"I remind that strong air defense is the most important component in maintaining the sovereignty of our country," Prasetyo stated at the 2024 Indonesian Air Force Leadership Meeting in Jakarta on Thursday.
He highlighted that the Indonesian Air Force always stayed updated on the latest technological developments in the military sector, especially drones, in line with the mandate from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
Prasetyo said his side has made a real contribution through the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft technology since 2015 and was able to make a real contribution to various joint Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) operations.
"In future, the Indonesian Air Force will continue to be equipped with UAVs and UCAVs (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles) or more modern unmanned combat aircraft," he stated.
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In addition, the Air Force continues to develop its human resources (HR) by educating and improving the skills of unmanned aircraft pilots (PTTA) through the PTTA Education Squadron (Skadik).
"We also send personnel to participate in various education or training in other UAV fields, both in Indonesia and abroad," Prasetyo stated.
He then noted that drone technology in the last two decades had transformed into a precise combat capability. Hence, soldiers are required to be active and adaptive in learning the latest technology for organizational progress.
He emphasized that strong air defense capability could not only be realized by the Indonesian Air Force while adding that collaboration between all elements, including the government, industry, and academics, as well as synergy between the TNI and National Police (Polri) was needed to realize an effective air defense system.
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Translator: Fath Putra M, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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