(IAe) (n aerospace company in Asia with core competence in aircraft design, development and manufacturing of civilian and military regional commuter aircraft. The company formerly known as ''Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara'' (IPTN) or ''Industri Pesawat Terbang Nurtanio'' (IPTN).
Since being established in 1976, the company has exploited its ability as industry of manufacture and have diversified its product not only in the field of aircraft but also other area such as Telecommunication, Automotive, Maritime, Information Technology, Oil & Gas, Control & Automation, Military, Simulation Technology, Industrial Turbine, and Engineering Services.
Though aircraft production in Indonesia existed before her independence, the National Aviation Industry was pioneered in 1946 at .
Wiweko Soepono ,
Nurtanio Pringgoadisurjo , and
J. Sumarsono , opened a simple workshop at
Magetan , near
Madiun . With basic materials, gliders were designed and built -- Resulting
Zogling ,
NWG-1 (Nurtanio Wiweko Glider) among others.
In 1948, a motorized aircraft,
WEL-X was built by
Wiweko Soepono utilizing a
Harley Davidson engine. The small craft was registered as RI-X. This era marked the rise of several
Aeromodeling club.
The war for independence, however, halted all progress until 1953. In that year, ''The Experimental Section'' (''Seksi Percobaan'') was organized. Consisting of only 15 personnel, led by
Nurtanio Pringgoadisurjo , The team built and tested three prototypes of a single-seated all metal aircraft at Andir Airport (Later renamed to
Husein Sastranegara Airport ) in
Bandung .
Later in April 24th 1957, The ''Experimental Section'' graduated into The ''Inspection, Trial, and Production Sub-Depot'' (
Indonesian : Sub Depot Penyelidikan, Percobaan dan Pembuatan) based on Decision Letter of Indonesian Air Force Chief of Staff number 68.
Finally in 1958, a light training aircraft prototype named ''
Belalang 89 '', or ''Grasshopper 89'', was successfully flown. The design was later produced as ''Belalang 90''. 5 ''Belalang 90'' were built and used for military training. On the side note, within the same year, a sport plane, "
Kunang 25 ", was also successfully built and flown.
On August 1, 1960, by the order of Indonesian Air Force Chief of Staff (order #488), The ''Aviation Industry Preparation Body'' was to be formed to envision the birth of the National Aircraft Industry. Within months, the new body, known as LAPIP (Lembaga Persiapan Industri Penerbangan) since December 16, 1961, was actively negotiating for technological transfers and contracts.
LAPIP was able to secured a joint licensing and production contract with Poland. Within the same year, Indonesia was producing
PZL-104 Wilga or locally named ''Gelatik''. 44 units were produced for agriculture, transport, and aero club purposes.
In 1965, Aircraft Industry Project Implementation Command (''Komando Pelaksana Proyek Industri Pesawat Terbang'' (KOPELAPIP)) and Independent Aircraft Industry National Company (''PN. Industri Pesawat Terbang Berdikari'') were formed to expand and formulate specific uses of the young aviation industry.
Within the same timeline, Aviation Study(ies) were promoted in the country top universities. One of the first and well respected school was founded within The Machine Department of The Engineering Faculty of Institut Teknologi Bandung
ITB by
Oetarjo Diran and
Liem Keng Kie .
In September 1974,
Pertamina 's Advanced Technology Division signed a license contract with
MBB and
CASA for producing
Bölkow Bo 105 and
CASA C.212 Aviocar .
On April 26th, 1976 , mandated by Government's Act No. 15, in
Jakarta , PT. Industri Pesawat Terbang Nurtanio was officially established with
Dr. BJ. Habibie as the President Director. The infrastructure was completed and inaugurated on August 23rd 1976 by President
Suharto . The new body was a merge between Nurtanio Aviation Industry Body (''Lembaga Industri Penerbangan Nurtanio''/LIPNUR) and
Pertamina 's Advanced Technology Division.
The name
Nurtanio is a tribute to
Nurtanio Pringgoadisuryo , one of the first aviation pioneers in Indonesia, who designed
Sikumbang , an indigenous all metal aircraft (maiden flight: August 1st, 1954).
Initially, IPTN manufactured The
NBO 105 , under license by
MBB -- Followed by
NC 212 , under license by
CASA .
In March 1966,
Nurtanio Pringgoadisurjo died in flight testing accident. The ''Aviation Industry Preparation Body'' was then renamed to ''Nurtanio Aviation Industry Body'' (
Indonesian : Lembaga Industri Penerbangan Nurtanio (Abbreviated as LIPNUR)).
On
October 11 ,
1985 , the name PT. Industri Pesawat Terbang Nurtanio was changed to the PT. Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara or IPTN.
Nusantara signifies the Indonesian 17000 island
Archipelago .
The exclusion of "Nurtanio" from IPTN was due to some highly questionable accusations. One of the allegations was a personal use of company's letterhead by Nurtanio's family to appropriate some IPTN stocks. None was proven true.
Following
The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis , a major restructuring program was implemented. At its peak, in 2004, the Indonesian Aerospace reduced its payroll from 9670 to a healthier 3720. Furthermore, the 18 business divisions were reorganized into the following:
- Aircraft
- Aircraft Services
- Aerostructure
- Defence
- Engineering Services
The restructuring focused on new business goals, downsizing and adaptive man-powering according to available workloads, and a pinpoint market targeting along with a concentrated business mission. Furthermore, Indonesian Aerospace opens welcome new markets to its redundant engineering experties in design to test processing, aircraft and non-aircraft component manufacturing, and after sales support and services.
The IPTN was re-introduced as PT. Dirgantara Indonesia (abbreviated DI) or Indonesian Aerospace (abbreviated IAe). IAe was officially inaugurated by the President of
Indonesia ,
Abdurrahman Wahid , in
Bandung on
August 24 ,
2000 .
Some
Fixed-wing Aircraft Aircraft made by IAe:
Some
Helicopter Aircraft made by IAe:
Some subcontracts had been received by IAe:
Some armaments made:
- FFAR 2.75 inch rocket under Belgium 's license.
- SUT-Torpedo.
- NDL-40 Ground-to-Ground Rocket Multi Launcher.
- Engineering work packages; design, development, testing
- Manufacturing subcontracts
- Aircraft Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO)
- Engine Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO)
Indonesian Aerospace covers an area of 86,98 ha. The backbone of the production are sustained by 232 high tech machineries and equipments. Apart from these, there are other minor high-tech equipments spread over in various assembly lines, laboratories, and service & maintenance units. They are located mainly in
Bandung .
