Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is reported to have agreed with US President Donald Trump to allow US military aircraft to overfly and transit Indonesian airspace without case-by-case approval. The issue has now become public with the recent visit of the Indonesian Defense Minister General (Ret.) Dr. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin to the Pentagon. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in a tweet on X said that the US and Indonesia are elevating their relationship to a major Defense Cooperation Partnership, which presumably incorporates the US military flyover privileges.

For countless decades Indonesian airspace has been strictly regulated. Even civilian aircraft require forward permission to fly into and/or across Indonesian airspace. However, Indonesia may be preparing to grant the United States its most important new military access arrangement in Southeast Asia since Washington expanded rotational deployments through the Philippines and northern Australia.  

Such an agreement will grant US military........

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