  Defense is a strategic aspect that is of concern to countries in the international constellation, including Indonesia. Indonesia has national interests in the defense and security sector, especially in terms of protecting its territory and citizens based on perceived threats from within and outside the region. Therefore, the main weapon system (alutsista) is needed to maintain stability and strengthen the country's defense to guard against threats originating from outside. So it can be said that the fundamental problem that drives Indonesia's defense diplomacy with Turkey in the defense equipment industry sector is Indonesia's national interest in maintaining defense and security. Minimum Essential Force (MEF) is a form of Indonesia's national interests in the defense and security sector. MEF (Minimum Essential Force) is the minimum standard implemented by Indonesia to maintain the country's sovereignty and strength. MEF is part of Indonesia's state defense policy and is a goal that must be achieved by the TNI (Indonesian National Armed Forces) to maintain the country's resilience and security. Not only that, the MEF also includes comprehensive strengthening of military capabilities, with a focus not only on building defense equipment but also on improving infrastructure and other resources. MEF was designed and implemented as a method to meet Indonesia's defense needs, with the aim of Indonesia reaching a minimum force capacity by 2024.
   One of the Indonesian government's efforts to realize the MEF is by collaborating with Turkey regarding the manufacture of defense equipment tanks. Turkey in the world defense industry is a new actor that has rapid development in its defense industry. Cooperation between Indonesia and Turkey in making tanks is seen as one way to achieve Indonesia's national interests in protecting the sovereignty and security of its citizens from various threats and to increase its military capabilities. This collaboration has succeeded in creating several important defense equipment (main weapons system equipment), such as the Tiger Tank.
National interest is a common and rational element that makes foreign policy based on national goals and interests. By achieving national interests, the condition of a country will be stable, both in terms of economics, politics and defense and security, in other words, if national interests are met, the country will continue to survive. The national interest that is relatively the same and that all countries wish to achieve is security which includes the survival of the people and their territory, as well as prosperity.
  Countries in the world are forced to survive in an anarchic international system. Countries are trying to strengthen their power, one way is by building defense independence. Indonesia is actively investing in the defense industry, because the country has experienced bad experiences due to dependence on defense equipment made by other countries and is trying to realize the resilience of central defense equipment. One of them is the development of the Harimau medium war tank with Trkiye. This is a strategy based on the pursuit of power, pursuit of wealth and pursuit of prestige. and is Indonesia's choice to build defense equipment resilience.
   Pursuit of power
   A country's decision to develop defense equipment independently is unacceptable, regardless of that country's desire to increase their strength. Indonesia is not the only country that is enthusiastic about increasing its country's defense capabilities through the development of defense equipment, one of which is the Harimau medium war tank. When the Harimau medium battle tank development program begins, the Indonesian government will achieve at least two things. First, the presence of medium battle tanks will increase Indonesia's defense capacity and accumulation of strength. Second, there will be increased military logistics security for defense.
   One of the best and newest medium war tanks currently is the Tiger Tank. This is due to the fact that, as the most recently created medium battle tank, the Tiger medium battle tank has advanced technology. According to the official specifications released by PT. Pindad and FNSS, the Tiger medium battle tank has STANAG 4 explosion protection capability and can be upgraded to STANAG 5 (FNSS, 2018). The current STANAG 4 protection capability allows the Tiger medium war tank to survive attacks from 14.5114mm caliber bullets fired from a distance of 200 meters at a speed of 911 m/sec. In addition, the Tiger medium-sized war tank was not destroyed by 10 kg warhead mines and was not hit by 155 mm artillery fire.
   The presence of the PULAT active self-protection system (APS) also increases the sophistication and prowess of the Harimau medium battle tank. The PULAT APS itself is a radar module that senses and detects approaching missiles or projectiles, which are then destroyed before they hit the tank (FNSS, 2019). The use of the PULAT APS will increase the capabilities of the Tiger medium battle tank in urban combat, which has become a major topic in recent years.
Pursuit of Wealth
   Despite the hope of gaining economic benefits, various countries developed their own defense and defense equipment industries. Advantages: The country hopes for economic growth, export opportunities, and industrialization. This is what is called the search for wealth. Indonesia developed the Harimau medium war tank because of this. The Indonesian government hopes that the development of the defense industry, including medium battle tanks, will generate economic benefits for the country.
Incumbents often tell their stories with the hope that Indonesia's economic growth will be driven by the defense industry's ability to manufacture high-quality and sophisticated weapons. Bambang Soesatyo, Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR) from 2014 to 2019, believes that the development of Indonesia's defense industry must continue because it will encourage the country's economic growth. The Indonesian Minister of Defense from 2014 to 2019 also made similar statements. The two Indonesian officials stated that a strong defense industry would increase Indonesia's economic growth. Regarding labor and trade balance, the presence of a strong defense industry will help at least two aspects of the economy. A strong defense industry capable of producing modern defense equipment will not only absorb labor, but will also improve the quality of labor in Indonesia. The second factor is the sale of Indonesian agricultural industry products to other countries, which opens up export opportunities for Indonesia.
National Interest Turkey
  In this collaboration, Turkey can expand their defense equipment market to Indonesia and attract Indonesian interest in their defense equipment products. In addition, this collaboration will open the door for cooperation in the defense sector between Turkey and Indonesia in the future. This cooperation in making medium tanks opens the door for cooperation in the defense sector between Turkey and Indonesia.
Here, Trkiye attaches its ideology to this cooperation for national and regional interests. With this cooperation, Turkey appears to be expanding its power beyond its own territory and Southeast Asia. So, Trkiye has the main goal of expanding its relations.
Over the past ten years, Turkey has increased its influence over Muslim-majority countries. This means that Turkey has expanded its influence with Islamic countries around the world. This seems to show that Turkey is trying to become a leader for Islamic countries in global politics.
National Interest Indonesia
   For the economy, the involvement of domestic industry in the medium tank project will increase production or supply of raw materials and experience in procuring defense equipment. In addition, this capability will protect ideological and political stability from outside intervention. Apart from that, PT Pindad received orders for 44 and 120 tiger tanks from the ASEAN and Asia regions in 2019. The opportunity to market tiger tanks to the global market is very large. In terms of defense and security, Indonesia's national interests as a developing country consisting of islands certainly have extra needs in maintaining sovereignty, especially in the defense and security sector. Therefore, the main weapon system (alutsista) is needed to maintain stability and strengthen the country's defense to guard against threats originating from outside. To face the possible dynamics of national defense, the Indonesian government formulated the Minimum Essential Force (MEF) as the national defense standard. The Indonesian government's efforts to increase its military capabilities by importing are starting to be balanced with efforts to develop weapons independently, one of which is by establishing diplomatic cooperation with the defense industry with Turkey in the procurement of modern defense equipment in the form of medium tanks. Collaboration between the two companies from different countries is based on their capabilities and specialization. PT Pindad is the spearhead of the independence of the Indonesian defense industry which has long produced various kinds of weapons used by the TNI. Meanwhile, FNSS is a Turkish defense industry company which is the main supplier of Turkish military weapons. With the sustainable development program that emerged after the launch of the revival of the defense industry in 2010 by synergizing economic and defense development, the Indonesian government is trying to align the MEF with strategic programs for the development of the defense industry. Thinking about the importance of technology is the key in synergizing these two aspects, namely economic development and defense.
   The cooperation agreement between Indonesia and Turkey in developing medium tanks using the joint production method is an opportunity for domestic industries, especially the defense industry, to take part in the work on medium tanks from design to production. With FNSS's capabilities as a weapons manufacturer in Turkey, of course Indonesia can learn new things about more modern weapons technology. PT Pindad's success in producing medium tank units called tiger tanks with specifications that meet standards is the result of the Indonesian government's strategy in efforts to develop weapons technology. Increasing the country's defense and economic strength in the long term will be affected by this. The ability of domestic industry to independently procure defense equipment will significantly increase the country's defense strength in terms of weapons needs with spare parts that can be produced independently. The priority in developing medium tanks is an advantage in terms of the available budget and effectiveness in terms of Indonesia's geographical conditions with its many islands and remote places. For the economic sector, the involvement of domestic industries in the medium tank project will increase experience in procurement of defense equipment and increase production or supply of raw materials. This capability will also maintain political and ideological stability from foreign intervention. Apart from that, the opportunity to market Tiger tanks to the global market is very wide open, PT Pindad received orders for 44 units and 120 units respectively from the ASEAN and Asia regions in 2019.
The conclusion is that coorperation between Indonesia and Turkey in making Tiger tanks provides both advantages and disadvantages for Indonesia. The benefits that Indonesia gets from this cooperation in making Tiger Tanks are, this cooperation can increase the capabilities or capabilities of the Indonesian defense industry, this cooperation can strengthen bilateral relations between Indonesia and Turkey, this cooperation also allows for the transfer of technology from Turkey which can support the development and independence of the Indonesian defense industry, apart from that, this collaboration can strengthen the resilience and quality of the Indonesian National Army's defense equipment with the successful creation of the Tiger Tank, and this collaboration can also be considered to create long-term defense logistics security. From an economic perspective, the benefits that can be felt from this tank development collaboration are that it can create jobs, especially for skilled technicians. This collaboration can also stimulate long-term economic growth for both countries, especially for Indonesia. This collaboration also provides opportunities for the defense industry. domestically to participate in the work on medium tanks, and this collaboration could open up opportunities to market Tiger tanks to the global market. However, on the other hand, this cooperation also has shortcomings, such as the absence of significant technology transfer, this cooperation is also considered to only increase Indonesia's dependence on Turkey, apart from that this cooperation is also considered to only increase the defense budget, and this cooperation can increase political risk. Thus, this cooperation supports Indonesia's efforts to achieve national interests in defense and security, but also raises several challenges that need to be overcome.
My name is Nur Khamila Maharani Garda Putri, from the Department of International Relations, Yogyakarta University of Technology, Accreditation "B" Class of 2022. I chose International Relations because I like things related to politics, I like learning about government structure. I am interested in issues in the international realm and also the process of relations that are built between countries. I feel that this study program is very suitable for me because I also really like studying English. The lecturers I like are Mr. Ridho, Mrs. Lucy, and Mr. Adi Wibawa. I intend to continue with Public Diplomacy.
Baca konten-konten menarik Kompasiana langsung dari smartphone kamu. Follow channel WhatsApp Kompasiana sekarang di sini: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaYjYaL4Spk7WflFYJ2H
