region but were grouped in mobile
flotillas, to be dispatched where needed. Usually these
included
eastern, western, and central groups, but activity was
most often
concentrated in the west in the vicinity of the bases at
Belawan
in Sumatera Utara Province, Tanjungpinang in Riau
Province, near
Singapore; and in the east near the base at Manado in
Sulawesi
Utara Province. This pattern was in keeping with the major
missions envisioned for the navy in the 1990s. One mission
concerned patrolling the strategic straits through which
foreign
ships enter and exit the Indian Ocean, particularly the
Strait of
Malacca. The other mission centered on halting smuggling
and
illegal fishing, considered to be problems particularly in
the
areas near the Natuna Islands and in the seas between
Kalimantan
and Irian Jaya. In support of the second mission, the navy
announced plans to construct a number of limited-role
bases in
isolated areas in the eastern and western sections of the
national territory. Patrol activity also increased in
connection
with the flow of refugees from Southeast Asia,
particularly in
the area near the Natuna Islands.
The naval shipyard--P.T. PAL--was turned over to the
civilian
government, but it, along with other facilities in
Surabaya,
continued to be the navy's primary training, repair, and
industrial center. Since P.T. PAL's transfer to civilian
control
and designation as a state enterprise, it developed and
implemented improvements for a management and technical
upgrade
of the shipyard to support the Indonesian fleet as well as
to
conduct commercial repairs for foreign navies. Small craft
construction facilities were located at shipyards in
Jakarta,
Manokwari, Irian Jaya Province; Semarang, Jawa Tengah
Province;
and Ambon, Maluku Province.
Because of severe budgetary constraints imposed by the
national government, no near-term acquisition of major new
weapons systems was planned by the navy in the early
1990s.
Continual overhaul of foreign-origin ships was perceived
as the
primary method to retain an operational fleet. Future
projects
included plans for an Indonesian-designed frigate and
construction of a major naval base at Ratai Bay, Lampung
Province. The immense costs involved, however, made
achievement
of these ambitious goals unlikely.
Data as of November 1992
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