Indonesia US Military Cooperation, Platoon Exchange Development

JAKARTA: Indonesia and the United States has recently discussed ongoing military cooperation from supply of equipment and training including the development of a Platoon Exchange programme.

The cooperation included the supply of military equipment and soldier exchange for joint exercises, local media outlet Tempo reported, citing Indonesian Army Chief of Staff General Andika Perkasa during discussions with US military representatives in the Southeast Asian nation.

Gen Andika, in a statement Dec 1, said that under the Platoon Exchange programme, the Indonesian army recently sent 43 soldiers for a joint exercise with the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, US. In return, the US army had sent soldiers to the Indonesian army’s training ground at the Para Riders 502 infantry battalion in Malang, East Java.

The Indonesian top brass is set to visit the training ground along with Major-General Jonathan Braga of the US Army soon. “I will (visit there) to ensure the condition of the US soldiers,” he said.In the meeting with Andika, US military representative for Indonesia, Commander Angela Edwards, said they attended the dispatch of Indonesian Army soldiers, who will receive the best training in Hawaii.

A State department document said the United States and Indonesia have enjoyed more than 70 years of bilateral ties which has broadened and deepened in recent decades, thanks to consistent participation in dozens of annual engagements, and our cooperation has increased in the areas of border security, counter proliferation, cybersecurity, counterterrorism, maritime security, maritime domain awareness, peacekeeping operations, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

The United States has $1.88 billion in active government-to-government sales cases with Indonesia under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system.  FMS sales notified to Congress are listed here , and recent and significant prior sales include:  F-16C/D Block 25 fighter aircraft; AH-64D Apache Block III Longbow helicopters; MV-22 Block C Osprey aircraft; and Javelin, AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM, AIM-9X-2 Sidewinder, and AGM-65K2 Maverick missiles.

From FY 2015 through FY 2019, the United States also authorized the permanent export of more than $546 million in defense articles to Indonesia via the Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) process.  The top categories of DCS to Indonesia include: aircraft, firearms, and electronics. – shp/mgm

(Top Photo from US INDOPACOM show US Marines with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment conduct MOUT training with Indonesian Marines during the Korps Marinir (KORMAR) Platoon Exchange 2019 programme in Surabaya, Indonesia,)