Military Drone Squadron to Be Inaugurated at Tarakan Air Base in Early 2027
The Defence Ministry and Air Force will inaugurate a military drone squadron at Anang Busra Air Base in Tarakan in early 2027, the base commander says. Its stated role is cross-agency border surveillance in North Kalimantan.
Anang Busra Air Base Commander First Marshal Andreas A. Dhewo said the Defence Ministry together with the Air Force headquarters will inaugurate a military drone-based air squadron at the Tarakan base in early 2027. The statement was made at a joint press conference with the North Kalimantan police chief on 7 November and reported on 9–10 November.
The squadron's function is explicitly cross-agency: border air surveillance and reconnaissance in North Kalimantan in support of the Air Force, the provincial police, the narcotics agency and related ministries and institutions in countering transnational crime — smuggling, drugs, illegal fishing and logging, and human trafficking.
The drone types, numbers, contractor and procurement structure have not been detailed, and the inauguration date may shift. The context is a 2026 defence function budget of Rp335.3 trillion, which raises the share of modernization programs including drones.