Setelah warawiri bantu duklog korban banjir tgl 1 April lalu, esoknya FJ40 ku harus membawa kami ke lokasi off road berlumpur di luar kota. Jarak yg ditempuh kurang lebih 15 km 'on road dan 3 km off road. Selama off road 4x4nya sudah dipasang untuk menghindari "kepatter" di tengah kubangan lumpur setinggi lutut orang dewasa. lumayan... sampai juga juga di lokasi yang dimaksud. 

Esok hari, si'Blacky langsung aja dimandiin cuci luar dalam sampai bersih. Dan tidak lupa periksa kaki-kaki supaya 'make sure perjalanan berikutnya aman. Pada bagian velg ternyata saya menemukan retakan yang mungkin sudah ada sebelumnya tepat di sekitar "Bolt Velg". Retakan ini bisa saja semakin besar dan membahayakan pada missi berikutnya. Jadi sebaiknya diganti dengan velg cadangan. Atau ganti satu set semua karena sudah lama. Kalau ditelusuri penyebab keretakan ini bisa saja karena benturan yang cukup keras pada saat di jalan, dan kegetasan baja/besi velgnya berkurang karena usianya yang cukup lama. Ini semua dapat dijadikan faktor penentu dalam pemilihan velg untuk kendaraan off road.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Indonesian Air Force is projecting to improve its military force by 2025, but the plan is hampered by budget issues. Although it has tried to improve the budget, the increase has not been significant.

Indonesian Air Force expert staffer Marshall Parulian Simamora, said the target was to have 10 fighting squadrons, 7 carrier squadrons, 1 VIP/VVIP squadron, 3 strategic spy squadrons, 6 helicopter squadrons, 4 training squadrons, 1 tanker squadron, and 1 PTTA/UAV squadron and military equipment by 2025.

In 2011, the Indonesian Armed Forces was given a Rp44 billion budget, while the Air Force was given Rp7.4 trillion, Rp4.2 trillion of which was used to improve existing military equipment.

Which such budget, the military hopes the national industry can maximize the development of the military and defense equipment industry. Indonesian Air Force chief of staff Marshall Imam Sufaat said a strong local defense industry could reduce dependency on foreign aid.

Imam said the local industry he referred to was not only the plane, rocket, satellite and air balloon manufacturing industry, but also the aviation system industry or airplane component industry. Besides the industry sector, air defense must also be supported by the aviation service, such as air transportation, telecommunication services, flight safety, and maintenance.

PT Dirgantara Indonesia’s Aerostructure director Andi Alisjahbana, said the need for fighting and defense equipment did not always rely on foreign producers. Maintenance and repairs are needed to generate the component industry.

Dirgantara has developed a specific aircraft for the past two years. This year, PT Dirgantara plans to send four aircrafts to South Korea. The four aircrafts, valued at US$100 million, were ordered by the Korean Coast Guard.

(Tempo Interaktif)