TNI Anniversary, President Jokowi Reminds About Long-Term Defense Investment

President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo (Photo: Setkab)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has asked that the defense spending policy be changed into a well thought out and systematic defense investment policy.

This is because Indonesia must begin to anticipate battles with new styles, namely battles that have a greater destructive power, are shorter, and which combine various tactics at once.

This was conveyed by President Jokowi when conveying his mandate as the leader of the ceremony in the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the TNI at the State Palace which was held online.

"To master the latest technological leaps, we must be serious about changing our policy from defense spending to defense investment," Jokowi said in an event broadcast on the YouTube account of the Presidential Secretariat, Monday, October 5.

According to him, technological transformation within the TNI is needed. Especially in the era of the fourth volume industrial revolution like now, said the former governor of DKI Jakarta, he has created many renewable military technologies based on nano technology and artificial intelligence that affect future war strategy tactics.

For this reason, Jokowi requested that long-term investment policies start to be thought out and designed systematically. The goal is that the TNI can become a modern force capable of keeping up with the times.

"The defense investment policy is long-term thinking, which is systematically designed and implemented consistently and sustainably. Only through planned long-term defense investment will the TNI be able to become a modern war force that follows the most advanced technology," he said.

Apart from the issue of technological transformation, President Jokowi also touched on the issue of the transformation of the TNI organization that needed to be done. The goal is that they can properly and adaptively support the development of post-cold war threats such as non-conventional threats and transnational threats, and in the future, the TNI will be able to adopt the latest developments in information-based military technology, nanotechnology, and automation technology.

However, all these transformations can be carried out if the TNI also carries out military transformation. This is because to become a modern war force, the TNI not only needs technology but also personnel who are able to understand and take advantage of the leaps in technology as it is today.

"The organizational transformation and technological transformation must be supported by the transformation of personnel both in facing military operations for war and for military operations other than war," he concluded.