The Indonesian Army (TNI AD) is planning to conduct a joint exercise with Australia in the Sulamu military exercise area in Kupang district, East Nusa Tenggara, ANTARA quoted a military official as saying here on Tuesday. "The area is quite ideal and potential for a joint exercise with a foreign military," Maj Gen Iwan Sulandjana, operations assistant to the Army Chief of Staff, said when visiting the location around 79 kilometers north of Kupang, the province`s capital. The center covering 430 hectares of land was now still being put in order. It has a representative shooting range for a joint exercise with a foreign military and is capable of accomodating a shooting exercise using heavy weapons such as mortars. He said for the time being the army would use it for a joint exercise among the country`s regional military commands and between the Udayana military command and Australia`s Northern Command. Joint exercises between TNI AD and foreign armies such as from Australia and others had so far been mostly carried out in Java. Joint exercises between TNI AD and Singapore, Thailand, Fiji and Australia in the past few years had also taken place regularly in Malang, East Java. "Last month we held a joint exercise with Australia in Pulau Seribu. That was an annual exercise. Next year, TNI Ad will take part in a joint exercise in Australia," he said.
