Non-Subscriber Extract
Indonesian decommissioning of equipment 'could trigger armed forces collapse'
By Jon Grevatt
12 February 2008
The Indonesian government's decision to decommission all ageing military equipment could lead to the collapse of the Indonesian armed forces (IAF), a senior member of the House of Representatives has warned.
Earlier in February Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the TNI "should no longer use" ageing military equipment due to safety reasons.
The president's announcement came two days after the death of six Indonesian Navy marines who drowned during an exercise off East Java, the latest in a series of accidents involving ageing IAF platforms.
The decision, however, has been criticised for being reactionary in the Indonesian House of Representatives, which is calling for an audit to be carried out on the equipment before it is automatically retired.
Speaking through the country's state-run news agency, Theo L Sambuaga, head of the House of Representatives Commission for Defence and Foreign Affairs, said that "writing off existing military hardware without an audit on their conditions would lead to the TNI's [IAF's] collapse.
"I basically agree with the proposal but it should be carried out after a comprehensive audit on the conditions of the old equipment. Not all of the old hardware should be grounded."