Japan to Deploy Helicopters to Assist Indonesia in Fighting Forest Fires

The Japanese government is providing three CH-47 Chinook helicopters to assist Indonesia in extinguishing forest and land fires from September 12 to September 19, 2026. The aircraft are being transported aboard the JS Kunisaki and are scheduled to dock at Kijing Port in West Kalimantan on September 9. According to the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, this assistance is humanitarian in nature and falls under a Defense Cooperation Agreement signed between the two nations on May 4, 2026.

Indonesian authorities maintain that the primary authority for managing the fires remains with the Indonesian government. The deployment comes as Indonesia intensifies efforts to tackle wildfires that have raged for months. Reports indicate that nearly 900 hectares of forest and land continue to burn, with total burned areas reaching almost 1,500 hectares across Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, and West, Central, and South Kalimantan.

To combat the blazes, Indonesia has deployed over 40,000 personnel for ground operations and has dropped more than three million litres of water via aerial operations. Weather modification has also been utilized in several provinces, though it was not possible in Jambi and South Sumatra due to a lack of rain clouds. The resulting haze has affected the region, contributing to difficulties in other operations, including a search and rescue mission for five people following a helicopter crash in Sarawak, Malaysia.