Indonesia Has Significantly Expanded Its Arsenal - What Does That Mean For Its Traditional Foreign Policy?
In September, Indonesia received its first aircraft carrier, the KRI Sriwijaya, formerly the Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi, making it the second Southeast Asian state to operate a carrier. In recent years, Indonesia has rapidly expanded its arsenal by purchasing advanced military technology originating from various countries. In 2022, Indonesia entered into a deal with France to order forty-two Rafale fighter jets, the first of which were delivered in January 2026. France currently aids the Indonesian military through technology transfer as it continues to construct two Scorpene submarines. Turkiye has also signed deals with Indonesia, allowing Jakarta to become the first foreign operator of the Turkish KAAN fifth-generation fighters and to purchase Turkish unmanned systems including the ANKA-S and TB3. In July, India signed a $600 million deal to arm Indonesia with BrahMos and Astra missiles. These additions to the Indonesian military complement its tradition of “independent and active” policy. The diversified buildups preserve that independent policy on paper, while deepening US ties and friction with China put it under strain.
As a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, Indonesia has spent the past 60 years adhering to bebas aktif, or independent and active, foreign policy philosophy. Throughout its ongoing military expansions, the philosophy persists. By procuring equipment and weapons systems from a diverse array of countries, Indonesia avoids overreliance on one supplier and therefore avoids taking sides with any particular major power.
However, this broadly sourced military procurement also creates significant logistical friction. Each new system requires its own set of training, operators, and support systems, which can be incredibly costly to recruit, integrate, and maintain. These technological differences may also hinder strategic effectiveness; coordinating weapons from multiple countries will test not only the nation’s wallet but also its institutions. On a more positive note, the variety of technologies can also support nonmilitary issues, such as deploying the KRI Sriwijaya equipped with helicopters to aid one of Indonesia’s many islands if it is hit by a natural disaster. While the cost to crew and support such a vessel is high, the humanitarian benefits of massive mobile disaster relief could justify the price.
The buildup has also sent signals to strong international players. The archipelagic state shares ties with both of today’s great powers: China is its largest trading partner, with bilateral trade exceeding $135 billion and Chinese foreign direct investment amounting to over $8 billion, and in April 2026, the nation signed the Major Defense Cooperation Partnership (MDCP) with the United States. However, the MDCP’s establishment could, in a different light, indicate that Indonesia is shifting away from a policy of nonalignment. Beyond the MDCP, Indonesia's ongoing military expansion and President Prabowo Subianto's membership on US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace may point to Indonesia straying from its bebas aktif foreign policy.
Despite an increasingly integrated economy, tensions between Indonesia and China have been slowly growing, mostly spurred on by conflicts in their shared maritime regions. In 2017, Indonesia renamed the maritime region to the North Natuna Sea on national maps, raising the stakes further after years of incursions by the Chinese military, research, and civilian fishing vessels into the Indonesian-claimed Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in response. While the nation’s military buildup is not directly targeted towards China, it can certainly be seen as an attempt to create a deterrent force to reassert sovereignty over a claimed area. These tensions create a difficult situation for Indonesia due to its large financial reliance, muddling the waters surrounding foreign policy.
As Indonesia builds its military, it faces practical questions about coordinating such a diverse force, as well as potential geopolitical conflicts with global superpowers. Recent tensions with China and military cooperation with the US have put Indonesia’s independent, active foreign policy at risk as the country gets caught between superpowers. Deep economic ties with China and friendliness with the current US administration put the Southeast Asian nation at the forefront of the international stage; what comes next shapes the region’s balance. Will Indonesia successfully transition to armed nonalignment? Or will economic and security pressures force it to choose a side?