The First Story Of The Time 'Maung' Was Born, There Was A Big Role In Prabowo

President Joko Widodo (right) together with Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto (left) boarded a Maung car made by Pindad. (Photo via ANTARA PHOTO/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)

JAKARTA - Indonesia, through PT Pindad, has produced a tactical vehicle called Maung. Currently, the rantis has entered its third generation.

President Director of PT Pindad, Abraham Mose, said that the birth of Rantis Maung could not be separated from the great role of the Minister of Defense (Menhan) Prabowo Subianto.

Abraham said that since starting his position as Minister of Defense of the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet, Prabowo has been actively communicating with Pindad regarding the idea of making 4x4 rantis.

"Since the beginning of his time as Minister of Defense, he asked about the 4x4 tactical vehicle; then Pindad created it and he named Maung. That was the first time," Abraham said, as quoted by Antara, Saturday, January 21.

According to Abraham, Prabowo did not stop being satisfied with Maung's first presence. Prabowo continued to ask for various innovations and improvements until finally Pindad launched the third generation of rantis.

The third generation, Maung, was introduced to the public first through a show of skills at the Indo Defense Expo & Forum 2022 in November 2021.

On January 18, on the sidelines of the 2023 Ministry of Defense Leadership Meeting (Rapim), President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) inaugurated the name of the vehicle while still carrying the name Maung.

Abraham explained that the third generation of Maung has main advantages in terms of car bodies that allow the vehicle to be more resilient in maneuvering in various extreme terrains.

"More sophisticated than before, in terms of performance, power, body structure, and in terms of appearance are also better," he said.

He added that Prabowo always encourages Pindad to continue to increase the level of domestic content (TKDN) from Maung, which is currently in the range of 65 percent. Pindad always involves competent experts and human resources (HR) to realize the increase in TKDN," he said.

In the near future, one of the steps to increase TKDN is to build an independent engine factory.

"If (the engine factory) is already in Indonesia, starting from the body, the tubular frame, and machines can be made in Indonesia; then TKDN will increase to close to 70 to 80 percent," said Abraham.