Indonesian, US Navies to Conduct Sea Survex Joint Exercise

Batam, Riau Islands (Antara) - Indonesian (TNI AL) and US navies will jointly hold Sea Surveillance Exercise 15 (Sea Survex) in Batam and border waters involving four aircraft in April 6-10, 2015. \"The aircraft have landed at Hang Nadim airport in Batam yesterday. They will be used for joint exercises covering up to Natuna. Hang Nadim will be used as a location for landing the aircraft,\" head of Hang Nadim International Airport\'s general affairs Suwarso said here on Tuesday. According to him, four aircraft, namely CN-212, CN235-MPA and Bolco helicopter belonging to TNI AL (Indonesian Navy) and US Orion aircraft, will be involved in the exercise and they have landed at the Hang Nadim airport. CN235-MPA is an aircraft manufactured by PT Dhirgantara Indonesia to support TNI AL in its maritime patrol activities. The aircraft is equipped with Elettronica ALR 733 Radar Warning Receiver, Ocean Master 100, a radar made by Thales (another radar option is Seaspray 4000 from BAe System), and Forward Looking Infrared-FLIR equipment. CN235 is a high performance aircraft. US Navy Orion, meanwhile, is a marine patrol aircraft with a turboprop engine used by many troops in the world especially for sea patrols, observations, and anti-submarine wars. Despite the exercise, Suwarso noted, regular flight schedules at the airport, which has a runway of up to 4.025 kilometers, will not be disrupted. \"The planes will start flying on Wednesday. We can assure that no commercial flight schedules will be disrupted,\" he added. According to him, the aircraft for the exercise have been stationed at an apron close to the airport\'s VIP building. \"This is a routine exercise conducted every year,\" he pointed out. ***4*** Reporting by Larno(*)