Since I’m Indonesian of course I have to collect the aircraft used by the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI).
The Indonesian Armed Forces’ history stretches all the way back to 1945, when Indonesia declared independence from The Netherlands. It has gone through many name changes with the latest Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI), being established in 1999.
Due to shifting alliances throughout its existence, the TNI has deployed both Eastern-bloc and Western equipment, and at times even using them side-by-side, which for a modeler, makes for a very interesting and eclectic collection.
The Indonesian Armed Forces went through many changes in names and mandates so I’ve decided to split my collection into three distinct periods instead of following the name changes.
1945 – 1947 : Independence
Officially formed in 5 October 1945 as the Tentara Keamanan Rakyat (TKR), meaning People’s Security Army with a name change to Tentara Republik Indonesia (TRI) or Army of the Republic of Indonesia in January 1946 after re-organizing into the branches: land (TRI-AD), sea (TRI-AL), and air (TRI-AURI).
1947 – 1990 : Cold War
TRI reorganized into Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) in 1947. Major modernization and expansion period with the introduction of modern equipment like the MiG-15 (and even the Tu-16 Badger bomber) and later Western types.
1991 – Present : Modern
In 1962, the Indonesian Armed Forces, by this time called ABRI (Angkatan Bersenjata Republik Indonesia), officially standardized branch names into TNI-AD (Army), TNI-AL (Navy) and TNI-AU (Air Force). ABRI will officially go back to being named Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) in 1999, where the focus was shifted to professional defense and peacekeeping rather than political involvement.
