CMI Teknologi, Indonesia’s sole producer of satellite communications, microwave radio, and radar equipment, is ready to meet rising demand as the country pushes for self-sufficiency in defense technology.
The privately held company supplies the Indonesian Military (TNI), and it stands to benefit from President Joko Widodo’s plans to raise defense spending over the next five years and to develop Indonesia’s domestic defense manufacturing capability. Other firms that stand to benefit include state owned Pindad and Dirgantara Indonesia.
CMI Teknologi got a confidence boost when Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu visited the company’s facilities in Bandung, West Java, on Monday, its president director Raharjo Pratjihno told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.
“The minister said we should continue with our work. I’m confident that we could meet any demand [from the military] as long as it is in line with our core competencies,” Raharjo said.
Founded in 2004, CMI Teknologi is the latest incarnation of Compact Microwave Indonesia, which has been operating since 1987 in developing microwave technology. CMI Teknologi is now the only company in Indonesia that specializes in satellite communications, microwave technology, and radar modules.
The company is capable of producing up to 5,000military-grade radios per year, Raharjo said. CMI Teknologi has been supplying the radios for the Indonesian Army’s Leopard tanks since 2012, he said.
“It turns out that our radio is on par with similar units from abroad, but far cheaper,” Raharjo said.
He said CMI Teknologi has mastered the technology required to make several different radar modules but the company still needs more investment in research and development to build a complete radar system.
The company also undertakes repairs on various types of radar equipment installed in Indonesian Air Force planes and it builds small earth stations for satellite communications.
Apart from supplying the TNI, CMI Teknologi exports its products to India, the United States and the Middle East.
The government aims to raise defense spending to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, from 0.8 percent currently, over the next five years, putting it on par with neighboring countries, including Malaysia. Several memoranda of understanding have been signed between Indonesia and its defense partners last year in an attempt to provide more resources for the country’s defense program.
Still, President Joko has emphasized the transfer of technology from abroad to local companies to improve self-sufficiency in domestic defense manufacturing, taking lessons from the United Nations-imposed weapons embargo against Indonesia over human rights violations in East Timor. The arms embargo was lifted in 2005.
“We have to achieve [self-sufficiency] so that we don’t have to depend on imports,” the president said in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
CMI Teknologi’s Raharjo said that for Indonesia to become independent in term of defense technologies, the government, as the biggest buyer of such technologies, has to show a commitment to local products.
“For a start, the government should give local producers preferential treatment when procuring equipment, instead of just underestimating them from the start,” Raharjo said.
He said that a simplified bureaucratic procedure would also help local firms, which often spend more time dealing with red tape than developing their products.
“Still, I have seen great commitment from President Joko and his administration in improving that area and I’m confident he will sort it out,” Raharjo said.
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