Most Powerful Military Forces in Southern and Eastern Asia

Indonesia

Indonesia’s not necessarily the first country anyone thinks of when foreign conflicts are brought up in Asia, or the world for that matter. Mostly because it has been a deliberate effort by the government not to engage any major power.

However, Indonesia’s been plagued by several internal conflicts, beginning with the secession of East Timor, followed by the efforts of Aceh to gain independence and, as of 2017, ISIS. Of course, Indonesia’s sudden interest in building a military base close to the heavily contested South China sea means it might get into some bit of trouble in the not so distant future, although currently, most of its landing docks are used for distribution of relief materials rather than war preparations.

credit: Wikipedia
As a whole, Indonesia’s ranked 15th in terms of military might worldwide (out of 137 countries). It has about 400,000 active personnel and 400,000 reserves, 451 aircraft strength (ranked 30th in the world), more than 2000 battle tanks and rocket projectors, as well as approximately 221 naval assets.

It’s probably an added advantage that Indonesia’s special forces command (Kopassus) can walk on fire, roll in glass and drink snake blood. As of 2018, Indonesia had its highest military budget till date, at $10 billion, which is projected to increase now that they have a brand-new base in the South China Sea.