Yes Indeed, but we can do things in parallel, not necessarily sacrifice one for another, as the Navy modernization program can run side by side with the Army one. The recently acquired Anoa with gunshot detector is one example that we are going in the right direction, something that may be useful in Papua's situation. Even when we haven't deployed them on the field, at least we have options available to us, and more is coming. And of course, Papuan geography falls more into the hand of Army aviation rather than Naval aviation, so that's for another topic.
Well, I imagine something like a larger scale insurgency ISIS-style, that's why I use Timor and Permesta example because they were thousands of fighters in scale, rather than a handful of bandits. They were geographically closer to the coast and demanded amphibious capability. Events like the Battle of Dili and Makassar gave me the idea that something like LPH/ LHD, could also serve well to support the troops in situations like these. Remember that I wasn't saying that LPH purpose is exclusively, only for COIN operation, that's only one out of many of their uses. Of course, there are other uses as well such as bolstering amphibious capability in general due to their higher helicopter/ aircraft capacity and flat deck, giving an enormous range of possible use.
I really do think LHD is brilliant in concept because the Marines could land via helicopter assault from the LHD. In my view, they can provide a better option for an amphibious operation, complementing the usual/ traditional landing tactics of using amphibious APC/ IFV, walking through the beaches, or by paratroopers via Hercules. Because all three had troubles during the Seroja operation, especially paratroopers who frequently landed in uncomfortable areas due to their "inaccuracy". I think LHD/ LPH can solve that because we will have the option to insert troops more accurately and rapidly through air assault instead. Of course, I think the LPDs don't have that capability yet, as their helicopter capacity is small and is not optimized for such a mission.
