TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Military and intelligence expert Susaningtyas Nefo Handayani on Monday urged the Indonesian government to not underestimate the discovery of an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) in Tenggol Island in the Selayar Islands south of Sulawesi.

She also encouraged the Defense Ministry, National Armed Forces main headquarters (Mabes TNI), and the Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) to enact strategic steps countering the discovery.

Despite acknowledging that the UUV found there is mainly a platform for underwater research - as the UUV was labeled "Shenyang Institute of Automation Chinese Academy of Sciences" - she maintains that the Covid-19 pandemic must not distract the government from possible threats of a major war breaking in the South China Sea.

“The Defense Ministry, Mabes TNI, and Navy must not look lightly on the finding of the UUV. Don’t let the concentration on Covid-19 let down our guard against the dangers of a major war in the South China Sea,” said Susaningtyas Nefo Handayani January 4, 2021.

A government regulation overseeing illegal researches across Indonesian waters must be set in place.

She asserts that the discovery of the Chinese UUV is hard evidence that Indonesian waters have become the spillover of China and the United States’ “military power contest.” She fears that this does not close the possibility that China and other nations have launched unmanned sub-surface vehicles (USSV) in Indonesian waters undetected, which is more of a real threat as this platform is able to carry weaponry payloads.

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