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View all search resultsKRI Sriwijaya joins Navy fleet, ready for operations
The commissioning of Indonesia's first aircraft carrier marks a strategic milestone, one best understood through the lens of defense diplomacy and naval modernization.
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The newly acquired aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi (left), now KRI Sriwijaya, is accompanied by KRI Brawijaya (center) and KRI Prabu Siliwangi as they sail through the Bangka waters on Sept. 17, 2026. (Antara/M Risyal Hidayat)
I
ndonesia's first aircraft carrier, KRI Sriwijaya, was commissioned into the Indonesian Navy at a military ceremony on Thursday, formally ending its time in the Italian Navy as the ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi vessel.
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Agus Subiyanto formally commissioned KRI Sriwijaya into the Navy at the ceremony, which was also attended by Indonesian Army chief of staff Gen. Maruli Simanjuntak, Indonesian Air Force chief of staff Air Chief Marshal Muhammad Tonny Harjanto and Italian Ambassador to Indonesia Roberto Colamine.
Italian Navy chief of staff Adm. Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto marked the aircraft carrier’s end-of-service in a flag-lowering ceremony on the aircraft carrier’s flight deck, which arrived in Jakarta on Sept. 18. The Italian crew removed their caps as the Italian flag was lowered to the national anthem, Il canto degli Italiani.
Indonesian Navy chief of staff Adm. Muhammad Ali, Bergotto's counterpart, then led the carrier's commissioning into the Indonesian Navy, and the Indonesian flag was raised to the national anthem, Indonesia Raya.
Also being raised was the ular-ular perang flag, or the Indonesian naval jack, consisting of nine alternating horizontal red and white stripes, a legacy of the Majapahit empire.
Commenting on the ceremony, international relations lecturer from Budi Luhur University, Andrea Abdul Rahman Azzqy said it was an important event which should be viewed under the optics of diplomacy for the defense sector, as well for modernization of the navy.
“Symbolically, the aircraft carrier emphasized closer bilateral ties with Italy while at the same time providing a space for the Indonesian Navy to test interoperability with carrier-capable platforms,” he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
