Indonesia, US and allies launch annual military drill

BANDUNG

Indonesian Military personnel rappel from the Indonesian Air Force H-225 M Caracal helicopter during the Super Garuda Shield 2024 joint military exercise including Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Britain and the US in Situbondo, East Java on September 6, 2024. (AFP Photo)

Indonesia, the United States and more than a dozen allies launched annual joint military exercises on Aug. 31 to boost defense capabilities and “deter aggression” in the Asia-Pacific region.

Jakarta maintains a neutral foreign policy, what it calls “free and active,” as it walks a diplomatic tightrope seeking good relations with both Washington and Beijing.

The Southeast Asian giant held a joint navy drill with China this month that was blasted by Taiwan as a “provocation.”

Indonesia, the United States and certain allies have taken part in the annual drills, known as “Super Garuda Shield,” for nearly two decades.

This year’s edition will entail 4,700 soldiers from countries including Britain, France and Japan drills in several locations including Sumatra and Borneo islands until Sept. 11.

East Timor, Italy, Thailand and other nations have sent observers.

Patrick J. Ellis, commander of the U.S. Fourth Infantry Division, said the exercise was critical for “building the human architecture that keeps the Indo-Pacific safe.”

“The security landscape of the Indo-Pacific is complex and readiness cannot be surged when a crisis begins,” he said at a military school in Bandung, east of Jakarta, where the drills officially kicked off.

The exercises will include special forces infiltration training and cyber defense drills, Ellis added.