Indonesian, Australian, Indian, Dutch & Soviet Issues

Indonesia's heavy cruiser, Kri Irian, served Indonesia in an unconventional role before disappearing in the 1970s.
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On Indonesia's concerns about future Australian SSNs, Indian-Indonesian relations (1960s-70s) and the extraordinary growth of the Indonesian Navy (1950s-60s) Gessler on July 31, 2022 commented:

Hi Pete (and others reading this)

I'm not really aware of the security & diplomatic equations between Australia & ASEAN, so for my sake please entertain this line of thought:

Perhaps certain ASEAN countries (Indonesia in particular) view Australia as a potential future adversary? And if they do, then its obvious that they would prepare not for what the adversary says he will do, but rather for what he is capable of doing. Perhaps Indonesia fears that with RAN operating nuclear submarines, Australia will attain a massive unassailable lead in military terms vis-a-vis Indonesia?

Allow me to tell you why I'm thinking in this way...back in the 60s & 70s, the relationship between Indonesia and my country (India) wasn't very good. At one point, the Indonesians had laid claim to the Nicobar island chain (the southern part of [India’s] Andaman and Nicobar Islands), and were carrying out military intrusions & illegal patrols, not unlike what China is doing in the South China Sea today. Indonesia was also openly on the side of Pakistan during the 1965 war, including providing material assistance. 

This Indian article below sums up a lot of that history (along with an overview of Indonesia's subsurface naval history). Later though, things took a positive turn [between India and Indonesia] and all disputes were abandoned. Though I'd wager India's [“Smiling Buddha”] nuclear weapons testing in 1974 had a lot to do with it. This is along with the fact that the power dynamic between India and Indonesia shifted vastly into India's favour over the decades, especially on the naval front,. This would have made the pursuit of a refreshed Nicobar Islands dispute a not-so-wise decision.

Do you suppose Indonesia fears a similar thing happening vis-a-vis their equation with Australia? Getting potentially "boxed in" by nuclear powers (or at least, nuclear navies) to their north & south, all the while getting needled by the Chinese, can't be an enviable position as far as geopolitics go.

I still think that if push comes to shove, Indonesia will throw its lot in with the QUAD/Western alliance rather than with China...but I can't help but see this as the sort of thing that could change if the political dispensation in Jakarta changes. Note that I do not follow Indonesian politics, just saying that political re-alignment always remains a distinct possibility in a time of global instability like the current.

Pete Comment

The Indian article Gessler has identified, is very interesting.

The link recounts: "In his book Transition to Triumph: Indian Navy 1965-1975, retired Indian Navy Vice Admiral G.M. Hiranandani traced the dizzying growth of the Indonesian Navy" with words to the effect:

Between 1959 and 1964, the Indonesian Navy had acquired an enormous fleet from the Soviet Union, including:

-  1 heavy cruiser: Kri Irian 
-  18 destroyers and frigates
-  12 Whiskey-class submarines
-  67 corvettes and motor torpedo boats
-  12 missile boats
-  21 minesweepers
-  11 landing ships
-  6 landing craft
-  4 transport ships, and
-  4 oilers.

My first thoughts include Indonesia being insufficiently wealthy in the 1950-60s, to afford a huge fleet. Indonesia had an independent naval history only going back to 1945. Hence, I think Indonesia would have been hard pressed to man one-fifth of the 156 vessels that the Soviets allegedly sold to Indonesia.

Presumably the Soviets provided the huge fleet out of anti-colonial internationalism, to strengthen Indonesia as an ally and most likely to free all of Indonesia from the Soviet's enemy, the Netherlands. This last was seen clearly in Operation Trikora. The section on Soviet sailors and airman wearing Indonesian uniforms in Trikora is most interesting

I’d be very interested to hear from readers about what happened to the majority of the 156 vessels sold to Indonesia.