Local Manufacturers Supply Drones for Indonesian Defense

The local technology industry continues to grow. Products like the nation are not only of high quality but are starting to be able to contribute to updating Indonesia. Especially the Indonesian defense equipment system.

This is related to the plan of the Minister of Defense Ryamizard Ryacudu who said the Ministry of Defense would buy four units of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to strengthen the ranks of the Indonesian Army.

The four drones are Rajawali 330 made by local industry, PT Bhinneka Dwi Persada (BDP).

When met on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow 2016 aerospace exhibition, Ryamizard said the drones would be used for border patrol missions.

“We will increase the number of drones to monitor border areas, one of which is this type,” said Ryamizard, as quoted from kompas.com (29/02/2016)

“Drones will definitely make surveillance operations easier for soldiers in the field,” he said.

According to representatives from PT Bhinneka Dwi Persada, the Rajawali 330 drone is capable of carrying loads of up to 10 kilograms.

For the benefit of the Indonesian Army, this drone can be fitted with several choices of devices, such as electro optical/infra red camera, FLIR (forward looking infra red), hyperspectral camera, or mapping camera with Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR).

In addition to being able to take off and land conventionally, this drone, which only requires a 60-meter long runway, also has the ability to land on an airstrip, pneumatic catapult (released with a slingshot), car top launcher, and a parachute recovery system.

Not only the Rajawali 330 drone, the Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) also purchased the Rajawali 350 drone which looks like a helicopter from the same company.

The Rajawali 350 drone is quite large for the size of a drone and the design carries a conventional helicopter design, this is reasonable considering that the Rajawali 350 will later be operated in ocean areas that have to face strong winds. This drone is claimed to be able to track the movement of small ships in the ocean.