The crash of an Indonesian Air Force transport plane has renewed attention on the country’s ageing military hardware.
At least 142 people were confirmed dead after the 51-year-old C-130 Hercules crashed into houses and commercial buildings on Tuesday minutes after taking off from an airbase in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province.
“While the Hercules C-130 can theoretically carry up to 42,000lb (19,050kg), many consider 100 passengers to be too many for an ageing aircraft,” said Evan Laksmana, a military observer at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.
“The Hercules C-130 fleet is ageing, so we’d like to know what sort of maintenance policies are in place and if they are strictly enforced,” he said.
President Joko Widodo called for a thorough investigation into the accident and an overhaul of the management of military equipment.
The Air Force said it was grounding the B model of C-130s, produced in the 1960s, pending an investigation into the crash.
Since the resignation of army-backed dictator Suharto in 1998, the military has undergone reforms, but efforts to modernise it were hampered by budget constraints after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
Joko’s predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono launched an ambitious plan to renew old defence equipment, with a defence budget of 156tn rupiah ($11.7bn) earmarked for the 2011-14 period.
The government laid out plans to buy modern fighter aircraft, submarines and tanks, and enter into joint ventures with foreign defence companies for local production of weaponry.
At that time, the country was enjoying an economic boom with growth at above 6% annually.
Indonesia’s economy since 2013 has posted slower growth, expanding only 4.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, the slowest pace since 2009.
Armed forces spokesman Fuad Basya said Indonesia is diversifying the sources of its defence hardware, buying from countries such as Germany, Brazil, Serbia and Russia.
So far the military has achieved only 38% of its “minimum essential force” goal, Fuad said.
“We are happy to hear the president’s commitment and we hope his ministries can realise it,” he said.
But military observer Evan said maintenance is not less important than modernisation.
Joko has been publicly criticised for breaking the tradition of rotating the post of military chief by appointing an army general instead of the Air Force chief, who was supposed to be the next in line for the job.
Local media reported that relatives of the victims claimed their loved ones had paid to fly aboard the crashed plane, raising questions about whether the crew had breached safety regulations by selling space to civilians on the aircraft.
Fuad said the military was investigating the allegations, but insisted that those on board were military personnel and their families.
He also dismissed concerns about the age of the aircraft, saying it had not reached the end of its service life.
“Planes are not like human beings,” he said. “If a Hercules’ engine is broken and then replaced it can be like new again.”

 

 

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