05 July 2012
Indonesia’s Naval Development and Maritime Cooperation
Abstract
Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic state and geo-strategically located at the crossroads of Indian and Pacific Oceans that controls some of the world’s most traversed sea-lanes. The country’s maritime environment is vulnerable to a variety of dangers, including illegal logging and fishing, smuggling, and maritime piracy. Extra-regional powers have even stepped up their naval presence in the region to ensure commercial safe-passage through Southeast Asian waters. Indonesia’s naval planning and strategy has to contend with a number of challenges given the impact of military transformation, regional naval modernization, with the growing fleet strength and capabilities of China’s Navy in South China Sea adding a new strategic dimension. Three key implications are evident in this study. First, a lack of resources for national defence is clearly hampering the Navy’s ability to sustain and enhance naval cooperation initiatives. Second, interoperability between the Indonesian Navy and its counterparts in the region continues to be undermined primarily due to capability shortcomings. Third, despite agreements to conduct coordinated patrols, a lack of a coherent strategic plan on the type of naval presence that would shape the regional environment remains elusive.
Abstract
Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic state and geo-strategically located at the crossroads of Indian and Pacific Oceans that controls some of the world’s most traversed sea-lanes. The country’s maritime environment is vulnerable to a variety of dangers, including illegal logging and fishing, smuggling, and maritime piracy. Extra-regional powers have even stepped up their naval presence in the region to ensure commercial safe-passage through Southeast Asian waters. Indonesia’s naval planning and strategy has to contend with a number of challenges given the impact of military transformation, regional naval modernization, with the growing fleet strength and capabilities of China’s Navy in South China Sea adding a new strategic dimension. Three key implications are evident in this study. First, a lack of resources for national defence is clearly hampering the Navy’s ability to sustain and enhance naval cooperation initiatives. Second, interoperability between the Indonesian Navy and its counterparts in the region continues to be undermined primarily due to capability shortcomings. Third, despite agreements to conduct coordinated patrols, a lack of a coherent strategic plan on the type of naval presence that would shape the regional environment remains elusive.
