In what could be a symbol of Turkey’s expanding defense ties with Asian countries, the Indonesian military inducted medium-weight tanks developed in collaboration with Turkey into service earlier this month.
According to an announcement from the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara, the Indonesian Defense Minister and President-elect Prabowo Subianto handed over ten of the tanks — known as Kaplan, or Tiger, in Turkish, and Harimau in Bahasa — to the Indonesian military.
The announcement noted that the Indonesian company PT Pindad and Turkish manufacturer FNSS collaborated to produce the contemporary medium-weight tank, which “reflected the recognition Indonesia gives to Turkish leadership in military technology in the world.”
Turkey and Indonesia signed an agreement in 2015 to develop and produce a medium-weight tank jointly. The agreement included provisions for the design and manufacture of two prototype tanks and stipulated that the intellectual property rights (IPR) would belong to both parties. The prototype induction and testing kicked off in 2017.
The first batch of tanks was delivered to the Indonesian military in March 2022. The sale of the Kaplan MT to Indonesia marked the first foreign sale of the system, as per reports in Turkish media.
KAPLAN MT or Harimau, is a modern medium-weight tank designed to offer exceptional tactical mobility together with a high degree of lethality.
According to the FNSS, “These versatile armored vehicles will bridge the gap between main battle tanks and light armored vehicles, offering a balanced solution for modern military operations.”
The statement published by the Indonesian Embassy went on to say, “Aside from the tanks, Indonesia also has a joint production cooperation with Turkish company TUSAS to manufacture 12 units of ANKA Drone,” which is a next-generation unmanned combat aerial vehicle created by Turkish Aerospace Industries.