Indonesian Aerospace

Indonesian Aerospace (IAe)

Type	State-owned company
Industry	Aerospace and Defense
Founded	23 August 1976, based on the Notary Act 15 on 26 April 1976 , Jakarta (on 24 August 2000, the company took on current name, Bandung)
Headquarters	Bandung, Indonesia
Products	Commercial Airliners Military aircraft Aircraft Component Aircraft Services Defence Engineering
Number of employees	4,300 (2011)
Website	www.indonesian-aerospace.com

Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) (Indonesian: PT. Dirgantara Indonesia (DI)) is an Indonesian aerospace company involved in aircraft design and the development and manufacture of civilian and military regional commuter aircraft. The company was formerly known as Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN). It was expanded from a research and industrial facility under the auspices of the Indonesian Air Force, namely Lembaga Industri Penerbangan Nurtanio (LIPNUR).

Established in 1976 as a state owned company, it has developed its capability as an aircraft manufacturer and diversified into other areas, 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 independence in 1945, the National Aviation Industry was pioneered in 1946 at Yogyakarta by the formation of Planning and Construction Bureau (Indonesian: Biro Rencana dan Konstruksi) within the Indonesian Air Force. Wiweko Soepono, Nurtanio Pringgoadisurjo, and J. Sumarsono, opened a simple workshop at Magetan, near Madiun. With basic materials, gliders were designed and built – Zogling, NWG-1 (Nurtanio Wiweko Glider) among others.

In 1948, a motorised aircraft, WEL-X was built by Wiweko Soepono using a Harley Davidson engine. The small craft was registered as RI-X. This era marked the rise of several aeromodelling clubs.

The war for independence, however, halted all progress until 1953. In that year, The Experimental Section (Seksi Percobaan) was organised. Consisting of only 15 personnel, led by Nurtanio Pringgoadisurjo, The team built and tested three prototypes of a single-seat all metal aircraft at Andir Airport (Later renamed Husein Sastranegara International Airport) in Bandung.