Indonesian Army test-fires guided TRG-122 rockets from its new Turkish launcher in East Kalimantan

The Indonesian Army test-fired TRG-122 guided rockets on 19 and 20 October in Kutai Kartanegara regency, East Kalimantan, Kompas.com reported on 23 October, citing an army statement. The firing was carried out by the 22nd Field Artillery Battalion, known as Yonarmed 22/Kesumawira, and formed part of the acquisition process for the Indonesia Tactical Ballistic Missile multiple launch rocket system, the army programme built around the KHAN system made by the Turkish company Roketsan.

According to the statement, crews began with a pilot shot and then launched three TRG-122 rockets. Observers included the commander of the army field artillery centre, the deputy commander of the Kodam VI/Mulawarman regional command, and representatives of the Ministry of Defence, armed forces headquarters and army headquarters, along with local government and community leaders from Kutai Kartanegara. The army said the trial was meant to assess the rocket system and the readiness of soldiers to operate it, and that its success should help raise the artillery unit's technical skills and operational readiness.

Defence Security Asia, a regional specialist outlet, reported that footage linked to the battalion shows the rockets being fired from the ITBM-600 launcher, Indonesia's designation for the KHAN system. The outlet stressed that the event involved a 122 mm guided artillery rocket rather than a launch of the much larger KHAN ballistic missile, and said it could not establish whether this was the first public demonstration of that configuration.

Manufacturer figures cited by the outlet give the TRG-122 a range of 13 to 30 km, a weight of about 76 kg and a fragmentation warhead of roughly 13.5 kg, with inertial guidance aided by GPS and GLONASS satellite navigation and a stated circular error probable of no more than 10 metres. No impact or accuracy results from the Kalimantan firing have been published. The outlet also cited reports that about 28 TRG-122 rockets were delivered around August 2026.

The KHAN missile itself is far heavier. CNA, citing Roketsan, reported in August 2025 that it is 7.1 metres long, weighs about 2,500 kg, carries a 470 kg high-explosive warhead and can strike targets up to 280 km away. Indonesia ordered the system in November 2022 and became its first customer outside Turkey. CNA said photographs of the missile on a launcher in East Kalimantan surfaced in August 2025, making Indonesia the first Southeast Asian country known to field a modern tactical ballistic missile.

Defence Security Asia said Yonarmed 22/Kesumawira was inaugurated in August 2026 at Jembayan village in Loa Kulu, Kutai Kartanegara, after earlier deliveries had been associated with another unit, Yonarmed 18/Buritkang, and after Indonesian personnel trained at Roketsan facilities in Turkey earlier in 2026. The battalion's base places the system close to the region of Indonesia's new capital, and the launchers reportedly ride on Tatra 8x8 truck chassis.

The shared launcher matters because it can fire both short-range guided rockets and the longer-range missile. Defence Security Asia said this could let the army combine tactical fire support and deeper strike within one framework, while cautioning that the targeting networks, ammunition stocks and command arrangements needed for combat use have not yet been demonstrated. CNA noted in 2025 that the missile's reach extends Indonesia's strike radius toward waters near the Natuna Islands, where China's nine-dash line overlaps Indonesia's exclusive economic zone.