Indonesia gets first carrier from Italy, sparking cost debate — SkimNews
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- Indonesia received its first aircraft carrier, the 41-year-old former Italian warship ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi, which arrived Friday at North Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port and will be commissioned next week as KRI Gajah Mada.
- Italy agreed in March to gift the carrier (retired in 2024) to Indonesia, a move that saves Rome decommissioning costs and accompanies its push for submarine and aircraft deals in Southeast Asia.
- Indonesia becomes only the second Southeast Asian nation to operate a carrier, after Thailand's HTMS Chakri Naruebet, which was commissioned in 1997 after procurement from Spain.
- Indonesia's finance ministry approved $450 million in financing for the carrier program in 2025, but lawmaker TB Hasanuddin warned retrofitting alone could reach 16 trillion rupiah (~$900 million).
- President Prabowo Subianto pitched the vessel as a disaster-response platform — a mobile command center carrying up to 10 medium-sized helicopters and drones for fighting forest fires and Ring of Fire emergencies.
- Defense analysts Muhammad Fauzan Malufti and Khairul Fahmi questioned the acquisition, citing Thailand's carrier as a cautionary example of a warship that has spent much of its service life in port due to budget constraints.
Why it matters: Prabowo's government is committing potentially $900 million or more to refurbish a 41-year-old warship during a period of slowing growth, weaker state revenues, and costly domestic programs like the troubled free-meals initiative. Critics argue frigates and submarines would better serve Indonesia's maritime sovereignty needs than a carrier whose operational track record in the region is poor.
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