Getting to the Bottom of the Loss of the Indonesian Submarine KRI Nanggala-402

The Navy might reiterate him by pleading to the media not to “politicize the tragedy…as [the Navy] is in mourning and focusing on salvaging [KRI Nanggala-402],” on May 4, nearly two weeks after KRI Nanggala-402 went to the bottom.

The backlash culminated in Colonel Iwa’s about face where he rebutted his older brother Anton’s account of his plight, including his medical condition and economic hardships, among them a report stating that he was forced to sell his home to pay for his medication.

But regardless of where one stands in the polemic over KRI Nanggala-402’s sinking, there is little doubt that the Indonesian Armed Forces attempts at damage control, particularly from the Navy, have come too little too late.

The Jane’s Defence Weekly website estimated that Indonesia set the country’s defense budget for 2021 at Rp. 136.99 trillion [$9.2 billion], up from Rp. 117.9 trillion the year before.

Rp. 42.6 trillion will go towards military modernization, while Rp. 11.4 trillion are allocated to military personnel expenses and their welfare. Like their counterparts around the world, Indonesian servicemen are all too aware about the deadly risks that come with their oath to defend the country.

The Indonesian government and military establishment should ensure that the budget go towards their allocation, especially in addressing the need for modern hardware in place of obsolete equipment like the Type 209 submarines, that has long plagued the Indonesian military.

They should also keep in mind that training military personnel like Colonel Octavian and the crew of the KRI Nanggala-402 to a high state of readiness costs money.

Frittering away their lives and expertise on obsolete equipment, on the expectation that they will do their duty with the revolutionary fervor that enabled their ancestors to beat the Dutch nearly 80 year ago to win Indonesia its independence is a simplistic disservice to these men and their sense of duty.

If the government wants to ensure that the sacrifice of the crew of KRI Nanggala-402 is not in vain, they should step up the modernization of submarines and other military equipment to ensure that they do their duty to the best of their abilities and live to sail another day.