Jakarta. Indonesia and the US have just sealed what they call a  “major defense cooperation partnership” that is expected to speed up Jakarta’s military modernization.

The partnership, announced at the Pentagon on Monday local time during Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin’s visit, will serve as a framework for military modernization and capacity building, among others. The partnership also lists military training and exercises as its other “foundational pillars”. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth described the bilateral security relationship as "active and growing".

A joint statement went on to explain that this deal would have the countries explore “mutually agreed cutting-edge initiatives”.

“... including co-developing sophisticated asymmetric capabilities, pioneering next-generation defense technologies in the maritime, subsurface, and autonomous systems,” the statement reads.

They will team up on the maintenance, repair, and overhaul support.

Such an arrangement comes as no surprise as Indonesia — now led by the ex-defense minister Prabowo Subianto — has been actively trying to replace its ageing weaponry. The archipelagic country even caps its annual defense budget at a whopping Rp 337 trillion (roughly $19.7 billion) for this year alone.

Sjafrie had told Hegseth that they were “working on behalf of mutual respect and mutual benefit to enhance [the] value of our national interests.”

Hegseth said that the deal could enable Washington to recover the remains of fallen US World War II soldiers in Indonesia.

The Jakarta Globe has reached out to Defense Ministry spokesman Rico Ricardo Sirait for further comments on this freshly signed accord, including on the remains recovery. 

The partnership came not long after media reports of the US seeking a blanket overflight access deal with Jakarta. This deal could grant American military aircraft unrestricted access when flying over the Indonesian airspace. Indonesia quickly dismissed the rumors, with Rico saying that it was only a preliminary draft that was still in the early stages. 

“The [blanket overflight clearance] is not a final deal. It is not legally binding,” Rico told the Globe on Monday.

International relations analysts have also noticed that Sjafrie’s trip coincided with Prabowo’s visit to Moscow. Washington’s relations with Russia have soured after the Ukraine war. US President Donald Trump recently temporarily waived his country’s sanctions on Russian oil amid the Iran war-fueled energy crunch. Prabowo told Putin that he sought closer energy ties, but the meeting ended without a concrete Russian oil purchase.

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