INDONESIAN MILITARY EQUIPMENT UNDER SCRUTINY

Calls to overhaul ageing military equipment after deadly crash

JAKARTA: The deadly crash of a 51-year-old Indonesian air force transport plane this week has turned the spotlight on the country’s ageing military equipment and given new momentum to the president’s plans to increase defence spending.

The Hercules C-130 aircraft came down on Tuesday in a residential neighbourhood in the city of Medan just minutes after take-off, exploding in a fireball and leaving 142 people dead. Almost all those killed were on the aircraft.

It was the sixth fatal crash in the past decade involving an Indonesian air force aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network, which tracks aviation accidents.

With more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia has a large military but in recent years has spent less than 1% of GDP on defence, far below its neighbours, with priority instead given to areas such as education and health.

The armed forces have a much reduced status since the 1998 downfall of dictator Suharto, a general who gave them a prominent role in public life, and there has been a reluctance to give the military more money due to long-running concerns about mismanagement.

Attempts to modernise have also been hampered by a US arms embargo imposed for six years until 2005 over rights abuse by the military in East Timor.

“Our weapons systems are very old,” Indonesian military expert Al Araf said, citing defence data released in 2007 showing almost 40% of the military’s transport aircraft were not airworthy.

“A large part of Indonesia’s air force systems are in poor condition.”

Initial investigations indicate an engine failure caused the crash, according to the air force, which has denied it was due to the plane being overloaded with civilians who had paid to be on board, in violation of military rules.

The military denies payments were taken. — AFP