Indonesia’s Haphazard Military Acquisitions Risks its Global Ambitions
Indonesia recently became the first nation in Southeast Asia to deploy a short-range ballistic missile system via its acquisition of the Turkish Rokestan-produced KHAN missile. With a range of nearly 300km, Defence Security Asia notes that the KHAN missile greatly expands Indonesia “from a traditional defense maritime power into a credible long-range strike actor with regional reach.” This news builds upon earlier reports of potential procurement of the joint Indian and Russian-developed BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. The procurement of this military weaponry by Indonesia demonstrates its desire to project power, generate regional influence, to become a global actor.
While impressive on paper, high-profile acquisitions such as these highlight Indonesia’s spontaneous, and somewhat haphazard approach to military modernization. This approach builds upon existing systemic issues within Indonesia’s military. As a result, this fragmented and opportunistic approach to military procurement with multiple partners fails to align with Indonesia’s broader military goals. To this end, Indonesia aims to build a highly professional military force by establishing the Indonesian Space Armed Forces and by professionalizing its military to enhance Indonesia’s military competitiveness and safeguard its national sovereignty in the modern era.
The conflicting relationships with various strategic actors via military procurement, among multiple other partnerships, threatens to undermine Indonesia’s larger military and geopolitical aspirations. If Indonesia becomes overly reliant on its partnerships with China and Russia, it could greatly disrupt American-led regional security efforts with other countries in Southeast Asia, with significant implications for areas like the South China Sea and beyond.
Reactive Military Modernization Under President Prabowo
President Prabowo’s moves to consolidate power within Indonesia have gone back to his own military roots, reflecting increased militarization in Indonesian governance. To this end, in early 2025, Indonesia enacted amendments that expanded the domestic roles of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) in political governance. This is a clear reversal of a decision made decades ago to remove the military from its role in domestic governance, hinting at increased military modernization.
However, unlike China’s military-civil fusion (MCF) policy, which integrates military development with national goals, Indonesia’s modernization appears driven more by present geopolitical pressures than by a cohesive, long-term plan. Since President Prabowo’s inauguration, Indonesia’s defense modernization efforts have scaled significantly. In January 2025, Indonesia’s Ministry of Defense announced plans to increase its defense budget, nearly doubling it by setting a target plan for 1.5% of Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP), as opposed to the current 0.8% of GDP that is currently allocated to the military. While the increased budget seems to signal a serious commitment to military expansion, Indonesia appears to be on a purchasing spree to fill immediate defense gaps, with Indonesia seeming to lack an integrated strategy for military cohesion and interoperability
Indonesia’s Fragmented Procurement Strategy
The lack of cohesion for Indonesia’s procurement strategy reflects in the wide variety of different countries from which Indonesia has and is attempting to purchase weapons. In June 2025, Indonesia finalized the acquisition of Turkish Aerospace Industries-produced TF KAAN fighter jets. This news came around the same time that Indonesia announced its potential intent to purchase Chinese J-10 fighter jets and Jakarta’s revision of a deal to procure the KG-21 fighter jet with South Korea. Indonesia’s previous jet purchases include an agreement with U.S. manufacturer Boeing to purchase up to 24 F-15EX fighter jets in mid-2023.
This supplier diversity creates serious interoperability challenges, with the use-case of fighter jets alone demonstrating a reactive strategy designed to address immediate military needs and geopolitical pressures. The fragmented nature of these acquisitions does very little for equipment operability, creating maintenance headaches, reducing training crossover, and undermining Indonesia’s long-term military strategy. For example, cross-training between Turkish, Chinese, South Korean, and American fighter jet platforms would be difficult to coordinate, effectively weakening Indonesia’s regional military influence. As a result, Indonesia risks creating a fragmented military, in contrast to a streamlined modern fighting force.
Conflicting Military Partnerships with Procurement Partners
As part of its reactive procurement strategy, Indonesia has also pursued military partnerships with many countries including China, the United States, Russia, South Korea, and Turkey, going far beyond the scope of simple neutrality. In early 2025, China and Indonesia announced both nations’ mutual intent to increase military cooperation in the maritime context. This emphasis on holding joint military exercises, which can also be seen through the resumption of joint drills on the eve of President Prabowo’s inauguration, signal growing ties between the two nations in addition to Indonesia’s purchases of Chinese J-10 fighter jets.
Simultaneously, Indonesia continues to maintain close ties with the United States in addition to purchasing Boeing’s fighter jets. One significant example of this relationship is shown in the multinational Super Garuda Shield military exercise, with 14 participating nations as of August 2025. Super Garuda Shield, known as one of Southeast Asia’s largest military exercises, highlights Indonesia’s strong ties to the United States, while also reinforcing its image as a growing regional power of significant importance.
Additionally, Indonesia held its first-ever joint naval exercises with Russia in late 2024, with rumors of further cooperation between both nations occurring in mid-2025. This builds upon established relationships with Russia, with this beginning immediately after President Prabowo’s inauguration when the Indonesian government requested additional weapons and equipment from Russia, on top of its existing seven contracts focused on military cooperation. Previously, Indonesia had also acquired various Russian fighter jets, helicopters, fighting vehicles, and small arms.
These conflicting relationships with diametrically opposed strategic actors undermines Indonesia’s long-term military cohesion. Indonesia’s defense strategy thus appears to be reactive and prone to the changing dynamics of the global geopolitical arena, in contrast to a deliberately-crafted strategy. The pursuit of military cooperation with various powers, including China, the United States, Russia, South Korea, Japan, and Australia, risks undermining Indonesia’s strategic autonomy, putting the archipelago nation in the middle of competing geopolitical interests.
This lack of strategic clarity has significant ripple effects for U.S. foreign policy and regional stability. If Indonesia cannot align its military modernization efforts with a more coherent strategy, it could become an additional point of instability in the Indo-Pacific, adding to an already-complex operating environment for global actors.
Conclusion
All in all, Indonesia’s military modernization, while having significant potential, could greatly impact its long-term prospects due to its reactive approach to procurement. The country’s fragmented approach to military modernization, combined with domestic challenges such as corruption and political instability, threatens to undermine Prabowo’s global ambitions. Indonesia’s current strategy to pursue a myriad of unrelated military procurement initiatives and military partnerships lacks the coherence needed for long-term success.
While Indonesia desires to be a global power, it must create a sustainable and aligned military modernization strategy, with more streamlined defense acquisitions and increased cross-platform interoperability to truly create a more cohesive military force. Addressing these existing gaps is critical for Indonesia if it truly desires to transform its military into a regional and global power.
