Turkish-made tanks inducted into Indonesian military

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) — Indonesia's military inducted tanks that the Southeast Asian country jointly developed with Türkiye earlier this month, officials said on Monday.

Over 10 units of the tanks, named Kaplan, or Tiger, in Turkish and Harimau in the Indonesian language of Bahasa, were handed over to the Indonesian military by Defense Minister and President-elect Prabowo Subianto, according to a statement by the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara.

The joint production of the modern medium-weight tank by Turkish manufacturer FNSS and Indonesian Manufacturer PT Pindad, "reflected the recognition Indonesia gives to Turkish leadership in military technology in the world," said the statement.

"Aside from the tanks, Indonesia also has a joint production cooperation with Turkish company TUSAS to manufacture 12 units of ANKA Drone," it added, referring to the next-generation unmanned combat aerial vehicle developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries.

The agreement to develop the tank was signed by Presidency of Defense Industries of Türkiye and Indonesian Defense Ministry in 2015, with prototype production and testing kicking off in 2017.

Some of the newly-launched tanks have been deployed to the 13/SL Cavalry Battalion of the Indonesian Army in East Kalimantan province, close to the future capital of the world's third-largest democracy, Nusantara.

The tank "is equipped with two-man turret C3150 which is the only light-weight and high-tech 105mm caliber in the world, 7.62mm machine gun, Level 5 STANAG 4569 ballistic protection, laser warning system, and landmine protection," said the embassy.