Indonesia's first aircraft carrier sparks debate over cost and necessity

In September 2026, Indonesia welcomed its first aircraft carrier into Jakarta's harbor — a retired Italian warship soon to bear the name of a 14th-century unifier of the archipelago. The acquisition places Indonesia among a rare few Southeast Asian nations to operate such a vessel, and arrives under a president who has made military expansion a defining ambition. Yet the ship sails into contested waters at home: a nation weighing the weight of strategic symbolism against the burden of fiscal reality, asking whether greatness is measured in tonnage or in the quiet sufficiency of needs met.