News Focus: Indonesia grounds aging mily armaments

As almost 70 percent of its armaments are now aging, the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) will soon put to rest a number of its obsolete main armaments, including planes, ships and helicopters aged more than 30 years.
"We will ground our aging armament made in the 1960s. But we will make inventories of and check them again," TNI Chief Gen Djoko Santoso said after a limited meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The government`s decision to ground the aging weaponry system followed several accidents that befell a number of TNI soldiers who used outdated military equipment, including aircraft and other vehicles.
"The conditions of the TNI`s arsenal system are worrying. Many of the armaments are aging and this needs to be discussed comprehensively," Theo L Sambuaga, chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR)`s Commission I, which deals with defense, said.
He said that the house will propose to the government to hold a consultative meeting to discuss the procurement and replacement of the military`s aging armaments.
Of late, several accidents have befallen a number of TNI personnel who used aging equipment. The saddening condition also happened with the marines` Russian-made amphibious armored vehicle `AL BTR-50P` which sank in East Java`s waters and killed six marines last week.
Just look at a Nomad P837-833 which crashed in Sabang, Aceh province recently. The aircraft was made in Australia in 1985 with an engine manufactured in the United States. With the ability to fly at an altitude of 10,000 feet, the aircraft of that type is no longer produced in Australia while Indonesia is still using it despite the fact that its spare-parts in Australia are almost no longer available.
Since the 1980s ...