Indo-Pacific — 2026-09-18

Indonesia Receives Former Italian Carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi as First Aircraft Carrier Amid Cost and Strategy Debate

BLUFIndonesia's carrier acquisition locks Jakarta into a multi-year funding commitment it has not yet budgeted, risking a prestige asset that drains resources from higher-priority naval capabilities.

The former ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi, a 41-year-old Italian carrier retired in 2024, arrived Friday morning at Tanjung Priok naval base in North Jakarta, where it was welcomed with a military ceremony attended by Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, TNI Commander Gen. Agus Subiyanto, and the Army, Navy and Air Force chiefs of staff 1234. Italy agreed in March to transfer the ship to Indonesia, and the vessel will be formally commissioned next week as KRI Gajah Mada 34. Indonesia's Finance Ministry approved $450 million for the carrier program in 2025, though lawmaker TB Hasanuddin of Parliament's Commission I said retrofitting costs alone could reach roughly $900 million 34. Prabowo has said the ship will be converted to carry helicopters and drones for disaster response, including wildfire and haze mitigation, while analysts including Muhammad Fauzan Malufti of CSIS and Khairul Fahmi of ISESS have publicly questioned the operational rationale and cost relative to alternatives like frigates and submarines 234.

Analysis
The acquisition converts a 41-year-old, non-catapult carrier into a disaster-response and drone platform rather than a power-projection asset, shifting the debate from sea control to sustainment economics. The $450 million Finance Ministry allocation versus a lawmaker's roughly $900 million retrofit estimate shows Jakarta has not settled a binding budget even as the ship enters service, and CSIS and ISESS analysts frame its long-term utility as contingent on sustained funding for personnel, maintenance, fuel and infrastructure rather than this week's ceremony. Convergence across accounts is high but structurally thin: AP-derived reporting republishes near-identical text, ANTARA supplies the only independent arrival details, and cost and analyst figures trace to a single shared source. The vessel may instead function primarily as a symbolic assertion of major-maritime-nation status rather than genuine disaster-response necessity, a reading Fahmi's own comment on national-power symbolism leaves open.

4 sources

Indonesia's defense minister to welcome Giuseppe Garibaldi - ANTARA News
Indonesia gets its first aircraft carrier amid debate over cost and military ambitions - The Guardian
Indonesia welcomes its first aircraft carrier, prompting debate over cost and military ambitions - The Messenger (AP)
Indonesia welcomes its first aircraft carrier - The Star (Malaysia)