For decades, the Indonesian Air Force has been playing a miniscule role compared to the other services. It is no secret that the Indonesian Army holds the golden boy status within the country’s military (TNI). Given its integral part in times of crisis, improving the readiness of the Air Force’s disaster relief capability is a necessary requirement. The Air Force can start to fulfil this prerequisite by upgrading and refurbishing the existing Hercules C-130s like the service did to its F-16 jet fighters recently.

…Dr Adhi Priamarizki, Visiting Fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of  International Studies    (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, with research interests including Indonesia’s military transformation and civil-military relations in Southeast Asia