Indonesia holds international defense exhibition

ISTANBUL

Indonesia on Wednesday launched its biennial international defense exhibition in Jakarta.

About 1,180 companies from 55 countries are attending the 2025 Indo Defense Expo & Forum, including Türkiye, the US, and France, according to the state news agency Antara.

The exhibition aims to demonstrate Indonesia’s domestic defense industry, Indonesian Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said at the event's opening, which Jakarta hopes will increase Indonesia's global recognition for its defense sector.

"Indo Defense will continue to present a wide range of defense industry products to the broader community," Sjamsoeddin said. "These include PT Pindad’s Maung military electric vehicle, the Harimau medium tank, and the SS3 assault rifle."

PT Pindad is a state-owned defense equipment manufacturer.

Around 27 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth 33 trillion Indonesian Rupiah ($2 billion) were also signed between state-owned defense companies, private companies and foreign firms, on the first day of the exhibition under the observation of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

One of the defense agreements overseen by Prabowo was Jakarta's purchase of 48 KAAN fifth-generation fighter jets, produced by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).

The electric tactical vehicle MV3 EV Pandu was also launched during the exhibition.

The exhibition, themed "Defense Partnerships for Global Peace & Stability," will run until Saturday.