Defense is a strategic aspect that is of concern to countries in the international group, including Indonesia. Indonesia has national interests in the field of defense and security, especially in protecting its territory and citizens from threats within and outside the region. Therefore, the main weaponry system (alutsista) is needed to maintain stability and strengthen the country's defense capabilities to guard against external threats. Therefore, it can be said that the fundamental issue that drives Indonesia's defense diplomacy with Turkey in the field of defense equipment industry is Indonesia's national interest in maintaining the country's defense and security. Minimum Essential Forces (MEF) is a form of fulfilling Indonesia's national interests in the field of defense and security. MEF (Minimum Essential Forces) is the minimum standard applied by Indonesia to maintain state sovereignty and strength.
MEF is part of Indonesia's national defense policy and is a goal that must be achieved by the TNI (Indonesian National Army) to maintain the country's resilience and security. In addition, MEF also plans to strengthen its overall military capability, not only emphasizing on the development of defense equipment but also improving infrastructure and other resources. MEF is designed and implemented as a method to meet Indonesia's defense needs, with the aim for Indonesia to reach minimum force capacity by 2024. The influence of MEF on the development of Indonesia's weaponry can be seen from several perspectives, especially the purchase of equipment for the main weapon system (Alutsista), MEF is a goal that Indonesia must achieve to develop its military and defense capabilities. This includes the purchase of defense equipment needed by the TNI to maintain the country's sovereignty and strength as well as technological developments. MEF is also a catalyst for the development of defense technology in Indonesia.
Indonesia seeks to develop and modernize its main weapon systems to achieve standardization, as outlined in the 2015 White Paper on Alliance and Development of the Defense Industry. MEF encourages the development of Indonesia's defense industry. This includes defense equipment manufacturers such as PT Dirgantara Indonesia, PT Pindad, PT Teman and PT Wol. The aim is to strengthen military and defense capabilities and make Indonesia more independent in the production of defense equipment and its main components, as well as the procurement of defense equipment and industry. MEF is the foundation of Indonesia's military development. The government, especially the President of the Republic of Indonesia. The TNI is expected to continue to strengthen its strength and independence in the field of industry and defense equipment, and ultimately in the development of defense systems. MEF also contributes to the development of Indonesia's defense system. The guaranteed condition of the defense equipment needed by the TNI will help Indonesia develop a more effective and efficient defense system. Overall, MEF has had a significant impact on the development of Indonesia's weaponry by increasing military capabilities, encouraging technological development, and encouraging the development of the defense industry.
Therefore, Indonesia finally cooperated with Turkey to build the Tiger Tank. The Tiger Tank is a medium tank produced in cooperation between Indonesia and Turkey. This tank is designed to meet the needs of the Indonesian Army in terms of modern and reliable land defense equipment and expand Turkey's international market.
Defense cooperation in the form of joint defense industry development is a relatively new thing and has received attention from strategic policy makers in Indonesia. A mutually beneficial cooperation scheme is a criterion for the development of Indonesia's defense industry to accelerate the improvement of defense technology mastery and reduce technology development costs by taking into account national interests. Indonesia and Turkey have something in common, namely they are important regional actors. Indonesia is often considered as one of the middle powers in the Asia Pacific that has contributed to realizing regional stability and security. This condition is supported by independence and defense modernization as Indonesia's strategy to maintain the role of strategic autonomy in pursuing diplomatic agendas in the region. On the other hand, besides being a member of the North Atlantic Organization Treaty (NATO), Turkey is currently a new emerging power that has achievements in terms of realizing self-sufficiency or self-reliance in the domestic defense industry and building the competitiveness of its defense industry against other countries, so as to be able to face domestic and regional security threats without or only slightly depending on the supply of weapons from outside.
Indonesia's defense industry cooperation with Turkey began with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's visit to the country and the signing of an agreement in the form of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the two countries on June 29, 2010. Indonesia ratified the MoU four years later and the ratification was outlined in Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 19 of 2014 concerning Ratification of the Agreement on Defense Industry Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of the Republic of Turkey. In this cooperation, the two parties agreed to jointly develop the defense industry, including research and development, modernization, production, marketing and others (Law No.19 2014). In addition, both countries are also committed to prioritizing each other's interests, security and integrity.
Cooperation in the manufacture of the Modern Medium-Weight Tank (MMWT) or often called Kaplan MT was agreed in 2014 by PT Pindad and Savunma Sistemleri A.S (FNSS). The cooperation includes technology transfer, local production and joint production. FNSS is a joint venture between Turkey's Nurol Holding and the UK's BAE Systems and has experience producing combat vehicles in accordance with NATO standards. The cooperation began with the production of two Kaplan MT prototypes, each of which was produced in Turkey and Indonesia according to different requirements and terrain specifications.
We can see that there are objectives of tiger tank development cooperation, namely:
The purpose of making tiger tanks produced by Indonesia and Turkey, this is done for Indonesia's national interest because national interest is one of the important aspects for a country. This goal is basically in accordance with the direction of the independence of the Indonesian defense industry in order to realize a strong, independent and competitive defense industry. In protecting the sovereignty and security of its citizens and is one way to improve and develop Indonesia's military capabilities. Then this cooperation is carried out to prove that the bilateral relations between the two countries are well established and also to further strengthen bilateral relations between Indonesia and Turkey in the field of defense and security and strengthen the defense industry in protecting its citizens and state sovereignty.
Benefits of Tiger Tank Development Cooperation