Antara News·Indonesia·Monday, October 26, 2026 at 09:39 AM UTC

TNI deploys three aircraft for weather modification in Kalimantan

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Walda Marison, Resinta Sulistiyandari

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) deployed three transport aircraft to conduct weather modification operations aimed at controlling forest and land fires across Kalimantan.

The TNI Information Center stated in a press release on Monday that the three aircraft: a C-130 Hercules, a CN-295, and a Cassa-212, were deployed on Sunday, Oct. 25.

The aircraft delivered more than 10 tons of salt (NaCl) and dry ice for cloud seeding over affected areas in Kalimantan.

"The weather modification involved a Hercules C-130 aircraft seeding 4.8 tons of salt, a CN-295 aircraft seeding 2 tons of salt, and a Cassa C-212 aircraft conducting five sorties to seed 622 kilograms and 2.7 tons of dry ice as part of efforts to support rain cloud formation," the TNI press statement said.

Military officials expressed hope that artificial rain generated by the operation will help extinguish forest and peatland fires in Kalimantan more effectively.

The TNI confirmed it will keep transport aircraft on standby to support ongoing weather modification operations across fire-prone regions.

Previously, the TNI deployed a Hercules aircraft on Oct. 20 to conduct weather modification operations in South Kalimantan.

TNI Commander Gen. Agus Subiyanto stated that the aerial deployment followed a directive from President Prabowo Subianto to expedite forest fire mitigation efforts.

During that earlier mission, the aircraft carried 2.6 tons of dry ice and 7 tons of salt from Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta.

Alongside Kalimantan operations, the TNI deployed a Super Puma helicopter from Air Squadron 6 to fight forest fires around Mount Lawu in Central Java.

According to the statement released Monday, the helicopter has been on standby since Oct. 21.

The helicopter executes targeted water-bombing sorties while monitoring for new hotspots to enable early containment.

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