Indonesia Expands Armed Forces With 204 New Military Units

By Nik Nurfaqih Nik Wil

JAKARTA, Oct 5 (Bernama) -- Indonesia expanded its armed forces with 204 new military units, including six regional commands and 180 territorial development infantry units, as President Prabowo Subianto called for greater readiness to confront evolving forms of warfare and technological advances.

The expansion includes 30 territorial development infantry brigades and 150 territorial development infantry battalions, while the Army also added one cavalry battalion, one field artillery battalion and one air defence artillery battalion.

The Navy established one Marine infantry brigade and four Marine infantry battalions, while the Air Force added 10 units, including a Rapid Action Forces division, one brigade, three battalions, two air squadrons, two radar units and one training squadron.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the 81st anniversary of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) on Monday, Prabowo stressed the need for the military to prepare for evolving security threats and keep pace with technological developments.

“War today does not necessarily take a physical form. Therefore, the TNI must continue to adapt, learn, learn, learn, and train, train, train,” he said at the TNI headquarters in Jakarta during the ceremony, which was streamed live.

Prabowo later inaugurated the six regional commands by presenting command batons and unit flags to their respective commanders.

The ceremony involved 3,378 personnel from the Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as members of the reserve component and other participating contingents.

The six new regional military commands are Mahmud Riayat Syah in the Riau Islands, Mataram in Yogyakarta, Sobe Sonbai in East Nusa Tenggara, Molku Kie Raha in North Maluku, Mambruk in Central Papua and Rinambora in West Nusa Tenggara.

-- BERNAMA