Indonesia inducts tanks produced with Turkiye into its military

The Kaplan MT tanks produced for Indonesia are ready for delivery as the first package of the project will be completed this year in Ankara, Turkiye on March 13, 2022. [Doğukan Keskinkılıç – Anadolu Agency]

Indonesia’s military has introduced tanks into its military that it jointly developed with Turkiye, in the latest advancement of defence cooperation and production between the two countries.

According to the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara, the medium-weight tanks – named Kaplan (Tiger) in Turkish and Harimau in the Indonesian Bahasa language – were inducted into Indonesia’s military earlier this month after being developed by the Turkish firm FNSS and Indonesian manufacturer PT Pindad for almost a decade.

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Hailing from an agreement between Turkiye’s Presidency of Defence Industries and Indonesia’s Defence Ministry back in 2015, ten units of the tanks were handed over to the Indonesian military by the country’s Defence Minister and President-elect Prabowo Subianto. Some have been deployed to the 13/SL Cavalry Battalion in East Kalimantan province.

The Indonesian military’s adoption of the tanks “reflected the recognition Indonesia gives to Turkish leadership in military technology in the world,” the embassy said in its statement. “Aside from the tanks, Indonesia also has a joint production cooperation with Turkish company TUSAS to manufacture 12 units of ANKA Drone,” it added, referring to the next-generation unmanned combat aerial vehicle that Turkish Aerospace Industries is currently developing.

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