Bandar Lampung, Indonesia. (May 15, 2024): In this photo by MC2 James Finney, U.S. and Indonesian Navy leaders review a chart during a planning briefing aboard the Indonesian Navy fast attack craft Kri Kerambit-627 during Combined Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT).

CARAT Indonesia is a bilateral exercise that is part of a “comprehensive strategic partnership” between Indonesia and the United States designed to promote regional security cooperation. Joined by the navies of Japan and Australia, the exercise enhances the ability of partners to operate together during emergencies throughout the Indo-Pacific.

In its 30th year, the CARAT series allows partners to share information and coordinate efforts at maritime security including fighting terrorism, stopping smuggling, and combatting piracy. Indonesia is the most populous country in Southeast Asia and has the largest Muslim population in the world. Sitting astride the equator, Indonesia is situated on an archipelago that contains 17,508 islands (6,000 inhabited) strategically located along major sea lanes connecting the Indian to the Pacific Oceans. Indonesia measures 3,200 miles from east to west and claims an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles.

This enormous territory is patrolled by the Indonesian Navy which is the second strongest navy in Asia and the fourth largest in the world. It has sixty-five thousand active-duty Sailors, 213 ships of all types including seventy-two patrol craft and thirty-two logistics and support vessels. Due to frequent disasters, the Indonesian Navy must also be prepared to respond to humanitarian crises, like the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, that killed over a million people not counting thousands missing or homeless.

In this year’s exercise, the Indonesian Navy dispatched 1,380 personnel to train alongside 1,180 personnel from the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The exercise coincides with 75 years of diplomatic relations between the United States and Indonesia and an enduring commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.