Southeast Asia is set to gain its second aircraft carrier operator, following Thailand, which has held the distinction since it commissioned HTMS Chakri Naruebet in 1997. Indonesia’s turn arrived this week, as the carrier that will become its first, ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi, departed Italy on Monday night bound for a new home port in Lampung.
Photo: LPhot Barry Swainsbury/MOD, OGL v1.0OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Muhammad Ali confirmed the departure to ANTARA in Jakarta on Tuesday, saying the ship is heading toward Jakarta ahead of its formal handover. The vessel was acquired through an intergovernmental grant arrangement rather than a direct purchase, and it will carry its Italian identity for the length of the voyage before taking on a new name and flag once it reaches Indonesian waters.
The Voyage
The Garibaldi’s route to Indonesia will take it through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, escorted by Italian frigates for the more than 20 days the transit is expected to take. Ali said the ship is on track to arrive between Sept. 15 and 20, a window the Navy has been consistent about across multiple statements to ANTARA in recent days.
Commissioning and a Name Change
Once the carrier arrives, the Navy has scheduled a formal commissioning and flag-changing ceremony for Sept. 25. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is expected to attend and, according to Ali, is planned to officiate the event and board the ship, which will be renamed KRI Gajah Mada at that point.
The name pays tribute to Gajah Mada, the 14th century Majapahit military leader and statesman often credited with unifying much of the archipelago under Majapahit rule, a historical reference that fits a vessel meant to symbolize an expansion of Indonesia’s naval reach.
A Base Built to Match
While the ship makes its way west to east, preparations on land have been running in parallel. First Admiral Tunggul, chief of the Navy’s Information Service, told ANTARA that construction of the carrier’s shore base in Lampung has entered its finishing phase and is expected to be complete by the time the ship arrives. He did not go into detail on the base’s specifications, only that the facility would be fully ready and operational by the end of the following month.
The timing lines up with the Navy’s broader schedule, which has the ship arriving in mid-September, the commissioning ceremony following shortly after in late September, and the base itself needing to be functional by then to support the new arrival.
A Public Debut in October
Beyond the commissioning, the Navy has plans to introduce the carrier to the public during the 81st anniversary of the Indonesian National Defense Forces, or TNI, in October. Tunggul said the initial plan has the ship, still referred to by its Garibaldi name in early Navy statements, taking part in a naval sailing pass alongside other Indonesian Navy vessels as part of a parade meant to showcase the country’s main weapons systems.
The carrier is also expected to double as a VVIP vessel during the parade, carrying the president, ministers, and senior military officials. Tunggul did not offer specifics on the parade’s concept or where the sailing pass will take place.
What the Carrier Will Do
Longer term, Ali said the carrier will be built out to operate helicopters belonging to the Indonesian Navy, Air Force, and Army, a joint arrangement that reflects how the ship is expected to serve across service branches rather than the Navy alone. The Indonesian Navy will also handle the training itself, preparing pilots to land aircraft on the vessel’s deck, groundwork that will need to be in place before the ship becomes fully operational in its new role.
Taken together, the timeline the Navy has laid out runs from the ship’s departure from Italy this week, through its transit via the Suez Canal and Red Sea, to a mid-September arrival, a September 25 commissioning, and an October public debut. Each step still carries some uncertainty, particularly around the base’s final readiness and the exact staging of the October parade, but the broader picture is of Indonesia formally entering the small group of Southeast Asian nations operating carrier-capable ships.
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