Seventy Pct of TNIi’s Armaments Need Replacing :Spokesman
Around 70 percent of the military (TNI)`s weaponry needs to be replaced, TNI spokesman Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen said here on Wednesday.
“Around 70 percent of the TNI`s weaponry are more than 20 years old and it is definitely time to replace them,” he said when asked about the result of a joint audit on the military`s armaments carried out by the defense ministry and the TNI headquarters.
Whether or not all of the military hardware needed to be immediately decomissioned or replaced was to be decided after a further assessment, Sagom said.
Sagom said the TNI still needed the old equipment for training and operations in the implementation of the TNI`s duties and functions.
If all the equipment was scrapped the TNI would not be able to conduct training to maintain its members` professionalism and combat readiness, he said.
Sagom admitted that some of the equipment had undergone a retrofit or repowering so that “we still use them, although it is already time to replace them.”
He said the readiness of the country`s weapon systems was now between 40 percent and 70 percent of what was ideal, adding some of the TNI`s weapons and equipment were “remainders” from what was procured in the 1960s, 1980s and 1990s.
In the 1960s, the TNI could be considered to be superior in weaponry terms not only in the Southeast Asian region but also in the southern hemisphere.
Regrettably the period did not last long. In the 1970s the condition and readiness of the TNI`s military hardware waned. Many planes, ships and armored vehicles from eastern countries had to be scrapped and replaced by western-made hardware.
The TNI`s armaments were beefed up again in 1980s when new weapons and equipment were procured but not in a significant way. The condition was improved in 1990-2000 with the addition of two Sukhois, two corvettes and VAB armored vehicles to the system.
“Apart from these, around 70 percent of the equipment is now above 20 years old,” Sagom said.
Source : Antara.
