Military expansion and territorial development
In an October 21 Instagram post, Sjafrie said the Defense Ministry and the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) were working to modernize the country's defenses. He described Prabowo as strongly committed to that effort and said Indonesia needed greater capacity to anticipate the effects of conflicts in several regions of the world.
Alongside advanced weapons procurement, the minister cited changes to the TNI's organization and the creation of Territorial Development Battalions to support territorial development in several regions.
Earlier this month, Prabowo formally inaugurated 204 TNI units during the military's 81st anniversary ceremony on October 5 in Cilangkap, Jakarta. The units included six Regional Military Commands, known as Kodam, as well as 30 Territorial Development Infantry Brigades and 150 Territorial Development Infantry Battalions, according to the Presidential Secretariat.
In a separate April report, the Army said it had established 155 territorial development battalions across various regions. That effort forms part of a nationwide plan for 593 units, with particular attention to border regions, according to ANTARA.
Aircraft arriving as further purchases take shape
Six French-made Dassault Rafale fighters had reached Indonesia by mid-2026, Kompas.com reported. Deliveries began in January, followed by three more aircraft in May. They are part of a 42-aircraft order under a February 2022 contract valued at about $8.1 billion, or around Rp 132 trillion.
Delivery of the remaining Rafales is scheduled to continue gradually through 2030. Planned additional contracts would bring the total to 66 aircraft.
Kompas.com also reported that an Airbus A400M transport aircraft arrived in November 2025 and was subsequently handed over to the Indonesian Air Force by Prabowo. At the end of that year, the president said he had ordered the acquisition of 200 helicopters beginning in January 2026, to complement five C-130J and Airbus A400 aircraft already delivered to Indonesia.
Indonesia also signed a 2025 agreement to buy 48 KAAN fifth-generation fighters from Turkish Aerospace Industries, according to a May 22, 2026, Jakarta Globe report. The agreement was accompanied by cooperation on missile and warship production.
Funding and domestic defense capacity
Sjafrie said the modernization effort also encompassed domestic defense manufacturing, personnel development and closer international defense cooperation. He presented those measures as part of building a capable, self-reliant defense system, which he expected to strengthen further under Prabowo. He expressed hope that it would protect the public and preserve Indonesia's sovereignty.
Jakarta Globe's May report put the government's 2026 defense allocation at Rp 337 trillion. Within that total, the Defense Ministry's spending ceiling was Rp 187.1 trillion, including about Rp 83 trillion designated for weapons upgrades.
The same report said defense spending as of May amounted to roughly 0.7-0.8 percent of Indonesia's GDP, below an informal 2 percent benchmark and Singapore's approximately 3 percent. Prabowo's goal is to increase Indonesia's ratio to 1.5 percent.
