Currently, only a few Navies worldwide operate aircraft carriers, which are widely recognized symbols of a country’s military might and its ability to project power far beyond its borders.
The three countries in the Asian continent that operate aircraft carriers are India, which currently operates two carriers, INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya; China, which has three operational aircraft carriers, Liaoning, Shandong, and Fujian; and Japan, which has recently converted two helicopter docks into a carrier capable of hosting the F-35B stealth fighters.
Indonesia is now positioned to join the group with a potential acquisition of Italy’s ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi aircraft carrier.
The head of Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence’s Public Relations and Information Bureau, Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait, said on February 13, 2026, that the acquisition will be a “grant” from the Italian government, as reported by Indonesian news agency Antara News.
However, the official clarified that the grant did not absolve the ministry of its financial responsibilities.
“The Giuseppe Garibaldi is a grant from the Italian government. The Indonesian government will allocate a budget for retrofitting or adjustments to meet the operational needs of the Indonesian Navy,” he told the news agency, adding that negotiations and administrative processes are currently underway between the two sides.
The Indonesian Navy will modify the aircraft carrier’s technology to suit its requirements after the talks and administrative processes are finished.
Notably, Republikorp, a private Indonesian firm, earlier said that it would like to modify the Garibaldi, should the transfer go forward. However, the Ministry of Defense has not yet made any official announcements on the extent of possible upgrades or who will carry them out.
The latest comments from the MoD official come after Admiral Muhammad Ali, Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy, said that the Giuseppe Garibaldi, Indonesia’s first Italian-built aircraft carrier, is expected to reach the country before October 5, 2026, which is marked as the anniversary of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI).
“The Garibaldi is still in process. We hope it will arrive in Indonesia before TNI’s anniversary,” Ali stated.
The remarks indicate that Jakarta’s plans for the acquisition are gathering pace.
If the procurement goes through, Indonesia will become the fourth country in the wider Asian region to have an Aircraft Carrier.
In September 2025, Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning approved up to $450 million in foreign loans to fund the acquisition, plus related equipment and operational support. Later, an Italian Navy source told Janes that a potential deal could also include the transfer of several AV-8B Harrier II short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft, but no details about that have been disclosed by either side yet.
The ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi carrier is a 10,300-ton vessel built in the 1980s, originally capable of operating fixed-wing aircraft like Harriers and helicopters. The vessel was placed in reserve in October 2024 following the commissioning of Trieste, Italy’s new multi-purpose landing helicopter dock (LHD).
The timeline for delivery, as laid out by the Indonesian Navy’s chief, is significant because the TNI anniversary is typically celebrated with a large-scale military parade and sail past, and is often used as an occasion to publicly display or unveil newly procured systems and major defence assets.
If transferred, the ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi could feature prominently at the keenly watched event in the Southeast Asian country.
However, this transfer would not be free of challenges, as Indonesia has never operated a carrier, so it is conceivable that the carrier would arrive with a large Italian contingent. Additionally, a short delivery timeline suggests that significant renovation or modification work will be done locally in Indonesia upon arrival.
An Aircraft Carrier For Indonesia
Indonesian officials have posited that the procurement would improve the operational capabilities of the TNI AL fleet, especially for non-combat military operations (OMSP), such as disaster relief, humanitarian aid, and maritime security. They say it would be in line with Indonesia’s Modernisation of the Minimum Essential Force (MEF) policy, which calls for multiple missile patrol boats, four frigates, and at least four helicopter-capable warships.
The acquisition could be an essential milestone in Indonesia’s naval expansion, enhancing its ability to respond to regional security threats. The carrier is not primarily for high-end power projection with fighter jets. Instead, it could serve as a helicopter carrier and, potentially, as a platform for drones, such as the Bayraktar TB3 UCAVs.
However, there is significant dissonance over this acquisition. Some experts have been more blunt over whether Indonesia needs an aircraft carrier at all, especially since it has been reeling with fiscal troubles and budgetary constraints. Questions have been raised on strategic priorities, given Indonesia’s focus on archipelagic defence and other fleet needs.
The proponents of the idea argue that, in an archipelagic nation bordering the world’s most disaster-prone area, the carrier would improve humanitarian aid and disaster relief efforts.
However, as previously noted by The Diplomat, an aircraft carrier is “designed to sustain high-tempo air operations far from home waters, command complex task groups, and signal strategic intent. These attributes may be indispensable for global naval powers, but they are poorly matched to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions.”
“From both the tactical and operational viewpoints, disaster response requires speed, flexibility, shallow-water access, and the ability to move personnel, engineering equipment, medical facilities, and relief supplies directly ashore. Suitable sites for air operations to deliver aid to the affected areas may be damaged and unavailable. Thus, deploying helicopters from aircraft carriers to deliver aid may not be an optimal solution,” it added.
Some analysts have argued that Indonesia should rely on its barely 7,000-ton LPD attack ships because they are smaller than Garibaldi, can accommodate helicopters, and can access more ports. Meanwhile, others have stated that Jakarta could build a specialised civilian disaster-response ship instead of acquiring a naval platform.
Meanwhile, Collin Koh, an expert on Indo-Pacific naval affairs and maritime security, wrote on X: “Having countless toll roads and highways earmarked as emergency military runways across the entire archipelago makes more strategic and operational sense than an aircraft carrier,” in a reference to the Indonesian MoD’s effort focusing on preparing some highways and toll roads for emergency aircraft landings.
On February 11, 2026, Indonesia’s Deputy Defense Minister Air Marshal (Ret.) Donny Ermawan Taufanto said multiple alternative landing points would allow fighter operations to continue even if primary bases are compromised. “We want every major island to have multiple base options. If one is attacked, another is available. Some future toll road sections will be designed to serve as runways,” he added.
In fact, in a demonstration on February 11, a Super Tucano attack plane and an F-16 fighter from the Indonesian Air Force successfully landed and took off from a toll road in Lampung province, located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra.“This success marks an important milestone in strengthening the universal defense system,” Donny said.
Critics of Indonesia’s push to acquire an aircraft carrier argue that recent demonstrations—such as the successful February 2026 trials in which an F-16 fighter jet and a Super Tucano aircraft landed and took off from a Trans-Sumatra toll road in Lampung, highlight the strategic value of a “distributed” defense model.
By converting sections of the nation’s extensive toll-road network into emergency runways across its 38 provinces, Indonesia could achieve dispersed air operations equivalent to “multiple cheaper aircraft carriers” scattered throughout its vast archipelago.
This approach, experts note, offers lower risk and greater survivability compared to concentrating high-value assets on a single, vulnerable carrier platform, which could be neutralized by a single strike in contested waters.
For now, a formal deal to acquire the aging Italian carrier is awaited. However, if it goes through, Indonesia will become the latest entrant to the exclusive “carrier club.”
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