05 Januari 2009

Post-Modern Navy Dalam Konteks Indonesia

All hands,
Suatu Angkatan Laut dikategorikan post-modern navy, menurut Geoffrey Till, adalah Angkatan Laut yang tidak hanya berfokus pada menjaga kedaulatan negaranya, tetapi juga bekerjasama dengan komunitas internasional untuk menjaga globalisasi. Salah satu penopang globalisasi adalah perdagangan bebas dunia yang menggunakan domain maritim sebagai wahana transportasinya. Ancaman dan gangguan terhadap keamanan maritim dipersepsikan sebagai ancaman dan gangguan terhadap globalisasi.
Memang pada sisi lain globalisasi melahirkan dampak-dampak merugikan bagi negara-negara yang tidak siap. Termasuk pula Indonesia, yang suka atau tidak suka, siap atau tidak siap, harus masuk dalam era globalisasi. Dalam tulisan ini, saya hanya akan membahas globalisasi yang terkait dengan domain maritim.
Kata kunci dalam keamanan maritim masa kini terkait dengan maintenance good order at sea dan peacekeeping operations. Setiap Angkatan Laut dituntut untuk mampu maintenance good order at sea dan peace keeping operations dalam konteks globalisasi.
Posisi geografis Indonesia yang sangat strategis dalam percaturan politik dan keamanan kawasan, secara langsung menuntut AL kita untuk turut berperan dalam kedua hal tersebut. Dengan kata lain, Indonesia dituntut untuk menjadikan Angkatan Lautnya menjadi post-modern navy. Menjadi post-modern navy bukan berarti mengabaikan fungsi utama Angkatan Laut untuk mengamankan kedaulatan, tetapi menyeimbangkan antara kepentingan internal dengan aspirasi kawasan.
Kata kuncinya adalah tidak mengorbankan kepentingan nasional. Dan perlu dipahami bahwa kepentingan nasional negeri ini cakupannya bukan terbatas pada isu-isu internal, tetapi juga terkait dengan isu-isu eksternal. Termasuk pula pada aspirasi untuk menjaga stabilitas kawasan.
Dapat dipastikan bahwa stabilitas kawasan merupakan aspirasi nasional Indonesia. Isu stabilitas kawasan masa kini salah satunya terkait dengan maintenance good order at sea. Di situlah relevansi pentingnya AL negeri ini bertransformasi menjadi post-modern navy.
Sebab stabilitas kawasan di Asia Tenggara ditentukan oleh Indonesia dan satu-satunya pihak yang berkompeten soal ini hanyalah AL. Di situlah relevansinya post-modern navy dalam konteks Indonesia.

2 komentar:

Anonim mengatakan...

Allhands,

Sorry for posting off-topic remarks here, regarding the plan to buy new submarines, either from Chang Bogo class (209/1200) or Kilo. IMO, both are not the ideal platform for AL at this time. The Koreans presumably no longer wish to operate Type 209 (in future) as they now looking to streamline their future fleet with Type 214. Buying 2nd-hand, despite the attractive offer, must not blind us to the question of future capacity & worthiness. The keyword for submarine ops is 'Quality' and not quantity, due to the nature of its operation. Enough said.

As for Kilo, questions should be asked:
- which type of Kilo will be procured? The more capable, or the less capable? Will it be equipped with state-of-the-art package, as more capable will be procured/operated by regional navies in the future?
- Russia's state credit; it will be interesting to see how the tri-services jostle to get their share from the same pie, so to speak. Will it be enough? Being Russians doesn't mean it will come cheap, and so do submarine. Especially if you would like the whole package.
- in-country support, as the country will need to start the whole infrastructure from the scratch again. Operating Whiskey-class subs back in the 60s doesn't constitute to having 'sufficient'/in-depth knowledge of Russian system. The billion-dollar credit line, I assume, will not be 'cheap' either...

There are other doubts (for me) in Kilo's selection, I shall not discuss further. Though I do think, in the worst-case scenario, Kilo is much better than the Korean's offer.

IMHO, the main problem here is with the political apparatus - do they have courage & willingness to seriously implement this program? Operating a submarine is not cheap, and buying cheap doesn't always translate to low cost of operations. Will the Government be ready to bear the costs, for so many years? Without a concrete answer to this, AL will continue to be burdened with operating poor, sub-standard platform for its mammoth task. No disrespect, but the acutely small defense budget allocated every year could be a hindrance to AL to continously & consistently operate a good submarine fleet (in respectable number), the ever-pressing needs to replace old ships and introduce new capabilities to the armada, the geostrategical challenges of the future - a strong, drastic approach is needed to tackle it.

Hopefully AL will have all the sufficient data, not just given by the seller, and also have a free hand (with a strong, committed support from Govmnt) in deciding its choice. The intrinsic value of a submarine is so overwhelming, especially for an archipelagic state like Indonesia; forget not.

p/s : My choice would go to the AIP-equipped Type 214 / 209-1400 from the Germans. Expensive, yes, but very capable, very logical choice. And apology for the long comments.

M.

Anonim mengatakan...

Thank u for your comment. I better not to give opinion on your comment despite such issue is very interesting one.