Comparing Indonesian Military Forces To The Soekarno Era And Jokowi Era

Illustration of Indonesian military equipment (Wikimedia Commons/Mark Harkin)

YOGYAKARTA Indonesia as a country continues to increase military strength to help defend its sovereignty. Despite ups and downs, Indonesia's military forces continue to improve in various ways, one of which is through the procurement of military equipment.

Update of military equipment needs to be done to make it easier for the state to protect its territory, especially since Indonesia has a very large area consisting of many islands.

It should be noted that each president who leads Indonesia has different military powers. Then, what is the general picture of the military forces of the era of the first president of the Republic of Indonesia Soekarno and the era of President Jokowi?

As is known, in the 1950s to 1960s President Soekarno had to protect Indonesia from the invasion of the invaders. As a new country, military power was an important point that must be owned at that time. Not only to fulfill the elements of state security but also as proof in the eyes of the world that Indonesia deserves to be an independent country.

One of Indonesia's strategies to strengthen its military is through the procurement of weapons of war. In the 1960s, Bung Karno was close to the Soviets. This closeness makes Indonesia and the Soviets work together in the military field.

Soviet assistance for Indonesia is military training. They helped Indonesia by teaching the military structure of the Soviets. At that time, the Soviets were known as one of the countries that was quite strong in the eyes of the world.

Not only training, but Soviets also helped Indonesia build the Indonesian navy and air force. Quoted from Berdikari, the assistance provided to Indonesia reached 2.5 billion US dollars. Not only that, Indonesia also received assistance in the form of 17 warships for the Indonesian Navy (AL).

At that time Indonesia even had the largest and fastest warship in the Soviet-made world from the Sverdlov class. The ship is equipped with 12 6-inch giant gungs.

Indonesia also has KRI Irian, a ship with the name Ordzhonikidze 310 ( large-scaleрониниде 310) was purchased from the Soviets in 1962. The ship weighs up to 16,640 tons with a crew of 1270 people including 60 officers. The ship is equipped with torpedo tube weapons, dozens of cannons, and automatic weapons.

The Indonesian air military was no less dashing. At that time, Indonesia reportedly had 20 MiG-21 Fishbed supersonic hunter planes, 30 MiG-15 aircraft, 49 MiG-17 high-subsonic fighters, and 10 MiG-19 supersonic aircraft.

The sophisticated Indonesian military tools at that time were supported by militant Indonesian military personnel so that the Indonesian military forces of the Soekarno era were highly respected and could not be underestimated.

The president's change did not weaken the Indonesian military strength, in fact getting more attention in the eyes of the world.

Most recently, the global military rating site Global Fire Power (GFP) issued a list of military forces of 140 world countries in 2022. In the list, the Indonesian military is ranked 15th in the world. Meanwhile, at the ASEAN level, Indonesia is in first position.

"For 2022, Indonesia is ranked 15th out of 140 countries which are considered for the annual GFP review," reads an article snippet quoted by VOI.

Based on data from the GFP, the TNI has a large amount of military equipment covering 445 air strengths consisting of 41 fighter aircraft, 23 dedicated attacks, 66 transport, 126 trainers, 17 special aircraft units, 1 tanker aircraft, 172 helicopters, and 15 attack helicopters.

As for Indonesia's land power, it has 314 tanks, 1,444 units of armored vehicles, 153 self-propelled artillery, 413 artillery towers, and 63 rocket projectors.

Indonesia also has many defense equipment assets consisting of 7 frigates, 24 corvettes, 4 submarines, 181 patrol boats, and 11 mineral warfares.

That's information related to Indonesia's military power. To get other interesting information, visit VOI.ID.