Military Theory: The Value of Defense Science

The Indonesian Military, or TNI, conducted a large-scale military drill in the Asembagus area of Situbondo district, East Java, in the southern Indian Ocean and in Bali, from June 1-5, in what will be the last joint military exercise of the current administration.

The modern, sophisticated and newly acquired weapon system of the TNI was deployed in the exercise, illustrating that the forces are ready to face grave external threat and defend Indonesia against invasion by land, sea and air.

The TNI is essentially realist in its outlook, building its forces and planning its strategies based on a range of threat scenarios.

Theoretically, the objective of the drill was to inspire initiative and creative thinking for the purpose of defense strategies, in addition to assessing how the TNI’s military doctrine relates to its military operations, in strategic, operational, tactical and other technical aspects.

On a practical level, the drill aimed to test the endurance and professionalism of the soldiers and the reliability of the TNI’s military equipment.

Although the official defense documents did not name the countries that might pose a threat to Indonesia, the joint exercise — which involved the army, navy and air force — was not intended to correspond to a potential threat from any particular countries that could be perceived as adversaries.

Indonesia is and will continue to exist in an environment where internal and external threats to security are both commonplace and ever-present.

The exercise was more the political manifestation of Indonesia’s military capability, as one element of the country’s national strength.

To that end, the defense policy-makers of Indonesia are less concerned with power as capability, power-in-being or the conversion process of material means into power, and more with the outcome of power itself — that is, how Indonesia may prevail in any given circumstances.

That is the background to the statement made by TNI chief General Moeldoko in advance of the exercise — that the military drill served to improve the combat proficiency of the entire corps.

In the eyes of Indonesia’s defense planners, the joint military exercise could be the manifestation of Indonesia’s national interests. Taking the country’s geographic expanse into consideration, the ability to defend Indonesia when it counts means that the TNI will need to get it right every time.

But they will also have to accept the fact that military power, in and of itself, may no longer describe the pivotal factor of strength. Other elements, such as economics, science and technology, have become increasingly important.

Defense science can assist the Indonesian Defense Force in improving its defense performance by employing new military technology, military concepts and military methods.

Defense science can also generate innovative and creative thinking to assist the TNI in defending the country through operational research, armaments research, and rocket and radar research.

The massive military drill exhibited Indonesia’s competitive weapons — sophisticated tanks and jet fighters, to mention just a couple. Those types of weapons were imported in response to the country’s lack of sufficient industrial and scientific infrastructure.

But some, if not all of the non-competitive weapons the TNI has at its disposal, such as assault weapons and armored floating vehicles, are produced in Indonesia. That reveals the importance of the role science plays in planning Indonesia’s defense program.

Indonesia’s quest for self-reliant, effective defense, and for the possession of more domestically produced weapons requires the country to establish a defense science organization sanctioned by national regulation.

The problem here is that we do not have someone we can look to as the forefather of Indonesian defense science.

Juwono Sudarsono was the country’s first civilian to become the minister of defense. Both the restructuring of the Department of Defense (now the Defense Ministry), due to the growing demands for an effective and responsive organization, and the innovation of the country’s defense policy can be attributed to Juwono Sudarsono.

The brilliant ideas Juwono contributed to the country’s national defense have been nationally recognized. But it’s up for debate if Indonesian defense science originates in Pak Juwono.

At present, we lack clear and available information as to when and how defense science took root in Indonesia, and we can’t be sure whether the technical, strategic and operational aspects of the 2014 joint military exercise are the result of — or even related to — defense science.

If that be the case, then one should draw the conclusion that defense science does not actually exist.

What one might call defense science is, in fact, just the “normal” sciences applied to military objectives.

As of yet, no one has even attempted to analyze the recent joint military exercise through the prism of the so-called defense science.

Assuming, however, that defense science does indeed exist — and that it has entered a broader discourse at the national level to reach university curriculum — then one should expect to see the presence of some kind of organization, such as a defense science organization, in addition to a defense science council and a defense science laboratory — all of which would serve the immediate and long-term needs of the TNI.

This is the process by which we can observe the scientist-soldier strategic partnership. As of yet, this process and its means are nonexistent.

The initiative taken by the former first rector of the Defense University, Syarifuddin Tippe, to familiarize the academics with defense science, both at the Defense University and elsewhere, in addition to establishing a defense science community, is not at all a bad idea. Provided, that is, that at the outset, we both acknowledge that defense science does indeed exist in Indonesia — and that we recognize someone as the originator of Indonesian defense science.

In spite of the perceived non-existence of defense science in Indonesia, and the uncertainty as to whether the joint military exercise has relevance for the development of defense science, the 2014 Indonesian Military joint exercise should not be underrated.

It clearly reflects an attempt by the national defense decision-makers to employ concepts, methods and perhaps a system which could increase the overall military capability and the military skills of the armed forces.

In short, the message delivered by the joint military exercise is for the country to maximize the use of its military capability in a variety of operations against the country’s perceived adversaries, domestic or foreign.

Defense science — if it does exist in Indonesia — will definitely be an important determinant in measuring not only the reliability of the country’s weapons system, but also the effectiveness of the methods, systems and concepts employed by the TNI in particular circumstances.

Bantarto Bandoro is a senior lecturer at the School of Defense Strategy at the Indonesian Defense University, and the founder of the Institute For Defense Research (IDSR), Jakarta.
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