Indonesian officials have described their defence plans to the...

Indonesian officials have described their defence plans to the Jakarta Post, and while the comments are most likely a bit of sabre rattling — they’re pretty strong.

The Australian Navy was recently forced to apologise after one of its ships breached Indonesian waters. Following this Indonesia said it was sending extra warships to patrol the sea between the two countries.

And now Air Force chief spokesman Air Commodore Hadi Tjahjanto has said there are military planes that can reach Australia within an hour if it happens again.


“We are watching four radars in Timika, Merauke [in Papua], Saumlaki [Maluku] and Buraen [East Nusa Tenggara], which all face Australia,” he said.

“If we notice any border violations, our air base in Makassar will be ready. Australia is reachable from there.”

According to the newspaper Hadi was referring to the Sultan Hasanuddin Air Force Base in the South Sulawesi provincial capital, which is the base of the 11th squadron, consisting of 16 Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27/30 Flankers.

The Jakarta Post says the planes, if flying at Mach 1 (the speed of sound) would reach Australia in a little over one hour.