>>Also, what the Suseonlines' of this world don't comprehend is that there is no other situation anywhere in this world such as the Indonesia/Australia situation. It is unique & it requires unique thinking & unique tactics.>>

Hmm let's see.

--Australia has a culture that is different to that of the surrounding countries.

--Many regard the majority inhabitants of Australia as foreign intruders in the region.

--It is the most technologically advanced and highly developed country in the region.

--It looks to a distant major power for diplomatic and military support. In fact if it had not been for that distant major power it probably would not exist as an independent state today.

--The other major power in the region is a Muslim country with eleven times Australia's population is buying large quantities of weaponry from Russia

No similar situation? Really?

Of course there are differences. Australia has no land border with any other country so outright invasion is difficult. Also it is physically very large though much of it is almost uninhabitable desert.

But I'm sure if you put your minds to it you can think of a similar situation.

Oh and, by the way, in the eyes of the Muslim bosses of Indonesia, a "crusader country", Australia, invaded its territory in 1999 with some diplomatic help from that distant major power on which Australia relies on so greatly.

Unique? Really?

I do not like bellicose, we will sort them out, nonsensical statements. We do not need a war with anyone.
I think TA is doing a good job of playing the diplomatic game with the Indonesians and stopping the boats.
We also need to get along with our neighbours just as they need to get along with us.

almost uninhabitable desert,
stevenlmeyer,
Only to an Australian, to an Indonesian there's more scope they you could poke a stick at & that is one of the fundamental differences. Don't for one moment think that they think the way we think. To endure the hardship of making something out of nothing for the benfit of future generations is what they believe in unlike us who want everything now & stuff the future generations.
That is a mentality we need to come to grips with.

Hi there CHRISGAFF1000...

I agree with most of what you say. It's about time we did stand-up to Indonesia, once and for all. Before going to Vietnam I was involved in the 'Konfrontasie' with Indonesia (1964/65) and with the little direct contact we had with them (during cross-border ops in Borneo), the one thing they don't like, is to 'lose face'. They like it even less, when an enemy 'loses face'! So I reckon you're on the money, standing-up to them, is probably the best option at this time.

A pre-emptive strike sounds good too, but ? Do you believe we have the military capacity to do much more than simply give them a 'blood nose' ? They have a huge land army, and we've been 'foolishly' teaching their Officer's, strategic and tactical protocols for years, under successive governments. Your belief we could probably defeat them in the space of a little over 72 hours, well...I don't know ?

chrisgaff1000,

I’m unsure about any impact that Peter Gosgrove might have as GG? The East Timor Intervention was for and on behalf of the UN. All he did was demonstrate to the TNI was that all they were good for shooting civilians with AK47’s.

As for the TNI, they are a political backdrop for Indonesian public consumption, militarily a joke.

Negotiations for upgrading their military have been in progress since 1998 and still no budget, as confirmed by Russia’s US$ 1 bn loan offer for procurement.

Military assets without integrated protection are junk!

You need only consider the technical challenges of integrating second hand SU30’s, SU 35’s, SU 27’s, F17’s and miscellaneous weapons from the USA, Russia, Britain, Brazil and South Korea, to understand that there are no integrated AWS, ADS or Aegis options available to the Indo’s. All they will have is “high speed airframes” for Australian target practice.

As for the Leopard tanks, the Series 2 A6 is a great tank however, if they did have them and this is still a 2014 “projected” contract, they would use these how? Get them to Australia by magic I guess?

Forget the F35 Lightening II, they can’t “see” it and therefore can’t shoot at it. Remember that the TNI has licenses for only 18 Air to Surface missiles and no air refueling capability. No more than half a dozen F/A 18’s would finish off the entire TNI capacity in about 24 hours, and they know it.

As for submarines, what are they looking at? U-209 type submarines, a 1940 designed diesel sub? The failed attempt to buy the Russian Kilo Class, now shelved. The South Korean SS-209 Changbogo class submarines now becomes the last option for the importation of submarines. Without integrated support these would be in “Davey Jones Locker” within hours.

Indonesia will never import $ billion’s worth of low tech, indefensible weapons systems that would end up as scrap metal. Note that not one proposed contract has any element of high tech defense systems, they couldn’t defend against a 1960’s trainer aircraft.

Back to rice and palm oil?

Back to rice and palm oil?
spindoc,
well, after a coulple of satellites & repeater towers have been knocked out of service rice & palm oil might just be more valuable than useless electronics in the hands of computer nerds with nothing to get their gear powered up. Don't for a minute fool yourself into believing high tech will be our saviour when communication is cut.